Chapter One: Surprise Visit

The meeting with the General had taken longer than he'd thought. One would think they'd let you go home and rest when you save the world, but no, the Pentagon wanted a detailed report first. So after four hours of pointless repetitions and a lot of that damn circular logic from Major Davis's superior officer, General Cane, Hammond had finally stepped in and told Jack to go home and get some rest. Cane hadn't been pleased, but Jack couldn't have cared less.

He was so tired that the drive home had nearly ended in disaster when he'd closed his eyes for a second. Finally his car was parked in front of the house and all he had to do was get the key in the lock and he'd be off to bed in ten seconds. The lock gave away and with a little grunt he manoeuvred his tired body inside.

What greeted him in his living room brought him to a nervous halt.

"Carter?" he asked the woman who sat on his couch, her feet put up, with her arms hugging her knees. He couldn't be sure but it looked as if she'd been crying. All she did was stare at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked when the silence became too oppressive. He let the door fall close behind him as he took another step into his home.

"This is not working," she stated flatly, her voice devoid of any emotion, her eyes starring ahead, unseeing. She looked small in the big dark-green sweater she wore and the black slacks that covered her legs seemed much too thin for the still cold April air.

"What?" Jack had lost her completely and while that wasn't unusual, her waiting in his house in the middle of the night and uttering enigmatic comments was. And he usually didn't loose her after four short words.

"This," she said and looked at him pointly.

"Carter, I'm sorry, but it's late, I'm tired and I have no idea what you are talking about," he tried to hold the frustration from his voice, but four hours with General Cane made that rather difficult.

"The room, sir, it's not working."

He looked around his living room, what was wrong with it? Or did she mean the kitchen? Or... Oh.

"Oh."

That room.

"What... Why do you say that?" he asked suddenly a little scared. He took a few tentative steps in her direction, his gaze never leaving hers.

She looked into his eyes for the first time that evening and he could clearly see the tears that begged to be freed.

"I've tried. I didn't want to let you too close, but it didn't work."

"What do you want to do then?" he asked softly as he sat next to her. Although he still wasn't sure what all this was about, much less what had brought it on he had a certain suspicion.

"This is not about what I want," she answered closing her eyes in obvious frustration. Some of his confusion vanished and he found himself asking a question he'd wanted to ask for a very long time.

"Why not?" he got a reaction he'd never have anticipated.

Looking at him for a second, her feet fell back to the ground as she leaned over to him and quickly pressed her lips to his.

His response was like a reflex, his body taking over until his mind followed a few seconds later. Her touch made nerve endings that he'd presumed dead react and his lips moved against hers on their own accord. And although his actions were far beyond his common sense he was painfully conscious of what he was doing. They captured each other in their lips' touch and the kiss lasted longer then Sam had intended as well as Jack would have ever hoped a kiss between them would.

"That's why," she whispered after they'd finally separated. Her forehead rested against his cheek as she breathed long, deep breaths.

"Huh?" Jack was still trying to get his tired mind wrapped around the fact that his duty-following Major had just initiated a rather intimate contact with her CO.

"This is not about what I want, because this is what I want and there's no chance in hell that I can have it."

Jack blinked several times. This is what she wants? I am what she wants? Jack felt elated as her words sunk in, but before the happy feeling that had settled in his stomach could break free in a large grin, he remembered what else she'd said. This is not working.

"Why... you said this wasn't working, what did you mean by that?" he asked in a gentle voice. He recognized the unusual vulnerable state she was in and hoped he wouldn't mess this up. Something was very wrong with Samantha Carter and before he could allow himself to hope, he had to find out what it was.

"We can't separate this from work, it's interfering." It. She always called what was happening between them an it, as if their feelings were just an impersonal thing. She had closed herself so far off from her emotions that she couldn't even name them anymore. Jack sighed inwardly, there were more important, fundamental questions to ask before he could ever entertain the idea of going into such deep issues.

"How?"

"You didn't let me go out on the asteroid with you," her soft reply confused him once again.

"Because you were injured."

"I could have done my job."

"You were dizzy and I wasn't about to take you into a nearly zero-G environment!" he said a little harsher than he'd intended.

"Because you wanted to protect me!"

"Of course, it's my job to protect you! You are my friends, I'll always protect you, all three of you," she didn't make any sense, it had been a completely legitimate command decision to leave an injured member behind when other's, just as qualified were available.

"This is not like you Sam, what's happening?" he tried to ignore her involuntary flinch as he called her Sam. She suddenly froze, starring away from him.

"Sam?" another flinch. Ignoring her apparent discomfort he placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke her name again.

He barely heard her soft sigh before she leaned into his touch. "Don't do this," she said weakly, struggling away from him equally weak.

Confused he drew back a little, before he made up his mind and returned his hands to her body. Softly caressed her neck with his thumb.

"Colonel, please," she whispered.

"Do you want me to stop?"

"Yes."

"Do you want me to stop?"

"No," she breathed softly. "But you have to, it's too much."

"What is too much?"

"The touching. We touch all the time, it's too much."

"That's the reason you are here, is it not?"

She nodded. He thought about he last months and what had happened. Faces flashed before his eyes, Hailey, Elliot, Colonel Simmons, nameless doctors, rich maniacs now goa'uld, Mayborne... So much had happened and in between the distance they had kept between themselves had gotten smaller and smaller, he remembered her hands on him as she helped him up after Elliot had shot him, his hand on her shoulder as he kept her company in the control room, his hand on her waist as she steadied herself on a box, her in his arms after she fell... It all whirled through his head.

"Sam? Sam look at me please."

She straightened and his hand fell from her neck as she turned to look at him.

"It's late and you're upset. Do you want to talk about this tomorrow?"

"No," she looked away briefly before her gaze settled on his right shoulder. "This makes me crazy. I can't go on like this."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Don't ask me that."

Jack allowed himself a brief grin, "What should I do then?"

"That's why I'm here."

"You lost me again."

"Today I did something I shouldn't have done," she stated gravely.

"What? Carter you saved the world. Again."

"That's not what I meant, I did something I didn't think I was capable doing," she paused for a second and took a deep breath. "After we... jumped through earth, we were sure we'd die. I calculated the time until we'd start choking for air, Colonel!" she became more upset by the minute and just as she started talking again the first tear fell from her eyes. "I knew I was going to die and the only people there were my two best friends and you."

Jack stared at her as tears streamed down her face. She was bearing her soul, he realised. He wanted to help her somehow, making whatever she wanted to tell him easier, but wasn't sure she'd accept his help.

When the first sob shook her body he stopped thinking and just took her in his arms. "Shh, Sam, it's okay..."

"No," she sniffed. "It's absolutely not okay. Colonel... Jack I knew I was going to die and I... I couldn't tell you..." he kissed her before she could say another word.

It felt as if she surrendered to him the second their lips touched, her body sagged against his and her hands grasped at his shirt as if she'd fall should she let go. His hands held her face as their lips traded light touches and fell to her shoulders when their kissing became more passionate.

Jack's hands became restless, massaging Sam's shoulders softly, while her hands where still balled to fists around his shirt. Reluctantly Jack broke the contact and, a little out of breath, leaned his forehead against Sam's.

"...and I couldn't tell you that I love you," she whispered as her breathing slowed.

"God Sam."

"I'm sorry," she was still whispering and her eyes were closed as she leaned her cheek against his to speak directly in his ear. "I know I said we'd keep it in the room but I just can't anymore," the words rushed from her mouth. "I feel closer to you than I ever have to anyone, I see you everyday and now we seem to touch all the time..."

"Sam!" he interrupted her when he got the feeling she was losing herself completely. "Sam," he said softly as he leaned back to get a better look at her. "I know, okay?" he looked into her eyes and saw understanding. He knew about all she was trying to say, because he'd had the exact same problem. Touching her had somehow become almost natural after they had finally gotten past the initial distance between them after the zat'arc fiasco. Carefully he gave words to his thoughts, "I think we don't worry that much anymore," he risked a quick glance at her before he continued, she was looking at her hands.

"About what?"

"The others. After... after the testing I was always thinking about Teal'c and what he'd think should I stand to close too you during a mission. For a while I even stopped to sit next to you during briefings, simply because I thought the General would find out. The funny thing is there was nothing to find out. There still isn't."

He head shot up, disbelief in her eyes.

He looked deep into her eyes when he said, "Unless we want it to be there."

"What are you saying?" Sam asked, confused by both his statement and his calmness.

"I'm saying that if you walk out of that door now I'll never mention tonight again, never ask you to go fishing or lean in closer than is appropriate, but if you stay... there'll be consequences."

She looked at him with wide eyes. She appreciated the easy-out he gave her, but wasn't sure that she was in the right state of mind to make such a decision now. He'd said there would be consequences, she'd probably be transferred to another team or the labs and that was something she just couldn't imagine.

"I don't want to go," she answered after a while, "But I don't know if I can stay either."

He smiled, he'd anticipated that answer, had already steeled himself for the eventual, but unavoidable outcome. She'd leave. With all those resolution in his head he was shocked speechless by her next words.

"Make me stay," they were a mere whisper, but their message was clear. She would stay. One word, one touch from him and she'd stay.

She smiled at his fish impression as she waited for him to say something, but instead of speaking he stood up and held his hand out to her. She took it without hesitation and let him lead her out of the living room. Still pulling her with him he entered his bedroom and motioned for her to sit on the bed. When she did as his eyes asked he took off his jacket and jeans after he'd kicked off his shoes. Without a word he slipped under the covers and brought a hand to her left, tugging softly at the slender fingers. She slipped under the covers next to him and he spooned himself around her.

"Stay," he whispered in her ear from behind her.

She giggled softly as he held her possessively in his strong arms, while his hands caressed her body softly on her stomach and arm. With a smile on her face she closed her eyes and snuggled deeper into his embrace, relaxing completely for the first time since they had left the SGC almost two weeks ago.

Chapter Two: Things lost, Things gained

Two hours later Jack was still awake and very conscious of the fact that the sweet scent he smelled was his Major's hair. He marvelled at the fact, that he was so close to her and that for the first time she had approached him instead of the other way around. And still something about all this wasn't right.

"Sam? Are you sleeping?"

"No."

He was surprised by her answer, he'd always thought he could tell if she was awake or not and had been sure she was at least dozing. Her answer had been immediate and clear telling him that she was just as wide awake as he was.

"What's going on?" he asked softly. He felt her whole body tense in his arms and nearly wished he hadn't asked. Still he had to, letting him take the initiative and being lost wasn't like Sam Carter, he had to know if this really was what she was wanted... or just a moment of weakness.

"Nothing's going on," she answered, but he didn't believe her.

"Sam this is so unlike you..." he looked at her and sighed, "The Sam Carter I know would never betray her beliefs for a whim."

"Do you think that's all this is? A whim?" she angrily pushed his arms away.

"No," he said immediately. "That's not what I meant," he closed his eyes in frustration. He brought his arms around her again, tighter this time. "What I meant was that we had a really tough mission and all those near death experiences could maybe... influence your decisions."

"It's part of it," she admitted. "I nearly lost you today, without ever having you in the first place and even had time to contemplate it all. We were going to die..." she trailed off and hesitantly her arms rose to cover his. He caught one of her hands and started to stroke it softly, encouraging her to continue talking. He had the feeling that she still hadn't told him the most important part.

She took a deep breathe before she spoke again, "You are right, I haven't been the Sam-Carter-you-know tonight, not really, but a lot has changed for me, so I guess this is the person I am now."

He frowned, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know if you realised the implications of all that happened today, but I've come to some conclusions."

She fell silent again, hesitant to tell him of her suspicions, but continued. He had to know. "The sole purpose of a bomb is to be indestructible until it finally explodes," she began, confusing him once again. "The bomb we planted on the meteor was big and so we took the necessary security measures so it wouldn't explode into our faces," she stopped again waiting for him to process what she said and ask the inevitable question.

"What are you saying?"

She smiled softly before she continued, "Nothing in that meteor shower should have had the power to damage the bomb and certainly not the small rock you and Teal'c described. I think they built in their own failsafe."

He thought about what she said, "You mean that our deactivation code didn't work because it wasn't supposed to and not due to the damage?"

"Exactly."

"That would explain the wires."

"Yes, it would."

He gave a sarcastic laugh, "So what you're saying is that the government feared we wouldn't go through with the plan and try to deactivate the bomb to safe our lives should it come down to either us or earth?"

"Yeah. I made that bomb, Colonel, I know what it's capable of and I know how hard it is to destroy or damage it. Nothing on that damn rock could have done that to the bomb I built. Which leads me to the conclusion that someone did something to it."

"Why didn't you tell me that downstairs?"

"I'm still pretty angry," she said with a sigh. "All I believed turns against me. I was kidnapped by some millionaire maniac and if it hadn't been for you guys no one would have cared. All the military did was looking for their own gain when they sent Simmons to get the goa'uld. And now they don't trust us anymore. This isn't the organization I joined Jack, nor are they the superiors I respected, who gave orders I understood."

"So you decided that their rules can't be that important?" she nodded before she turned around to look at him. "I haven't decided what I'm going to do, yet, but I'm playing with the thought of leaving the military."

"What?"

"I'll ask the General tomorrow if he'd hire me as civilian doctor and if he agrees I'll resign."

"But why? You'll still have to answer to the same people, nothing would really change."

"Yes, it would, at least for me. Please Jack I can't go on representing an organization I don't believe in anymore."

"What about me? There isn't anything else I can do, I've been in the military all my life and there's no way in hell I'm leaving you out there alone. There no chance I resign now to leave you all even more so if all this is true."

She smiled at him, moved by his assumption that he would follow wherever she went, "I don't want you to resign. I know what being in the military means to you and besides it would help to have somebody on the inside."

"What? Inside? What are you talking about?"

"I want to expose the Simmons and Kinseys who have far to much power these days."

"Do you know what you are getting yourself into?" Jack asked.

"I hope I do, we can't allow them to make the decisions on behalf of America or in case of the Stargate even on behalf of the world. We have to stop them Jack or our fight against the Goa'uld will be useless."

He looked at her with wide eyes before he pulled her to him and brought his lips to hers for a long, passionate kiss. When he released her from his arms she slowly ended the kiss and with a bemused expression waited for him to speak. For a while no one spoke the only sound was their still erratic breathing.

"I have to think about what you said," he murmured finally. "I think you're right, something's going on and I know there are a lot of people in the higher ranks that shouldn't be there, I just have to figure out how far they've come. Give me some time to figure out who the enemy is before you act against the bad guys, okay?"

She nodded with a small smile, proud that he took her seriously enough to think all she'd said though before acting.

"Can we sleep now?" he asked then and she giggled again.

"Good night, Jack."

"'Night Love," he murmured, the strain of the long evening he'd had kicking in full force.

She blushed heavily at the nickname, before she snuggled into his warmth.

Sam watched her printer spitting out the two pages that held the power to change her life. And despite the seriousness of her situation a broad grin was plastered on Sam's face. An equal expression had taken residence on Jack's features. He sneaked up behind her and lowered his head over her shoulder as his arms encircled her waist and he pressed his lips to her neck in a lingering kiss.

They had made love that morning, both surprised how easy they had left their positions as collegues to slip into the roles of lovers. Sam remembered waking up cold and then instinctively seeking the warmth next to her. Her movements had woken him and without thought he'd kissed her smiling lips. The memories of what had happened next nearly made her blush.

"Hey," he said after he'd brought his chin to rest on her shoulder.

"Hey yourself flyboy," she replied trying to block the emotions that welled up at his touch.

"That it?" he asked and looked pointly at her printer.

"Yeah, that's it," he squeezed his hands around her waist.

"You gonna do it now?"

"Yeah, I just wanna get it over with," she turned her head and with some difficulty managed to look into his eyes.

"Want me to come with you?"

"No, I'll come see you afterwards, we can tell Daniel and Teal'c together."

"What exactly are we telling them? About us I mean."

She looked at him for a while before she spoke in a soft voice, "I thought we'd go with the truth."

His smile could have easily powered the gate as he turned her so he could drop a kiss on her forehead before he pressed her close to him.

She distangeled herself from him with an apologetic expression and grabbed the two sheets from the printer.

He watched her move to the door and then turn with her hand on the doorknob, "Wish me luck."

"I love you."

"I have all I need then, "and with that and a smile she was through the door, her resignation in hand and on her way to General George Hammond.

Chapter Three: Permanent Changes

<Enter,> she heard through the office door and taking a deep breath she entered.

"Sir? Can I have a word with you?"

"Of course Major," he looked up at her and his small smile died on his lips as he saw her standing there in slacks, shirt and blazer. "Major what are you doing here out of uniform?"

"Handing in my resignation?" she half asked half stated as she handed him the appropriate paper.

"Resigning? What for?"

"So I can do this," and she handed over her job application for a civilian post on SG-1.

The General blinked rapidly as he scanned the pages, making sure that she was indeed not kidding before he looked up at her again, "Can I ask what brought this on?" he asked afraid he knew what her answer would be.

"I don't believe the Air Force has the necessary faith in me, sir."

"What gave you that impression?" he asked confused, but still happy that she hadn't told him she and O'Neill had broken a few regulations too many.

"The bomb sir, I believe it was changed from my original designs so that in case we should try to deactivate it we wouldn't be able to."

"That is some accusation, Major," he said after taking a minute to process her words.

"I know and I have thought about it at length. I came to the conclusion that I cannot trust the military in the way that I have to in this job when I'm confronted with that kind of schemes. Still the program is important and I think I can offer enough to justify a job as a civilian."

"What if I refuse your second request?"

"Then I'm jobless I guess," the General looked at her in shock.

"You would give up gate travel, your chance to see your father, working with the rest of SG-1?"

"Not if I don't have to sir. But if it comes down to that then yes."

"Have you talked to Colonel O'Neill about that?"

"Yes, sir and he supports my decision."

"And this has nothing to do with... other regulation concerns?"

Sam blushed heavily, "No, sir, but it's an appreciated side effect."

"I see. Are you sure you want to do this Sam? You are giving up one hell of a career."

"I know sir, but there is some stuff I have sort out, about what has happened to me in the last few months and I fear I can't do that while remaining in the military."

"Very well then *Dr.* Carter, SG-1 is restricted to base duty until these papers have gone through all the necessary official channels. Do you want me to relay your doubts about the last mission to my superiors?"

Sam thought about it, protesting through official channels would be the appropriate thing to do, but she feared that the people who were responsible wouldn't be caught by some officials, "I'd rather not, sir. Not before I have proof behind my suspicions."

"May I then say that you have given me no reason for your resignation despite personal ones?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very well Ma.. Doctor, dismissed."

With a nod Sam left.

Jack found Sam in her lab looking at her dress uniform. Sensing his approach she smiled a little "I never would have thought I'd miss the damn thing."

"You worked hard enough for it," he said stopping to stand beside her.

Both stood in silence for a few seconds before jack gently took her elbow, "Come on, let's go tell the others."

"Hey Danny," Jack greeted his friend from the entrance of the archaeologist's lab.

"Jack hi! Look at this, I just got the preliminary MALP transmissions, this looks very promising... ah hi Sam," he said as he looked up and saw Sam, wearing civvies, standing in the doorway behind Jack, "Ah, what's going?"

"Come with us, we'll explain everything once we've got a hold of Teal'c and Doc Fraiser," Jack said and Daniel noted how atypically quiet Sam remained in the background. Putting his notes aside he took his half drunken cup of coffee and left his office.

"Okay, let's get Teal'c first, he's in his quarters that's closer than the infirmary."

His two friends nodded and together they started their walk to the elevators.

Ten minutes later SG-1 sat in the infirmary together with Janet Fraiser all of them sipping coffee.

"So..." Daniel began hoping to start the promised explanation.

"You are probably wondering why we asked you to meet like this... Well I just resigned," Sam started and three pair of stunned eyes turned to her.

Chapter Four: And life goes on

It didn't take them too long to get used to the fact that Sam was no longer military. She hadn't really changed and her behaviour off world and in battle was the same as ever. So little had changed that it took the rest of the base a while to realize what had happened and even the General had caught himself addressing her by her rank instead of her salutation. The only one who had no problems at all to adjust seemed to be Jack.

Teal'c and Daniel had wondered in the beginning why instead of slipping into the known Colonel/Major routine their friends seemed to develop all kinds of new behavioural patterns while on downtime. Although Sam and Jack had planned to tell their friends about their changed relationship it hadn't really come up in that first big talk in the infirmary and after that a little secrecy had looked rather appealing to the couple. So when Sam would lean over their table in the cafeteria to snatch a piece of bread from her former commanding officer everyone else would just look at them wide-eyed and wonder.

Rumours were going around the base of her having to resign in order to legitimate the affair she'd had with O'Neill all along or even before their time at the SGC. There were more rumours and they were of the weirdest kind.

Daniel, Teal'c and Janet found out about them pretty soon. It wasn't like they tried to hide it very hard. As soon as they were on downtime they became Sam and Jack and whoever found them at Janet's BBQ sitting on the veranda kissing, would see that. And see they did.

So life went on as usual. SG-1 went to unknown planets learning the secrets of new races and fought the goa'uld as they'd always done. The only difference was that two members of the SGC's flagship team were happy now.

But even though she enjoyed the changes in her life and was very happy Sam's reasons for making those changes didn't evaporate in that happiness. At the SGC and off world she was Dr. Samantha Carter, resident genius, happy woman in love, with great friends a good career and a challenging job. Off duty however she would work on her own little project.

And so she pulled all-nighters at a frequency she hadn't known since her final year at the academy while she'd also worked on her PhD. She gathered information mainly about Senator Kinsey, the NID especially Colonel Simmons and his closest colleagues. What she found worried her, there were relations with some very powerful government officials who seemed to support Kinsey more or less openly.

The sheer number of supporters he had gave her the creeps, how so many people could be so stupid or evil was beyond her...

The problem was that she wouldn't find anything on Kinsey that she could work with, his records had been wiped clean by so many people that she could only hope he'd make a mistake or she would find someone who would be willing to testify against the Senator. And still the Senator wasn't the worst problem she had, her real worries lay with Colonel Simmons. While Kinsey was in the spotlight the good Colonel seemed to be able to do anything he wanted, she hadn't found anyone in the chain of command he had to answer to and records indicated his reports went straight to some secret archive facility in Washington, she didn't even know if there was somebody who read those reports he wrote.

She slammed her hand down on the table next to her laptop as she stumbled upon another dead end. She was checking the NID's flying records trying to find out where Simmons was and whom he could have met there, it was a tiring process and not very productive.

"Sam? Everythin' all right?" Jack asked from the door.

She looked up and tried to smile at him, "Yeah, just another dead end. This is kinda frustrating needle-in-haystack stuff," she sighed and rubbed her eyes, her sore neck muscles protesting so vehemently that she couldn't suppress a small groan.

"Okay, this is it. No more work for you," he walked over to the couch where she'd spread her papers and had hooked her laptop to his telephone and held out his hand. She took it with a smile that quickly vanished in favour of a confused expression when he started to pull her in the direction of the bathroom.

"Jack! What are you doing?" she asked after he'd closed the bathroom door and started to tug at the sleeves of her sweater.

"You are taking a bath," he stated matter of factly just before he pulled the offending sweater over her head.

"What?" her voice came muffled through the material, but he could hear some amusement in her voice.

"I may not be your commanding officer anymore, but I'm ordering you anyway. You are getting into that tub, you are gonna relax and you are not gonna work until at
least two p.m. tomorrow, understood?"

She just nodded a smile on her face. He was looking out for her, he always did that since they'd started this relationship almost two month ago now. He would still bring her coffee to her lab as he'd done before, but would now insist she'd eat on regular intervals too and in the end just brought the food to her lab as well. When he saw her trying to hide a yawn behind her hand he usually just dragged her from her latest project to at least take a nap and she found that she like the attention. Having someone to care for you and look out for you like he did, made her feel special although he could get annoying at times. She'd managed to only snap at him once since he'd started being so attentive and he'd just grinned and told her that he'd been waiting for something like that, placed a soft kiss on her nose and gave her some distraction-free space.

At the moment his distractions were very welcome since she wouldn't have gotten anywhere that evening and he'd just started dropping little kisses on her face. Very welcome indeed.

"You know you could join me," she said before she caught his lips in a more intense kiss.

He smiled into the kiss, but ended it all too soon and shook his head, "Nope. You go and have that bath of yours I'm gonna make us dinner," she pouted a little but it had no impact on his plans, just brought a smile to his face.

She sighed and turned to find he'd somehow managed to start the water for her bath and had also added a rather generous amount of bubbles to the water without her realizing it. Vanilla scented bubble bath, she noted with a smile.

"I come and get you when dinner's finished," he said and turned to go but she quickly caught his arm and pulled him back to her.

"Just so you know what you are missing," she whispered before she kissed him passionately. He responded in kind and for several minutes nothing but them existed.

Sam broke the kiss and with a grin in his direction started to take off the rest of her cloths.

"Damn," he mumbled under his still erratic breathing and she chuckled softly.

"Your loss, Jack," she said and shaking his head he turned again and left the room with the biggest grin on his face.

She was nearly asleep by the time the slight knock bounced against the bathroom door and all she managed was a slightly slurred , "Yeah," which sounded more like a sigh then anything else.

Jack came into the room and smiled at the scene: Sam covered up to her chin in bubbles and heavy eyelids threatening to drop any second. She'd washed her short hair but it was already drying again.

"Hey," he called softly, but her reply was limited to another sigh and with sigh of his own he released the water from the tub. It took some persuasion, but he managed to get her out of the water and leaning against him.

"Come on Sam. I could really do with some help here, just to get you dry and to the couch, no more moving besides chewing after that, I promise," he saw her shake her head slowly to wake herself up and a few seconds later she pushed herself up so she stood on her own legs instead of leaning on his body.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she saw the wet patches on his t-shirt, but he just shrugged and wound a large towel around her and sent her to the bedroom to change while he showered the last bubbles out of the tub.

Se groggily sat down on his bed and took her sleeping clothes out of her duffel bag, which he'd placed there.

She'd managed to get herself into the loose trousers and the sleeveless top and was just about to fall asleep again when Jack checked up on her, "Oh no, love you are not falling asleep on me now, it's eating time."

She managed a small grump, hoping he'd understand that she was just too tired to move, but he either misinterpreted the noise or choose to ignore it, knowing Jack O'Neill, probably the later.

Together they managed to get her downstairs and he settled her on his couch where the television was presenting the evening news. Two large plates of pasta were on the couch table and Sam knew without a doubt that she wouldn't be able to eat even half of it. He sat down next to her and she immediately placed her head in his lap and with a chuckle he took one of the plates and started alternatively taking a forkful himself or feeding her. The trip downstairs, together with the coke he'd given her had wakened her up a bit, but she felt the warm food making her sleepy again.

"I have no idea why I'm so tired," she mumbled as he chewed.

He swallowed and gave her a small smile, "Well could it be that we came home from a weeklong trip three days ago and that you probably haven't slept at all the first night and only a few hours last night?" she looked down rather embarrassed that he knew her so well. "And none of that sleeplessness was my fault either," he added with playful scowl.

"So I noted," she answered cheekily, but the huge yawn that threatened to split her face in two ruined the effect, "Sorry. I guess I'm really tired, I didn't even realise how much until I stopped working."

"See, that's what I'm here for. Now open up, you gotta eat or you'll get all skinny on me!"

She made a big show of opening her mouth saying 'ahhh' while he placed more food between her teeth. She chewed slowly savouring the taste and closed her eyes. She heard him place the plate back on the couch table and then felt his fingers in her hair moving in slow cycles.

"This is the life Jack," she said with a sleepy smile.

"Definitively. Life can go on like this. Forever."

He put his feet on the table and watched her fall asleep. Yeah, life could go on like this and on and on and on. Too bad it wasn't going happen.

After dozing a little and watching the late night sport news Jack carried Sam to his bed and carefully tucked her in before he joined her in deep slumber.

And while they dreamed happy dreams of a peaceful future the imminent and not at all peaceful future was came calling with a soft mechanical voice.

"You've got mail."

Chapter Five: Illusions of Peace

She woke to a feeling of all surrounding warmth. Sunlight played over her face and shoulder, while the rest of her body was hidden from the rays by a thick wollen blanket, her lovers body wrapped around her in a loose embrace. She could tell from his deep breaths that he was still sleeping and with a smile closed her eyes again, revelling in the feelings of being safe and warm and loved.

Her thoughts started wandering until they returned with military precision to the one subject that bothered her. She'd spent a good deal of her time lately to find some background information on Colonel Simmons, but had yet to turn up with anything useful. She unconciously snuggled closer to the warm body behind her as her thoughts drifted further away. In turn he stirred and reflexively tightened his hold on her before she felt him join her in conciousness.

"Morning Sleeping Beauty."

She heard a low groan from behind her and couldn't supress a small chuckle.

"Hey!" Jack protested. "Are you laughing at me?"

"Maybe," she turned around to face him and greeted her lover with happy grin. He leaned forward and stole her grin right from her lips as it melted against his in slow kiss.

"Now this is how you say 'good morning,' understood?"

"I'm not sure, I guess I should practice some more," was her fast whispered answer uttered half a breath before she did start a whole lot of practicing.

Some time Later

Awaking for the second time that morning, she still felt warm and if it was possible even more loved. She was lying on her stomache and slowly stretched her arms and legs as she turned her head to her left to find brown eyes studying her with an intensity that she was just becoming used to. With a smile she brought a hand to his nape and drew his head down for another quick kiss.

"Morning," she said as she lay her head back down, folding her arms before using them as a cushion.

"I see you learn," he answered with a smile. He lay on his side still watching her and started to move his hand in random panterns over her back. She closed her eyes in appreciation as a low hum escaped her lips. Minutes passed without another word before Jack suddenly spoke.

"I've been thinking about Lt. Tyler-"

"Just what a girl wants to hear in bed," Sam quipped next him and his hand quickly left her back to tickle her side in retaliation.

"As I was saying, I was thinking about Lt. Tyler and thought that maybe we should try and contact him."

"Why?" Sam asked couriously.

"That drug he used on us, making us all believe we knew him? I thought that maybe we could use that on Simmons. Make him believe he sees someone he trust and get him to tell us stuff," he shrugged his shoulders as best as he could lying down and waited for her judgement on his words.

"We would have to isolate him and get him into a place where we have time to interrogate him, do you really think we can pull this off?" Sam asked after a while?

"I'm not sure, it's just an idea." Sam smiled at him, he'd been more open with what was going through his head since they'd gotten together and it amazed her every time when he made a conclusion the rest of them missed. But her smile faded as the memory of the strange alien brought other memories to the surface.

"Sam?" Jack asked immediatly as he saw her features darken.

"It's nothing," she immediatly replied, still not really used to always being open with him when her emmotions were concerned. He managed to remind her with one pointed look. "It's just... I hate remembereing that time when you were stuck out there with Tyler while we were at the SGC fighting over semantics with Simmons," he felt her tense under his still carressing hands, but didn't stop his movements.

"I was quite worried myself when I didn't hear from you, seeing you there with Teal'c and Daniel comming to our rescue..." he drifted off.

"What?"

"Let's just say I wasn't glad for my life at that moment."

"Oh," she'd never really seen it that way. She'd been so worried about him and the young Lt. that she hadn't really thought about what he might think when they didn't come back.

"You thought we were captured," she stated and he nodded.

"Or worse."

Needing to feel closer to him she quickly moved over to hug him. Their closeness managed, as always, to chase their demons away again and slow smile spread over Sam's lips as she remebered something else about the day SG-1 had come to rescue their missing leader.

"You know if you'd asked me that day I would have gone fishing with you," the hands that had been wrapped around her body swiftly came to her shoulders to push her at arms length. She nearly laughed out loud as she saw his utter astonishment.

"What!?"

"The day we got you home... If you'd asked me then I would have gone with you."

"You're telling me now?" he asked in a shocked voice. His eyes danced all over her face as if he was trying to determine if she was telling the truth, "Why?"

"Why am I telling you now or why would I have gone with you?"

"Why would you have come fishing with me?"

"Because that day when I saw you alife and healthy and having already figured out everything about Tyler and to top it of managed to gain his trust... I was so proud of you that day..." she blushed a cute shade of pink at her admission.

"Proud, eh?" a smug grin had taken residence on his face and he slowly drew her face nearer again.

"Yep, pretty proud," she nodded her head to ephazise her point and leaned her head back a little to delay the inevitable.

"So Dr. Carter... Would you be so kind to centemplate my offer to go fishing?" he asked.

"Why yes, I'll be sure to give it a passing thought."

"Good," was his reply before closed the final distance between their lips.

Much Later

"Hi Sam!" Daniel greeted her with a bright grin as he saw her answering the door wearing nothing more than an obviously hastily buttoned shirt which even more obviously belonged to Jack and not her.

Sam managed not to blush at her friend's words and simply turned back to the bedroom again to shower and dress.

"Ah Janet, don't we all miss that state in relationships were we were unable to be bothered to dress?" Daniel asked the petit doctor who entered after him.

"Don't we just miss relationships, period, Dr. Jackson?" Janet answered with a grin that matches his.

"There's that," he answered with another grin.

"Where is what DanielJackson?"

"Ah Teal'c, did you lock the car?"

"Indeed I did DanielJackson."

"Good, let's wait until the two lovebirds manage to get themselves dressed."

"Why are you talking about birds, DanielJackson? O'Neill does not possess such a greature for a pet."

"Uh Janet why don't you explain, while... oh while I go work on the computer?" Daniel had spotted Sam's laptop on the couchtable and quickly powered the thing up.

Janet shot him an angry look before she tried to find an explanation for Teal'c.

Daniel was through his third round of Solitaire when Jack came out of the bedroom freshly showered and dressed in jeans and a dark blue shirt over a white v-neck t-shirt.

"Oh I see ýour grilfriend has been straightening your wardrobe?" Daniel greeted him, never missing an opportunit y to make fun of his friend. Jack in turn sent him an angry look, that only got darker when he remembered that Sam had indeed found the shirt in the back of his wardrobe and suggested that he wear it.

"Only fair Daniel, don't you think?" Janet asked from her position on the chair left from Daniel, who just looked at her not understanding what she meant, "I just thought that if she was wearing his clothes she may as well have some influence on what he's wearing." Both started to laugh at that, much to Jack's dismay as well as Teal'c's confusion.

"I do not understand, O'Neill, is it not beneficial when SamathaCarter helps you dress appropriately?" that comment only sent both doctors in the room into more hysteric giggles.

Sam chose that moment to enter the room, "I hope your not making fun of my... uh boyfriend, I'm afraid is the appropriate term."

"Never," Daniel managed to answer between giggles. As Janet and Daniel calmed the other went to the kitchen to make coffee and in Sam and Jack' s case breakfast. Armed with cups and a few snacks they reentered the living room to find Janet stare over Daniel's shoulder to glimpse what ever was displayed on the laptop, which was still balanced on Daniel's knees.

"What is it?" Sam asked anxciously her coffee and breakfast forgotten.

"Uhmm, I'm not sure, but I think somebody wants to talk to... ah you, I guess," Daniel seemed unsure about whatever he'd read in her files, which just served to peek her curiosity all the more.

When Daniel didn't elaborate she quickly snatched the computer away from him and sat down on the couch. She saw the active 'mail' button on the left corner and quickly scanned her already opened emailsystem.

"What the hell?"

"What's going on?" Jack asked.

Wordlessly Sam turned the laptop around so her could read the message she had received late the previous evening. Jack put his own coffee down on the couchtable before he sat next to Sam and turned the laptop further in hsi direction. What he read on there half filled him with humor and hal with dread. "Oh not again," he moaned.

>>Hello Starsky's Girl!
>>I've seen you've been busy... Wanna compare notes? You can find me at the NG meeting place, ask your flyboy.
>>yours truly,
>>hutch

Chapter Six: Questionable Alliances

"Tell me again what we are doing here," Sam asked as she wearily scanned the parking lot, this place held decidedly too uncomfortable memories for her.

"We'll meet him here," Jack answered and she decided focussing on him was the best thing to do to quell the uneasiness that threatened to rise from her stomach along with breakfast.

"Who are meeting here?" he just looked at her and suddenly she found herself very, very angry, "And what is all that Starsky and Hutch crap about?" her voice's volume rose with each word while her eyes darted from left to right. She cursed the irrationality that quickly transformed fear into panic at their continued stay. 'Get a grip, girl," she chided herself, her misdirected anger would serve no purpose, but distract them and she got the distinct impression that she couldn't allow herself to be anything but alert and focused.

But did they really have to come here of all places?

She scanned the tree line, trying to figure out what Jack had been searching for a second ago, before she'd started her unprofessional display of anger and confusion.

"Sam..." he started but she didn't want to talk about it, especially not here.

"It's okay, Jack. I'm sorry, this is... difficult. We can talk about it later; let's just get this over with now, okay?"

He looked at her with an eyebrow slightly raised, a little confused at her change of moods but quickly nodded and went back to studying their surroundings.

"Here he comes," Jack mumbled as the leaves of a nearby bush rustled.

"Ah, if it aren't the too lovebirds. Having fun in the greenery?"

Sam happily directed her anger at the new arrival, "Don't play games Maybourne, you contacted me... What do you have?" she was surprised, but covered it up pretty well. Of all the people who would call about helping her, Maybourne was one of the least expected. She wondered why Jack wouldn't tell her whom they were meeting as Harry started talking again.

"Calm down ninja-girl. I'm here to help you. Let's move this party to somewhere more private," he walked away without checking if they were following.

Sam met Jack's eyes for a second and the small nod he gave her confirmed her suspicion that he would trust Maybourne, this far at last. So with a small sigh Sam did the only thing she could and followed Maybourne to Jack's car.

As Jack walked beside her she muttered curiously under her breath, "Ninja-girl?"

She heard Jack chuckle as if he'd only been waiting for her to ask. "When we searched this place I came upon this homeless guy, the only one who witnessed... when you were taken. He told me this story about ninjas who took you, I guess Harry got an earful as well."

"How did you know where he wanted to meet us?" they got closer to where Maybourne was leaning against to the car and Sam's voice dropped to a whisper.

"We met here before, when we were looking for you. And I had just brought my payment to the homeless guy for the information he gave me?"

"Payment?"

"Yeah, he wanted my National Geographics."

"NG meeting place, I get it. You know all these spy games, as exciting they are, they're freaking me out."

Jack smiled at her, "Let's hear what Harry has for us, I'm sure he'll bring some light into all this."

"Why is he helping us?" Sam asked the question that had burned on her mind for a while.

"I guess he knows that he still owes you," Jack shrugged his shoulders and suddenly it clicked and Sam knew why Jack hadn't told her that they were meeting Maybourne, he was the guy who had sold her out.

"We have to be careful I'm sure he has his own agenda;" she whispered not silent enough.

"Of course I have, now let's get to work."

"What's this?" Jack asked as they followed Maybourne to the front door of a house in the outskirts of Colorado Springs.

"NID safe house," he replied as he put a key into the lock and quickly slipped inside.

They followed him wearily. He'd refused to talk on their way here, insisting that he would explain everything once they reached their destination. "Is this a good idea? Won't they find out that we are here?"

"No, NID safe houses are built to be fortresses against EVERYTHING from outside that includes anybody from the NID who isn't authorized for the missions that bring you to these safe houses. They are completely autonomic, nothing gets part the alarm once it's switched on and it can't be bugged."

"Impressive, can we have one?" Jack said and Sam responded with a small grin.

They stopped in the living room where one wall was covered by terminals and monitors.

"Impressive indeed," Sam echoes Jack's comment as she watched Harry boot two of the computer.

"Jack, please keep an eye on the windows, we don't want to be caught unguarded."

"I thought you said the security system is unfaultable?" Jack asked with more than a hint of sarcasm.

"It is, but turning it on sends a signal to headquarters telling them the house is used... we don't want to attract that kind of attention.

"No we definitely don't," Jack answered and took point next to the large window, noting without surprise the fine wires that went through the glass, no bullet would make it through these windows.

"Okay, what do you have?" Sam asked as she sat in the chair next to Maybourne and they looking through the files.

Some time later

"You are kidding right?" Sam asked as she stood up so forcefully that the chair she'd been sitting on fell back with a loud clashing noise that made Jack jump. He turned away from his scrutiny of the area in front of the safe house and watched the high noon like situation in front of him with wonder and a little trepidation. Sam's eyes were piercing holes through Melbourne's head, while he just looked up at her with a smuckness Jack couldn't display at his best of days. They had been working on the computer for a while and Jack had just began to feel totally bored.

Their starring contest continued and just as Jack felt he had to intervene before Sam started to throttle the man in front of her she spoke, "Let's go Jack. This weasel of a man has nothing he can offer us," she turned around and walked through the door expecting Jack to follow her. Which he did. Just as he walked out the door he heard Maybourne speak up again.

"Jack?"

"What do you want Harry?"

"Whatever she does don't let her take up Simmons alone, even if you think you have every advantage over him that there is, never let any of your loved ones alone with him," Harry looked so deadly serious that it wouldn't have startled Jack if he'd dropped out of his chair with his cryptic words leaving his mouth with the last breath over his lips. Instead he stared at the man in front of him, waiting if he had anything more to say and when he didn't turned around and left.

"What happened in there?" Jack asked Sam as he fell into step next to her.

"He has nothing, the only information he had was four years old and of no use at all. The only thing he wants to do is use us to do his dirty work."

"What do you mean?"

"He's pretty pissed at Simmons, I don't know why, but I found a hidden file on his computer, with detailed plans how he would capture the Colonel and do stuff to him..."

"Does that mean he had plans of where Simmons lives?" Jack asked suddenly excited of having a real clue about what they could do next.

"Yeah Harry has detailed plans of the house and the security system."

"Please tell me you took those files with you," Jack pleaded.

"I sent them to myself via email," Sam answered with a grin.

Just as Jack felt like lifting her off her feet and kiss her he saw two black jeeps race screechingly around the corner and heading in their direction, fast.

"Shit," he cursed under his breath and this one word brought Sam's suddenly wide eyes to his with the beginning of fear clearly evident, before she could ask what was going on Jack had grabbed her hand and screaming for to run as he did just that pulling her with him.

Part Seven: Capture

"Oh crap," Jack mumbled as he came to. The pulsing at the back of his neck told him that the blow he'd received earlier had been the thing to knock him unconscious. After a quick mental assessment of his body he knew that their captors had not beaten him further after he'd been disarmed and beaten to oblivion. He realised that he was cold, the slightly wet surface on which he was lying began to soak through the bottom of his pants and he was feeling an increasing need to complain to someone about his current discomfort.
If they were offworld Daniel would roll his eyes, while Teal'c would merely raise an eyebrow not understanding why suppressed giggles would come from the direction of Sa-

Fear gripped him so quickly that his eyes flew open; any pain or discomfort forgotten, "Sam?" Her name hushed over his suddenly desert-dry lips, before his brain had even the chance to kick into gear.

"Sam!" his voice wasn't louder, but the new hissing quality of the one word he uttered gave it an intensity that would allow to be heard over thousand of voices.

If only there'd been anyone to listen.

At the same time Sam found herself waking to an even more wet welcome than Jack had.

"What the hell-" she muttered as she spit out some of the water that had managed to invade her mouth and nose.

"Nice to see that you are finally awake Major. Or would that be Doctor now, Major?"

Wiping some water off her face, she realised that her wrists were cuffed. She turned her head upwards knowing whom she would face and in preparation turned her featured into a glare. Above her stood Colonel Simmons, grinning with satisfaction, the empty bucket he held in his hand was still dribbling some of the water that he hadn't throw in her face as a wakeup call.

With her still bound wrists she pushed her wet hair out of face, hoping that the gesture would look less nervous than she felt, "Simmons, whom did I piss off to be in your company again?"

"Nice to see that you haven't lost your manners now that you're a civilian again," she snorted at his words, caring less and less what had happened and more and more how she could inflict some serious pain in the man in front of her.

"I see you are not going to be cooperative, too bad, Carter. I thought we could do this without getting mean," Simmons looked her up and down as if to asses how much pain she could stand, his eyes shone with perverse pleasure at her discomfort and if they had started glowing right now Sam wouldn't have been surprised, there didn't seem to be any humanity left in them anyway.

"Very well. We'll see each other soon, Doctor. Be prepared for the worst time of your life."

Sam watched him as he left her small cell. The click of the door seemed too silent and the silence that fell over the room was total. She looked around; besides the chair in which she was sitting there was no furniture. The chair itself seemed to be cemented into the floor and the heavy chain around her midsection that she noticed just now, prevented her from moving more than a centimetre or two on the chair's hard surface. She was sitting in the exact centre of the room and it was approximately one and a half metre form her position to the three walls around and the door in front of her. It seemed to be a cellar, since the only window she could see was high up in the wall behind her. Craning her neck as far as she could she saw some grass through the glass, definitely a cellar.

Unfortunately all those observations were useless. She couldn't move much and her soon stiff muscles wouldn't help her escape at all should she somehow manage to get herself freed of the damn chair.

"Just great," she mumbled as she tried to stretch her aching legs as far as possible.

There was nothing she could do. Except worry about Jack.

Meanwhile Jack had found out that Sam wasn't in the small room he was being held. After the initial cursing that revelation had provoked he quickly tried to remember what had happened.

They had seen the cars coming in their direction and he'd know from the beginning that they were too far away from his car to reach it in time. So instead of running towards their vehicle they had turned and run down the road, he should have known that they would never make it, hell he had probably known it, but they'd run nonetheless. After about two hundred metres of running he'd heard tires squealing as one of the cars came to a stop just behind them, while the second car had driven another hundred metres ahead of them before it'd stopped too.

They'd fought the men who'd seemed to pile out of the cars. Sam had had the first down before anyone could even think about drawing their weapons, they'd kicked and hit and kicked again. They were reluctant to use their weapons, usuing them to knock their opponents off instead of shooting at them. They would have gotten through and maybe, just maybe could have managed to escape...Right until the second Colonel Simmons had walked into the scene, bringing his men to order and discipline with his sheer presence. Instead of engaging in the fights they had provoked their opponents suddenly withdrew to a safe distance. In an exact formation they circled their prey and waited expectantly for their leader to utter a command.

An agonizing minute later he'd spoken the magic words, "I want them alive."

Sam was remembering too. They'd closed down on their position, coming closer in smaller carefully measured steps. She'd seen Simmons over the head of one of the man surrounding her, had seen him taking the long needle from a small black box he'd brought with him, had seen him smile in her direction before her attention momentarily wavered. Looking to her right she'd seen Jack go down thanks to the butt of a gun swiftly run over his head. Her heart had stopped for a second as he lay there motionless on the ground. She angrily balled her fist, ready to just put up a good a fight as Jack had before he had been overwhelmed, but she never did. The few seconds of distraction had been enough for Simmons to close the distance between them and she looked up, just to see the needle vanishing in her arm, she was unconscious before the pain in her arm fully registered.

She wished she could rub her arm now, but her bound wrists prevented her from doing so, which only served to annoy her more. Time seemed to expand and seconds took minutes as she waited. The worst thing was that she knew. She knew that Jack was somewhere out there and she had no idea how to reach him.

She knew that both of them were at the mercy of their captors.

"Hello Colonel," the voice next to his ear jerked him out of sleep, disorientated he automatically moved his arms into a defensive position only to stop mid-motion.

"What the hell-"

"Funny that's the same thing your girlfriend said."

He looked up at Simmons sharply. The man had the nerve to grin at him. He let his arms fall down to his sides; they weren't much use in his freshly discovered cuffs anyway.

"What do you want Simmons?" he snapped.

"Only slightly more polite than the little wife, I would..."

"Stop it! I understood you the first time. You. Have. Sam. I got it, loud and clear. Now to what do I owe the royal treatment?" he held his bound hands up in front of Simmons's face.

"I sent someone in earlier to sedate you. We had you cuffed and bound while you were taking your nap."

Jack didn't feel too good about the fact that Simmons was telling him so much, it seemed to much like the man didn't worry about the fact that he would tell his secrets. So either he had an ace up his sleeve the size of chulak or... or he knew that Jack wouldn't be able to tell anything to anyone. Ever again.

He remembered someone had come in, strong hands had picked him off the ground and had shoved him against the wall only moments after he'd realised that Sam wasn't with him. After that everything was in a blur, he'd tried to fight them off, but a sudden, stinging pain in his stomach had distracted him and after that everything had gone black. The now dull pain in his stomach together with the information he'd just gotten from Simmons told him that the sedative he'd received had probably been injected into his stomach.

"What do you want Simmons?" he asked, his patience wearing thin as his frustration grew.

"Information of course. But I'm not getting my hopes up about getting any while talking with you. Doctor Carter is much more promising in that area."

"Then what do you want from me?"

"Who says that I want anything from you?"

"Well you are here are you not?"

"Maybe I just wanted to chat. You know it's hard for a person like me to find someone to talk to, people never have the right security clearance. I miss the good conversations I used to have."

Jack couldn't care less about Simmons lack of social contacts, but choose to remain silent and plastered a half interested expression on his face. He remembered what Maybourne had said and whatever time Simmons spent with him Sam wouldn't be alone with him. He could survive a little small talk with the devil.

"Now let's hear how it feels the have tamed the feisty Major Samantha Carter!"

Or not.

Part Eight: Confrontation

Bang-

Pain.

Bang-

Pain.

Bang-

Pain.

Bang-

"Ah," Jack exclaimed angrily before he sat down with a heavy feeling body and a heavier feeling heart. He had been kicking the door of his prison for the last fifteen minutes, even though he knew that he wouldn't manage to break it out of its frame. His actions were more of a frustration release than an escape attempt anyway. He cradled his hurting ankle with his hands as best as he could with the cuffs still on and replayed what had happened in his mind. Simmons had talked to him for what seemed like hours. Since he'd managed to observe a small part of sunset through the small window his room had, so it probably HAD been hours since he'd been woken by the Colonel.

He hadn't been able to gather much information about Simmons during their conversation though, mostly because he had done most of the talking while Jack had ground his teeth together. They way he'd talked about Sam... it had made his blood boil and it had taken all his training to restrain himself from just jumping to his feet and kick the bastard. Unfortunately the two guards behind Simmons looked as if they could break his neck with next to no effort and so Jack restraint himself, waiting for them to leave so he could finally vent his anger, the door had been the only substitute there was.

Drained Jack rested his head against the wall behind him as exhaustion kicked in. The cold surface cooled his slightly sweaty skin instantly. As his breathing slowed he realized that it had become colder in the room. First anger and then his actions had prevented him to recognize the drop in temperature he was now increasingly dreading.

"Think warm thoughts," he muttered under his breath and his thoughts immediately turned to Sam and the warmth he felt whenever they were close.

While Jack was shivering in his cell Sam felt as if her body was melting. As soon as Simmons had left the temperature had started rising rapidly. Sweat had drenched her clothes within seconds and then had quickly dried off her cloths. As a consequence she felt disorientated and very, very thirsty. She must have passed out at some point, because when she opened her eyes again light shone into her cell through the small window, while the last thing she remembered was the utter darkness Simmons had left her with. At first the light from outside had illuminated the small room somewhat, but as the day drew to an end the light had faded and with the light bulb above her switched off nothing was left except darkness and her breathing.

Now however the light was back shining on the wooden door in front of her and it wasn't just her breathing she was hearing.

Jack couldn't just hear breathing, he could see it. In front off his mouth small clouds of fog appeared with every breath exhaled. His arms were around his legs, rubbing them in unconscious movements to warm them. He'd tried to jog around in his cell to keep warm, but that had only served to tire him out and sweat enough to let him regret it. Barely holding on to consciousness he wondered. He wondered where Sam was, if she was alright, if they tried freezing her as well... He wondered what Simmons was trying to accomplish, a shot to the head would be a lot more efficient if he wanted him dead so that probably wasn't his plan. What other purpose his cold prison had Jack couldn't fathom.

Still wondering he fell asleep.

Sam's muscles tensed as she realised that the sounds she was hearing belonged to somebody else's breath. To Sam's horror only half her muscles followed her commands leaving her only mentally alert instead of both mentally and physically.

"And so we meet again," Simmons loud voice sent a breath rushing down her neck and it seemed almost cooler than her skin.

"What-" her voice wouldn't work right with her mouth as dry as sand. She tried to cough, but instead of helping that only made it worse. She started to hiccup and her stomach suddenly clenched painfully causing her to surrender to a powerful fit of coughs. After several minutes she managed to croak out a question between shallow uneven breaths, "What have you done to me?"

"Ah, not much Doctor. Just raised the temperature a few degrees, don't you like it?"

He was still standing behind her, only his shadow on the opposite wall revealed that he was standing behind her slightly to her left. She didn't intend to answer him and after a minute of silence he spoke again.

"So I've read several of those reports you sent to the Pentagon on a regular basis..." he stopped and took another deep breath again sending a breeze of welcomed cold air down her neck. Sam was almost angry at herself for enjoying the brief moment of cold before she realised how hot it must be for a human's breath to feel cool against her skin.

Her thoughts left her dizzy and time seemed to stretch as she fought against her whirling mind.

"What about'em?" she managed to ask, hoping that it would get easier to focus if she concentrated on the conversation as weird as it may be.

"Your standing orders are to find new allies against the goa'uld and to assess the new threats you come upon on your missions," he looked at her, checking that he was still conscious enough to follow his words. "Those reports you wrote about various alien cultures always fail on the second point of your standing orders Major!" his voice changed from the low almost intimate tone he'd used in the beginning of his sentence to loud, disapproving shout. Sam found it harder and harder to understand him as her vision started to fail her. Her opponents face was too close to focus on his features and the edges of her vision blurred more and more.

The face in front of her suddenly vanished as the voice from before boomed loudly above her head asking her questions she didn't understand anymore. Words merged into one big offending sound.

'What's happening to me?' the question floated through her mind as consciousness floated away.

Part Nine: Questions

Jack woke when he thought he wouldn't wake another time. It had been hours since he'd first lost consciousness in the cold of his room, he'd drifted in and out of consciousness so many times that he hadn't the faintest idea what time it actually was. His chin itched and when he brought his still cuffed hands to his face he encountered more than his usual morning stubble. He decided that it probably was some time in the afternoon and it was definitely warmer than before. The floor beneath him was still icy, but his breath didn't turn to ice in front of his face anymore. He stood carefully and his bones made creaking noises that made him wish he hadn't. His body warmed quickly as it was no longer pressed into the cold floor. He moved as best as he could to get his circulation going, hoping to speed up the warming of his flesh. He was pleasantly surprised to find that there was no frost burn, "Not everything can go to hell in one day," he mumbled just as the door opened to reveal a grinning Colonel Simmons.

"Good morning Colonel, I see you rested well?" without waiting for an answer he continued. "I was just talking to Doctor Carter. Interesting woman. Young, intelligent, beautiful... quite your opposite in fact."

Jack looked right through him, refusing to even acknowledge his presence. With another smug grin Simmons talked again, "I couldn't quite figure out what she sees in you, though. Can you?" Simmons cocked his head slightly to the side and raised an eyebrow as if he was really interested in Jack's opinion. Not falling for his bait Jack still ignored him. His next words however changed that, both the tone as well as the words itself made his head whip up and his gaze lock to Simmons that he felt dizzy for a second or two. Icily the words dripped with anger as they washed over Jack's body leaving him a million degrees colder than the whole night had done.

"Well Jack I suggest you think about it, because every day you don't have an answer for me I'll make the Major's life hell on earth."

Her head was clearer as she woke up. This should have been a god thing, but it didn't really feel like it. Her muscles had cramped from the unnatural position she'd been forced into and her upper arm, where she remembered receiving an injection into, hurt like hell. Additionally her mouth was dry as sand and her stomach hurt from not drinking anything for who knows how long.

She couldn't suppress the small groan that pressed past her lips as her previously clouded senses were now assaulted full force by the painful sensations.

As she got used to the pain and could finally think about something other than a nice strong sedative in combination with some good old painkillers, she started to remember. Simmons had visited her two more times after she'd first lost consciousness in his presence. Both occasions had more or less mirrored the first time, except that she hadn't been woken by a rush of water that by that time would have been greatly appreciated. Instead she'd been shaken roughly until she'd groggily opened her eyes only to close those again as a strong light had nearly blinded her. A voice she couldn't quite locate seemed to float to her ears from all around her and she vaguely recognized it as Colonel Simmons voice. He'd asked similar questions. About hostile aliens, threats and weaknesses within the SGC. She'd been so delirious most of the time that only half of his questions had made sense and when she'd felt lucid enough to actually answer she'd lied as best as she could. She'd talked about evil pink smurfs that lived in Hammond's ears and hopping stargates that hunted for gatetravellers. Jack would have been so proud. Simmons on the other hand wasn't too impressed apparently. He'd punished her by intensifying the harsh lights around her or flashing her with the same, he'd shouted at her until she no longer followed his words and then left. As soon as he was out the door the darkness returned as someone had sealed her only window, taking her last chance to measure time at all. It felt as if she'd never been so alone, so exposed and so exhausted.

She sighed and moved a little, hoping that there was a more comfortable position in this chair. There wasn't. So she waited.

The door to her prison opened and she knew that she wouldn't be able to muster any resistance against whoever would enter.

Jack's door was opening as well, he'd taken position behind the door after checking all the walls for cameras and coming up empty. There was no way to see into his prison from the outside, at least he couldn't find one. Without much of a plan he hid behind the door, hoping to catch somebody off guard and get out this room and find Sam.

He was just starting to loose concentration again, due to exhaustion, as the lock turned in a quick jerky movement. He intertwined his fingers and raised his joined hands over his head, ready to swing his arms at anyone who entered, the door swung open and one person came through. As soon as he could see half of the man's back he launched his attack, hoping to use the surprise factor to his advantage.

Adrenalin enabled him to move quickly and he watched rather detached as he closed the distance between himself and his target. His movement caused the other guy to spin around, his own eyes as wide as Jack's quickly got. Jack only managed to avoid a big mistake by throwing his whole body to the side and in turn landing hard on the ground as he narrowly missed the intruder.

"Jack! What are you trying to do?"

"Daniel!" Jack exclaimed as he quickly got back to his feet. The younger man just stared as his friend and started to shiver at the artificial cold Jack's room contained. A big grin appeared on Jack's face, "How did you find us?"

"When you and Sam didn't return or send back a message we were worried. I found an email in Sam's inbox with plans of this house and the address and all. We thought we'd give it a shot," Daniel quickly led Jack out of the cell into the infinitively warmer room outside before he grabbed his radio and called Teal'c, "I found Jack, any luck with Sam?"

"Negative, DoctorJackson, we are still searching and-" the transmission suddenly stopped, but they could hear gunfire to their left. They ran into the sounds' direction and quickly caught up to Teal'c and his companion, who turned out to be no other than Dr. Janet Fraiser. Jack thought she looked rather out of place clutching a radio and shooting a zat at the same time. Gone were the lab coat and stethoscope and instead she wore something that looked suspiciously like fatigue pants and a black sweater. The outfit mirrored Daniel's and Teal'c's attire exactly, except for the size of course.

Teal'c shot the last standing man with his own zat and it was suddenly quiet again except for their slightly faster breathing.

"Hey Teal'c, doc," Jack greeted them warmly, glad that their friends had come to their rescue. "Stole Cadet Hailey's clothes again, eh doc?" Jack asked with a quick grin as he saw her walking over to him with a concerned expression. He could tell she was in full doctor mode and didn't feel like playing twenty questions with her when they had to find Sam.

She sent him the anticipated dark glare, but not without a light smile tugging around the corners of her mouth, "I take it you're feeling well, Colonel and just want to find Sam, right?"

"Absolutely!" he answered. She nodded and turned to where their opponents had fallen at the end of the corridor. Jack winced as he saw their crumpled forms. He still remembered the first time he'd been shot by a zat; he wouldn't wish it on most of the people he knew, but those just might deserved it. He watched in fascination as Janet did not as he'd expected - checking their pulse and breathing - but instead took a pair of cuffs from her light pack and restrained the men.

Teal'c had obviously seen his questioning gaze as he answered Jack's unspoken question immediately, "DoctorFraiser has made it clear to both DoctorJackson and myself that she wouldn't take life where it wasn't necessary, so we came prepared. I am glad to see you well O'Neill."

"Thanks Teal'c, any idea where Sam is?"

"Somewhere down that corridor, we've been everywhere else," Daniel answered in Teal'c's place as he too fumbled with his pack and took out some pliers. "Hold out your hands, Jack."

A few seconds later Jack's hands were free of the cuffs and he sent his friend a grateful look as he rubbed his sore wrists, "Prepared indeed, campers. Okay, let's get this over with and save Sam."

They moved down the corridor checking doors carefully; Jack noted that they were all soundproof and wondered why Simmons had soundproof prison cells in his cellar. his thoughts left him feeling sick.

His apprehension grew with every empty room they found, some of the rooms were locked and he was once again shocked to see Janet Fraiser pick locks as if she'd never done everything else in her life, "You and I need to talk about your assigned position within the SGC, doc," he said as he heard the deadbolt give away once again.

Janet smiled at him briefly before she packed away her equipment, tightened her grip on her zat again and motioned for Teal'c to push up the door.

Unlike the other rooms this one wasn't empty. The light that came from within was sickly bright, hurting everyone's eyes before they could divert their vision. Jack blinked furiously and raised the zat Daniel had given him. His expression was grim. It was hot in the room and Jack's still slightly shaking limbs would have appreciated the warmth if he hadn't been as tense as he was. His aim was directed on what appeared to be the person's face in the cell. He couldn't make out the face, but the shadowy outlines where enough to let him recognise him.

They'd found Simmons.

"You better pray that she's just unconscious Simmons!" Jack shouted. "Or you'll only live to regret it."

And Sam.

Earlier

Sam sucked in the hot air around her. He was there again, standing in the doorway to her prison, illuminated by the light behind him. He looked more threatening than ever, a black shape against a too bright light looming over her.

"Came back for another round?" she asked, horrified how raspy her own voice sounded. She knew that if she didn't get any water soon she wouldn't be strong enough to rasp at all. Not that she felt particularly strong right now.

"I see you're feeling better Major, want me to turn up the heat a little? It's not getting chilly in here, is it?" Her eyes followed him as he walked to the wall behind her. She didn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her anguish at the thought of the room getting even hotter. She grimaced as he walked behind her; both from fear of what she knew would come now as well as her complaining neck muscles.

She quickly closed her eyes and a second later the lights were turned on, the light so bright that it cut through her tightly shut eyelids. She blinked the tears that had squeezed through her hurting eyelids away and her fading headache returned full force as the light attacked her unprotected eyes.

"Oh, no tears, Major. We don't want those, do we?"

"Go to hell, Simmons." Weakness gave away to anger as she looked up at him, trying to ignore the brightness as best as she could. Simmons just smiled at her.

"I see you're up to some questions, very good, Major," He used her old title to bait her, but she just ignored it. As much as she missed being in the military, she knew what she had gained by leaving the service.

He looked at her for a minute, remaining eerily silent. "Very well. What is General Hammond's greatest weakness?"

"Raspberry Ice-cream!"

The light immediately focused on her face, punishing her. "How can the SGC be compromised?" The voice was harsher and the Colonel's growing impatience evident.

She decided to stay silent. Mostly because she couldn't think of something witty to say with her head starting to swim again. Instead she held her head high, staring at him with unseeing eyes, which didn't require much from her quickly fading concentration.

The light started blinking rapidly imitating constant lighting rather believably. She could only close her eyes and lower here head, trying to shield herself as much as possible. Simmons continued asking her questions, but it was harder and harder to follow him and the clear headedness she'd woken up had vanished completely.

It was getting hotter and Sam couldn't believe it. She had thought that it wasn't possible and that her overheated body wouldn't even be able to feel the difference anymore.

"Major! Are you listening to me?" Long established habits wanted to force her to listen and obey the authoritative voice, but the small part of her that was still conscious enough to recognize who was talking to her resisted. That last conscious part enabled her to raise her head and look at him, she ignored the harsh light and the fact that he wasn't more than a big black shadow, she ignored the tears that tracked down her cheeks and she ignored the pain that exploded behind her eyelids and just stared at the position of his eyes.

"Go to hell Simmons," The words came out as a silent hiss before her head fell forward again and she lost consciousness.

The last thing she heard was someone opening the door.

Present

All weapons in the room targeted the NID Colonel in the corner. Jack's body soaked up the warmth while his eyes soaked up the form sitting on the chair in the centre of the room. Daniel went to the far wall and found the switch that dimmed the lights. The black shadow they'd all identified as Colonel Simmons got clearer and Jack saw him standing there in his ridiculous black suit and dark sunglasses.

"What did you do to her?" he asked with threatening calmness as he lowered his weapon and walked over to Sam. He looked briefly at Simmons's arrogant face and knew that the man wouldn't tell him anything. His sigh of relief was audible to everyone as he saw her chest rise and fall with every breath she took. Suppressing the insanely strong urge to smile, he held out a hand to Daniel, who without asking handed him the pliers. He cut Sam's wrists free and then lowered her to the ground. She moaned in pain as her stiff muscles were moved, but didn't wake.

Janet crouched next to them immediately checking Sam's thankfully responsive eye movement and not dilated pupils as well as her pulse, but despite the doctor's attempts Sam still didn't wake up.

"Daniel," Jack called to the young archaeologist who helped Teal'c bind Simmons with a piece of rope.

"How is she Jack?" Daniel asked with concern.

"I have no idea, she's breathing alright and stuff, but we better get her to the infirmary so the doc can check her over, right doc?"

"Yeah, I have to take a blood sample to analyze. You see that puncture marks on her right arm?" Janet pushed up the sleeve of Sam's shirt and revealed an angry red bump of flesh with several small dots in the middle, "She was injected with something several times; I wanna know what it was."

"Sounds like a plan, Teal'c you ready to go? Got our package wrapped?"

"He is sufficiently bound O'Neill," Teal'c held up his prisoner's bound hands and Jack chuckled wryly at the picture of Simmons's hand barely visible under the tight bindings.

"Ran out of cuffs, T.?" His question remained unanswered, which was just as well since Jack's attention had returned to Sam again. "Okay, let's get outta here."

Janet drove them back to the mountain. It took more than an hour and Jack grew more frustrated and angry with every minute. The combination wasn't good. Daniel and Teal'c were in a car in front of them together with Simmons, on whom Jack directed all of his anger at. It had been a good choice to separate them, right now Jack had no idea what he would do to the NID Colonel if left alone with him.

They stopped at the first gate to the base and Janet turned to Jack with a questioning look. Jack knew that Janet would have much rather been beside Sam checking on her, but Jack's vision wasn't well enough for him to drive a car safely.

He just shook his head in the negative. Sam had woken for all of two minutes during their drive which they'd spent trying to get as much fluid into her as well as finding out if she was seriously hurt. She hadn't been able to answer their questions, since all of her concentration was entirely focused on the bottle of water Jack had been pressing to her lips. She'd fallen asleep or lost conscious after less than three minutes.

"She's still out," Janet stated unnecessarily. "We'll be there shortly; Daniel said he'd call the base in advance to let them know we're coming."

"Good," was all Jack managed as a reply before his attention turned back to the woman whose head rested in his lap. He remembered this situation so well, when they'd had the time to enjoy some tv or music together Sam would stretch out on the couch and snuggle her face into his belly until he's start caressing her head in slow circles, massaging her head softly. She would often fall asleep from all the relaxation and he swore the sound that she made just seconds before she fell asleep was purring. Purring like that cat that she'd loved so much and refused to replace. Purring like all it took was a simple caress to make her world perfect. He carefully traced her cheeks with his fingertips, then her eyebrows and nose avoiding the lips he didn't want to touch until they could reciprocate his kiss and then let his fingers tangle in her blond hair. Caressing and massaging in the way he knew she loved; he'd do so until her world was perfect once again.

They were separated despite Jack's good intentions. A group of nurses waited at the elevator with a stretcher and enough medical equipment to confuse Jack, but he was comfortable enough to leave Sam in their capable hands. Teal'c had carried her, since Jack just hadn't been strong enough to do so himself.

Next to the nurses stood three SFs prepared to take Colonel Simmons into custody. "If he tries anything, even remotely funny, shoot him," Jack said before the elevator doors slid shut and took them down to the SGC.

The ride seemed to take three times the usual amount of time and Jack nervously tapped his foot against the floor.

"Is the infirmary ready?" Janet asked as she stuck one of the much dreaded needles into the back of Sam's hand and attached an IV drip to get her hydrated. One of the nurses nodded.

"Good, getting fluids into her is the most important thing right now. We need to find out what Simmons injected her with before we can worry more. The good news is that she has no fever and the puncture wounds on her arm are just slightly infected." Janet obviously ran out of words and her whole body seemed to shrink all of a sudden. At her reaction Jack finally remembered that he wasn't the only one affected by Sam's condition. He carefully reached out a hand and touched her shoulder softly.

"It's gonna be alright Janet, you know Sam," he managed a smile that he didn't feel, but it seemed to make her feel better, which he was grateful for.

"Yeah, she will. She's Sam, she's always alright."

With her last word the elevator came to a halt and its doors slid open slowly. They swarmed out of the close confines and rushed down the hallway to the infirmary. The blood that Janet had already drawn on their way down was taken to the adjoining lab as Sam was hooked up to various monitors and a stationary IV.

"We'll have to wait for the test results. Colonel, I want to examine you as well, Daniel, you better report to Hammond and explain why we brought a prisoner."

"'Kay," Daniel answered and after a last worried glance towards Sam left the infirmary.

"I wish he'd follow my commands like that," Jack mumbled as he dragged his heavy body to the bed next to Sam's. The adrenalin was fast losing the ability to keep him going and all strength drained off him.

"Teal'c?" Jack asked as he rolled up his sleeve to allow Janet to draw blood from him as well.

"Yes, O'Neill?"

"Could you keep an eye on Simmons? I'd feel better if I knew you'd be there to stop him should he try to escape."

"I will O'Neill, but you must promise me that I will be informed of every change in SamanthaCarter's condition. Is that acceptable?"

"Of course, you'll be the first to know," Jack assured him, touched by his friend's concern even though he knew that he cared deeply for Sam. They all did; care for her as well as each other. Still it was amazing every time one them was injured how fiercely they protected and how deeply the loved each other.

With a nod to Janet Teal'c left and with a groan Jack let himself fall back on the bed. His protesting muscles hurt, especially in his belly area and he promptly remembered that Sam hadn't been the only one to be injected by Simmons.

"Ah, doc?" Janet turned form the nurse she had been speaking to and raised her eyebrows in question. Jack pulled up his shirt to reveal his stomach where his angrily red flesh greeted him. "I guess I got one of those needles as well."

"There's just one puncture wound, but it's infected. I'll start an IV with antibiotics. I know you can eat and drink on your own, but I want you to get as many fluids as possible, so we'll leave it for a while. That means you'll rest, understood Colonel?" She smiled despite her harsh words, her concern for him as evident as her concern for Sam had been.

"No argument from me, doc. As long as I can stay here, I'll rest as long as you want." While he spoke his eyes travelled to Sam's unconscious body lying in the bed next to his. Janet's eyes followed his and she nodded.

"I guess that's okay. I'll get a nurse to get the IV going after I put the needle in." He heard her words but didn't really pay attention anymore. Exhaustion and worry finally caught up with him and he fell asleep.

Part Ten: Healing

When Jack woke up hours later Daniel told him that Sam had woken up briefly, just long enough to down a cup of cold tea and slip from unconsciousness into healthy sleep. He was a bit disappointed that he hadn’t been awake to see her, but the overall relief at her improved health condition was enough to overrule that emotion. His eyes locked onto Sam’s features and he simply stared; a small smile dancing around his lips. She was going to be alright.

“Daniel?” he called after just watching Sam sleeping for a while.

“Yeah?” he tiredly answered from his position by Sam’s feet. He sat on one of the uncomfortable infirmary chairs half asleep.

“Get some sleep. We’ll be here when you get back,” Jack said with a smile and Daniel just blinked at him, not understanding what his friend wanted him to do.

“You – go – bed!” More blinking; Jack couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled from his throat.

“Come on Danny-boy, let’s get you to bed! Seems like you need it.”

He carefully got off his own bed and walked over to the sleepy archaeologist. He was tired enough that he was easy to guide and with a hand around the young man’s shoulders Jack led him through the full infirmary. If SG-2 and 3 hadn't come through an hour earlier all with mild injuries Jack would have found Daniel an infirmary bed, but now they were all occupied by resting soldiers. Just as they were about to leave he saw a glimpse of an obviously asleep Janet sitting at her desk in the small room which she called her office. He’d seen Dr. Warner fuss over patients so it seemed like Janet’s shift was actually over for once. She deserved a good night’s sleep, but there was no way that she could be comfortable in that chair.

“Wait here,” Jack advised Daniel and pushed him a little so he leaned against the wall. He jogged through the room and pushed the door fully open. Janet didn’t even stir.

“Hey doc, wake up,” he called and her head shot up so fast that he was afraid she’d need a doctor herself for the whiplash she must have given herself.

“What?” Her eyes were wide, but still unseeing from sleep.

“You guys didn’t sleep all that much while Sam and I where gone, did you?”

“Is Sam alright?” she blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to get her mind clear.

“Of course; she’s sleeping. As will you.” Without further ado he took her arm and pulled her with him to where he'd left Daniel. His free hand closed around his arm as well and he pulled both doctors with him to the nearest unoccupied quarters and pushed them inside. “Sleep!” He closed the door again and waited five minutes before he risked a glance inside. The sight of his two friends curled around each other on top of the covers made him smile. From the looks of it they’d just fallen on the bed, too tired to even pull a blanket over themselves. “But we all know the shared-body-heat-thing works just as well,” he whispered with a grin as he tugged the big comforter around them as best as he could. Next were their shoes and Daniel’s glasses together with Janet’s stethoscope, he hesitated a second before he took off her lab coat as well. He had to move her around a little to accomplish the task, but she didn’t wake, but merely groaned weakly in protest. He was just trying to get the blanket back over her as she cutely enough returned to Daniel’s embrace. He chucked as he observed his handiwork. He’d made them into a neat cocoon; at least they would stay warm this way. And if their positions would cause them some embarrassment in the morning he would make sure to tease them mercilessly.

With a grin he left them.

Inspired by the doc and Daniel, Jack exchanged his own bed for Sam’s and climbed in next to her. He was determined to be there the next time she woke. He couldn’t embrace her like he wanted to, the ridiculous number of medical equipment attached to her prevented that, but he could take her hand in both of his and press a soft kiss on her knuckles. “Get better soon, love.”

Sam didn’t wake again that night or the next morning. Jack only left her side to find himself some non-infirmary breakfast and a quick shower along with a change of clothes for himself as well as Sam. She would want them when she woke, he knew how she hated hospital gowns; she hadn’t had the best of times in them.

General Hammond, who’d been briefed by both Daniel and Teal’c, came by around noon to see how his officers were doing as well as to get Jack’s version of events. He left Jack forms to file his report ‘while it was still fresh on his mind.’ Jack could have done without it, but it served to be a good distraction from Sam’s continued, but thankfully natural, unconsciousness. He wrote it while sitting in a chair next to Sam’s bed and just as he’d scribbled his final signature under the damn thing she stirred.

“Hey, great timing there, honey,” he whispered as she slowly blinked her eyes open. She seemed disoriented and unfocused for a few seconds before she opened her mouth to speak, her words however where prevented by her dry throat. Jack quickly brought a glass of water to her lips and she drank so greedily that Jack had to take away the glass several times and remind her not to drink too fast. After half a glass refill she finally leaned back and closed her eyes with a sigh. Without opening her eyes she spoke, “What did you just call me?”

His grin was wide and he leaned over to give her a quick kiss on the forehead.

“I’m glad you’re awake,” he stated and she smiled briefly, with her eyes still closed. “Any pain?”

“Just a slight headache and my arm hurts. Nothing bad.” She sighed and looked at her bandaged right arm, wincing as she tried to move it. “What happened?”

“Daniel, the doc and Teal’c came to rescue us,” he answered with another smile.

“How did they know where to find us?”

“From you, actually. Daniel found that email with Simmons address, they thought they’d check it out é voilá here we are.” Sam’s responding smile was weak and her eyes already closed again.

“What about Simmons?”

“We got him, he’s in the brig,” he informed her and her smile turned to a grim grin.

“We should return to p6y331 with him.”

“Why?”

“They still burn the evil witches there, remember?”

He gave her another wry smile. “Go back to sleep,” he instructed softly and unnecessarily. Even if she had wanted to she wouldn’t have been able to resist sleep’s pull much longer. As soon as he was sure that she was oblivious to the world again, he left her bedside to find the doc. She stood next to a sleeping woman whom Jack recognized, but couldn’t quite put a name to. She looked up from her chart as he came to a stop next to her and tried with little success to hide the self-conscious blush on her cheeks.

There had been a lot of confusion and embarrassment in the morning just as Jack had imagined and in retaliation for the last two months of teasing from his friends he had tried to increase Janet's and Daniel's discomfort as much as he could. They all knew that there were no real hard feelings between them and that one word from any of those involved would stop the teasing instantly.

“Hey Janet, you're still up? Must have been a good night’s rest you had!” That didn’t mean that any of them would do that. They grinned at each other for a second before Janet’s eyebrow rose slightly clearly indicating that she wanted to know if Jack had gone to all the trouble of finding her just to tease her or if there was something else.

“Sam was awake for five minutes. She said she felt nothing but a slight headache and that her arm hurt, nothing serious, then she fell asleep again."

"That's good. We'll just have to wait till all the drugs are out of her system," she walked with him towards her office and showed him numbers and big words that made next to no sense to him.

"That's her latest blood work. There are still traces of the sedative in her blood, but it's not much. What worries me more is this weird mix of other drugs in her system. We were able to identify some of them; most were somehow connected to what you probably know as truth-serum. We have her on the fastest IV-drip and she's reacting very well, she'll probably need another week before she's got her strength back, but I'm planning to release her as soon as she can stay awake for more then two hours and can make the trip to the bathroom on her own. She'll stay with you, right?"

"Of course."

"Good, then it's settled, I'd say you are good to go tomorrow."

“Thanks Janet.”

The next time Sam woke she found herself surrounded by most of her friends. She felt like she’d slept forever and half her body was still preoccupied by sleep. She stretched her arms high over her head to get the muscles working again.

“Ouch,” she complained as she moved her bandaged arm. “Hey guys!” she added and brought her uninjured arm to rub the sore spot.

“Nah, stop that,” Janet said and gently got her hand away from trying to prod at her injury.

“But it’s itching!”

“You’ll have to live with that. Any pain?”

“Just when I move the arm, not even a headache anymore. Seems like I slept through the worst for once.”

“Yeah, seems like it. The sedative is out of your system completely as well as the other drugs that he injected you with. Did Colonel Simmons say anything about those?”

“No, I was unconscious most of the time and it was hot, very hot, I don’t remember much of what happened. He asked me questions; that's all he ever did. About the defenses and weaknesses of the SGC, I don’t think I told him anything.”

Jack smiled at her and Janet nodded, “I’m still on duty and there are a lot of stitches to stitch on a couple of marines. I’m glad you’re doing better Sam, try to not overdo it in the first five minutes.”

“Yes, ma’am. And Janet?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks, for everything.”

“No problem,” Janet replied with a proud grin before she left the room.

“Daniel? I want to thank you too. Jack told me that you saved us.”

“I’m just returning the favor. But after what Jack did yesterday I might be reconsidering.”

“What did you do?” Sam asked curiously and Jack immediately started with his story how he found the two doctors almost dead on their feet. For the next few days only laughter was heard from the infirmary.

"Teal'c."

"O'Neill."

They stood next to each other; Teal'c was standing with his back towards to wall that Jack was facing. He'd been standing guard since they had returned from their rescue of ColonelO'Neill and SamanthaCarter. "Do you have news of SamanthaCarter?"

"You can go now, I'll take over," Jack answered, ignoring Teal'c's question completely. The Jaffa was concerned by the lack of emotion in his friend's face. Jack's eyes were focused solely on the door behind Teal'c as if he was trying to pierce the steel with his willpower alone. After a few seconds of waiting in silence Teal'c moved for the first time since yesterday. He turned to Jack and compared him to the man they had brought home the day before. Gone were the weakness and nervousness
>from before, but he hadn't returned to his usual self either. The
>person
in front of Teal'c seemed to have no emotions at all and his face was set in stone.

"O'Neill!" Teal'c called, louder this time.

"Hmm?"

"SamanthaCarter?"

Jack blinked several times and his features seemed to soften again. "She's awake and getting better fast. Faster than Fraiser had anticipated actually. She's already been awake for five hours and showed no signs of tiring."

"That is most appreciated news, O'Neill. I will leave you now to perform kel'no'reem. I presume I will you see you later at SamanthaCarter's bedside?"

Jack nodded, his attention already redirected to the door. He realized subconsciously when his friend left, but at the moment all of his concentration was focused on the on the monster that resided behind the door. He squared his shoulders suddenly and his whole body tensed even more. With a quick push of his left hand the door swung open and he went into the room.

"Colonel O'Neill! I see you've come to talk." He had the audacity to sit there in his cell and smile at him, looking for all the world as if he was enjoying a vacation that just happened to include bars on the windows.

"Shut up, Simmons. I am gonna talk; you are going to listen."

"Do you see this Simmons?"

"It's a ribbon device."

"Very good Simmons. Do you know what is used for?“ The Colonel in front of Jack remained silent, but Jack wasn't going to forgive his lack of cooperation. He leaned forward and spoke loudly, "What is it used for?"

"Torture. It is used by the goa'uld for torture."

"Do you know how it works?"

"It somehow transfers thoughts into usable energy allowing the person who wears it to manipulate his opponent’s mind and to inflict pain. You need to have naquadah in your body to make it work though. Major Carter theorized that in fact every human could use it, should his or her thoughts be strong enough and that the naquadah is used as a catalyst allowing weaker minds to use the device too."

"I see you've done your homework. Do you know how it feels to have this used on you? Do you think you could bare the pain it inflicts?"

Simmons remained silent and Jack thought it would be more effective if he would wait until the NID Colonel started talking on his own. He was soon rewarded for his patience.

"Why are you asking me these things, Colonel O'Neill."

"Because you'll find out just how painful these things really are if you don't tell me what exactly you did to Sam and who you are working for; how we can take them down." Simmons eyes were huge, fear evident in his features. Jack smiled smugly. His distorted voice had had quite an effect as well as the glowing of the ribbon device.

"You... You are one of them! You're a goa'uld, you're-"

"Tell me!"

"They were drugs; a cocktail, designed to make her tell the truth; it didn't work, she resisted," the words were fleeing his mouth so fast Jack could see the accompanying rush out of Simmons lungs and his face getting redder and redder. Fear haunted his eyes although they didn't move from Jack's.

"Who are your superiors? Who sponsors you?"

"Kinsey. Senator Kinsey, he's planning to expose the program and use the big media event for his presidential campaign. He wants to be known as the man who brought truth to the American public once again. He has a list of people working for him in secret, but they are all on the official list of campaign workers. That's all there is, there's nothing more." His breathing was so fast that he seemed to hyperventilate, but Jack couldn't care less. He smiled triumphantly. "Thanks Simmons," he said and turned to go.

"That's it?" Simmons asked unbelievingly. "Aren't you going to try to convince me that you are my god? Or use the ribbon device."

"You seem eager."

With renewed fear Simmons backed away into the farthest corner of his cell. "No, no I'm sorry. Please don't torture me!"

"Just as well, I couldn't use the damn thing anyway," Jack said and slipped the ribbon device from his hand.

"What?"

"You said it yourself, you need naquadah to use it. I don't have that."

"But... but-"

"Ahh, the voice?" Jack reached into the inside of his fatigue jacket and switched a tiny switch and his voice turned back to normal. "Surprising what a little technology can do, isn't it?"

"The device glowed..."

"Yeah, transformed brain energy or a little colored light bulb, it's all the same I guess. It's the eyes Simmons. Glowing eyes are always the first indication that you're dealing with an alien."

Simmons just stood there, his face pale with shock and probably fear. His mouth opened and closed as if to form words but no sound made it over his lips. Grinning, Jack gave Simmons two thumbs up and with an even bigger grin he left the cell without looking back.

"How did it go?" Sam asked as soon as she saw Jack enter the infirmary.

"Perfectly."

Janet looked between her two widely grinning friends. "How did what perfectly go?" she asked irritated. Jack crossed the distance separating them and sat down on Sam's bed opposite Janet who sat in a chair next to her friend.

"We came up with a plan. Simmons fears the goa'uld. That's why he is doing everything in his power to get them away from Earth. We used that against him."

"How?"

"Do you remember the voice modifications-devices we used during the training sessions with Hailey and her cadets?" Sam asked Janet.

"Yeah, we worked hard on those, to make it real."

"Exactly. Simmons thought it was very real!"

"Oh you didn't?"

Jack initiated the device hidden in his jacket again. "Yes I did."

Janet's jaw hit the floor while Sam broke out in giggles. "Oh yeah, he did. And he had fun too!"

"I guess," Jack admitted. "He deserved it. He confirmed your initial diagnosis about the drugs, doc. And he had some interesting things to say about Kinsey."

"You have it on tape?" Sam asked anxiously.

"All of it. This will be the downfall of Kinsey and his associates."

All three were grinning until Sam disturbed them with a huge yawn. "Sorry. I guess I'll catch up on sleep some more."

Jack leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Do that. I'll go report to Hammond and he'll start the legal process of Simmons's and Kinsey's trials."

Sam's eyes were already closed and a small smile still played around her lips.

"You did it Sam. Mission accomplished."

The trial was held in secret and was fast. Kinsey and Simmons went down smoothly. Sam's research as well as an anonymous email she got from 'a friend' was used as main evidence together with her and Jack's testimony dug them a hole even the best lawyers couldn't get them out of. In the end they were both sent to prison for life for high treason and kidnapping of two Air Force officers.

The last day of the trial Jack got a message from one of the defending lawyers asking him to meet Simmons in his holding cell after court. He hadn't wanted to go, but in the end he couldn't not go. He signaled the guard at the door and the young man opened the heavy door for him.

"I see you got my message," Simmons greeted him.

"I'm just being curious. What do you want."

"Just wanted to let you know that you still haven't answered my question Jack."

"What question?"

"Why would Major Doctor Samantha Carter fall in love with an idiot like you?"

Jack couldn’t believe the man's smugness. He'd seen him whimpering in fear and still he tried to pull this act with him. "I'm going. I hope you get the coldest cell of all."

"I bet she came to you late at night. She felt lost and vulnerable. You were her commanding officer. You would give her direction. Tell her what to do. That's why she's with you. Not love."

"You're full of crap Simmons."

"Think about it, Jack. She has always been loyal to you. You saved her life, she owes you. Loyalty can bring people to think they are in love. She could do ten times better than you and she'll realize that with time. She'll resent you for the choices she's made and then loyalty will no longer be enough to convince her that she loves you."

Jack looked at him, he had a big grin on his face and seemed to enjoy talking him down a great deal. What he said was nonsense. It had to be, right? Right!

"You're pathetic Simmons," was all he said before he turned towards the door and left.

The only problem was that a part of him believed every single word Simmons had said.

In the evening they all met at Jack's place to celebrate their victory over Simmons and Kinsey. They laughed and talked and everybody was glad that Sam was again healthy and that she had achieved what she's reached for.

"I am most glad that you cleansed your government of those criminals SamanthaCarter."

"Thanks Teal'c," Sam answered and smiled at him from her place on the couch. Jack sat next to her an arm loosely draped around her shoulders.

"I however was most surprised to learn that your behavior before you spoke to Simmons a week ago was false O'Neill. I had not thought of you as an actor before."

Jack chuckled. "I'm sorry Teal'c. I just tried to get in the mood. It was hard to talk to Simmons with that weird voice and not start laughing at his reactions."

"I see. I shall try and observe you closer in the future so I may not be deceived another time."

They all laughed as Teal'c sat down opposite the couple with a hard stare fixed on Jack. After two seconds he smiled slightly and nodded.

After that their little impromptu party quieted down pretty quickly. Janet and Cassie went home first and Daniel, Teal'c, Jack and Sam each took a last beer and spent some quality team-time.

"So Sam I guess we'll be having more time together again, now that you don't have to work night shifts on your little crusade against government conspiracies," Daniel asked.

"Yeah, I'm sorry that I was so preoccupied, but I had to solve this first."

They fell into a comfortable silence once again and Daniel noticed how quiet Jack had been the whole evening. 'Probably just tired,' Daniel thought and finished his beer. It was only his third over the long evening but he was still glad that Teal'c would drive him home. They had arrived here in two cars, Daniel's and Jack's and Janet had arrived later with Cassandra. Daniel hadn't questioned why Sam's car would stay at the base over night. He was glad for his friends. They were good for each other. He wished them nothing but the best of luck.

Part Eleven: Fears

Jack closed the door behind Daniel and sighed softly, it was now or never. He had to tell her now or he would never find the courage to do what had to be done. Ever since Simmons had talked to him doubts had started to blossom within him and he found it harder and harder to ignore them.

He sat down next Sam, bringing an arm around her shoulder, trying to shake the feeling of guilt he felt as he enjoyed what would be their last closeness.

"We did it, huh?" Sam asked with a grin.

"You did it Sam. This is your victory," his treacherous heart beat faster as she cuddled closer to him. He could picture her face as she lay against his chest. He was sure she smiled and that she ducked her head between her shoulder trying to hide how proud she was of herself and his praise.
They sat like that for a while until Jack had gathered enough courage to speak again.

"I guess you'll be talking to Hammond now," he said, wondering how he managed to keep his voice sounding almost casual.

"About what?" her puzzlement was clearly tangible and he had to take a moment to steel his heart against his own next words.

"About getting your rank back, getting you back into the military..."

"Why?" she asked and he didn't need to see her eyes to know that they were huge orbs asking a million questions all at once.

"Why? I thought you wanted to make the military an organization which you'd like to be part of."

"I would. I would love to be a Major again, to possibly have my own command someday, to become Lieutenant Colonel... That was all I ever wanted, from the moment I joined I worked hard for promotions and respect..." he'd known it. That was what she wanted and what she deserved, he had no right to keep her for himself. Even if his heart broke in the process.

"Than why are you giving it all up? I'm sure Hammond would take you back, especially if you tell him why you resigned."

Sam fell silent. She'd been so sure that he wanted her with him, that they would build their future together...

'Seems like I've been wrong,' she thought as she realized that he was trying really hard to get rid of her.

Jack felt her tense. She'd realized what he'd been trying to tell her. He'd thought about their future, the future he could give her, to be exact. And he'd come up pretty empty. She deserved those promotions, the respect... all the things she'd spent her still young life working for, not an old battle hardened Colonel, who was so dense even her little Nintendos couldn't get through anymore. It was better this way. She could go on and live the exciting life fate surely had in stock for her. She'd fall in love with her Prince Charming and would live happily ever after.

While Jack tried to convince himself that what he did was the only right thing to do, Sam's heart slowly broke. She could feel herself turning cold. She'd thought he loved her; that the time they'd spent together these few short months had been treasured as much by him as they'd been by her.

'You probably scared him off,' she thought. 'As long as you were untouchable he liked the idea of being in love with you, but the blood and flesh version just didn't measure up to his expectations.'

"I'm sorry," she said weakly as the first tear fell down her cheek.

"What for?" Jack was so surprised that his arms fell from their embrace. Sam saw the gesture as a new sign for his rejection of her and quickly scrambled to her feet before she said, "For not being what you want."

Jack's mouth fell open. She couldn't think he'd reject her, could she? The thought hadn't even crossed his mind, she was smart, beautiful, had a wonderful sense of humor... why would anyone NOT want her? HE was the one who didn't measure up. She was the one who was so much better than him.

As he'd untangled his thoughts enough to think of a response he looked up just in time to see the front door shut.

Sam ran down the street, not giving a damn about the rain, but cursing that she had left her car at the base. She was soaked to the bone and her heart hammered so loud against her chest that she could barely hear the thunder clashing around her. She knew that it was there, the lightening tearing through the clouds above her proved as much. She just couldn't hear it, all she heard were his last words and the drumming of her heartbeat.

What for?

Didn't he even care so much as to be sorry that their relationship hadn't worked out?

What for?

As soon as her tears left her eyes the rain washed them away and she only wished that the hurt would be washed away as well.

What for?

Just as another bolt of lightening struck she felt a hand clasp around her arm, effectively stopping her from running further. Her speed pivoted her around so she was facing the man belonging to the restraining arm.

What for?

He was as drenched as she was and looked at her with wide brown eyes that enraged her beyond reason. Something in her burst and on the top of her lungs she screamed against the rolling thunder that had finally caught up to the lightning.

"For loving you!" she saw no understanding his eyes and just went on, "That's what I'm sorry for COLONEL, I'm sorry for loving you as much as I do. I'm sorry for thinking you reciprocated all I feel for you. I'm sorry for believing I would spent the rest of my life with you. I'm sorry for hoping you were my Prince Charming. I'm sorry-" he stopped her words by pulling her body to his so fast he put nature around him to shame and quickly pressing his lips to hers. The movement was desperate and demanding at the same time and Sam felt her anger rising even more.

How dare he touch her this way? How dare he think that he still had power over her? How dare he-

Suddenly her anger stopped and her formally tense body relaxed. It couldn't be... Carefully, just to test her theory she started to respond to his kiss, tentatively she brought her tongue and lips to a spot next to his mouth tasting the skin there. She's been right; it was salty, mixed with the rain that poured down on them rained tears from his eyes.

She stepped back, shocked. If he cared this much why did he-?

"I thought I had to let you go," he whispered suddenly and just like her earlier much louder words she could easily understand them over the raging storm. "I thought you needed to be free, to achieve all the things you ever wanted. I thought you would resent being stuck with me one day and giving up all those things. I... I thought I had to let you go," he looked up at her, his eyes just as wide as hers. She could actually see a tear forming in his eye and leaving it to roll down the wet surface of his cheek only to dissolve in the mixture of rain and tears already there.

With a small cry she launched herself into his arms, hugging him fiercely. "You stupid man," she told him softly a relieved smile gracing her lips.

"Don't ever let me go."

And he didn't.

FINI Loyalties

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