Chapter One: Losses

"Hey Carter! Fancy meeting you here."

"Colonel, hi."

Samantha Carter stared at her commanding officer as he stood before her a tall brunette by his side, looking as uncomfortable as she was feeling. She, too, had a date, thanks to Janet, who wanted her to 'get out more.' To forget about her work for a little while, to forget a certain event on a certain alien ship. Now look whom she met outside.

'This isn't the therapeutic experience I wanted it to be,' she sighed.

"Ah, sorry, sir. This is Paul Hamps, Paul this is Colonel Jack O'Neill," the guys shook hands. "Nice to meet you. And nice to see you finally follow my orders Carter."

"Hey, I had a life!" she protested with humor in her voice, remembering his order to 'get a life!'

"I don't call a reactor a life."

"Well I like it," they exchanged an unreadable look as Sam smiled at him.

The woman next to him made her presence known by slightly poking him in the side, "Oh, sorry where are my manners. Carter, this is Tina Simmons, Tina, Major Samantha Carter, who saved my sorry ass more times than I care to remember. And, Paul was it, right?"

Paul nodded as Sam spoke up, "Don't worry Colonel, it's in the job description."

"It is?" Sam nodded enthusiastically, a silly grin on her face. 'How does he do this to me?' she thought as her stomach started to do little somersaults.

"Excuse me, are you the Major Samantha Carter? Graham talks about you all the time."

Sam flushed beet-red, "Uh, yeah that would be me, Graham is your...?"

"Brother."

"Oh yeah he has crush," Jack supplied for poor Paul who's been lost to the conversation's topic.

"Well, Carter, have a nice evening will ya?"

"Yeahsureyabetcha!" she answered him with another smile, "Same to you, sir."

"Bye, Carter, Paul."

Their dates only nodded, both unsure of their partner's relationship towards each other.

Alone with Paul again Sam gave him a bright smile. "Where were we?"

Ignoring her question he asked, "You are in the military? I thought you were an theoretical astrophysicist."

"I'm in the Air Force, I'm a scientist working at Cheyenne Mountain."

"Wow, I think I'm not really competing with being a cook," he smiled, finding this experience much more interesting by the minute.

"Oh cooking is magic in my eyes, completely eludes me, you can go ask the Colonel, I'm not even allowed to warm up the field rations."

"So what do you... and the Colonel exactly do in that mountain?"

"Deep space radar telemetry."

"Aha! Doesn't tell me much."

"I can't really explain, it's classified," she smiled an apologetic smile.

"Oh, well my receipts are classified to," he said with a smile she returned.

"So... oh sorry," she said as she heard her cell phone beep, it was very quiet since she actually hated bringing it to a restaurant, but she needed to be reachable in case of an emergency. She looked at the display which announced the caller to be Cassie.

"Hi, Cass. What's up?"

"Janet hasn't come home," she whined.

"When should she have been there?"

"Two hours ago, she just went out to get some ice cream from the shop and I can't reach Jack, I'm sorry if I disturbed your date," Cassie said having been told by Janet about it.

"That's okay honey, are you home?"

"Yes," she could hear the girl cry.

"Okay, I'll be there as soon as possible, just stay home okay?"

"Okay."

The line went dead and Sam looked up to saw a very confused Paul looking at her.

"Sorry about that, that was my... niece, her mother went out to buy some ice cream two hours ago and hasn't returned. I'm afraid I gotta take a rain check for diner, I'm really sorry," she really was, Paul maybe wasn't the most challenging kind of guy, but he was nice.

"That's okay, I'll drive you. Remember we drove in my car?"

"That's not necessary..."

"Please, let me," he wouldn't let her get away this easily.

"Okay, thank you. I just need to tell the Colonel," she said while getting up.

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why do you need to tell you commanding officer about that friend of yours?"

"Oh that. We are her godparents, she'd want him there and he'd want to help her."

Paul looked at her feeling more and more uncomfortable about her relationship with this man. Before he could say anything else Sam had hurried off to the table Jack and his date were waiting for their drinks.

"Sir?"

"What's up Carter?" he'd noticed her speaking on her cell and was, of course, curious.

"Cassie called, Janet's missing."

"From base?"

"No, from home, she went out to buy stuff and hasn't returned in two hours."

"Crab, Tina I'm sorry, I need to go. Janet's a friend of us and Cassie, her daughter, she's easily frightened alone."

"That's okay. Rain check?"

"Sure," he kissed her on the cheek, "Thanks for understanding. Come on Carter let's find out what happened to Janet."

Tina watched them walking off, Sam easily falling into step with Jack, 'Like a well oiled machine,' she thought as she saw them whisper. His head leaning in so he could understand her better.

'Too bad, he seemed a nice guy,' was her final thought before leaving.

"When was the last time you saw the doc?" Jack asked whispering as to not disturb the other guests.

"We were out yesterday, you know girls night out. That's where I met Paul, too," she explained.

He wondered why he was so relieved about the fact that Sam only knew this Paul guy for a day or two. He'd met Tina a week ago. She'd been talking with Graham in the parking lot and Graham had introduced them, she seemed nice and he'd offered to show her around town and they'd ended up here. They arrived at the table where Paul was waiting, having already taken care of the check.

"Hi again," Jack said.

"Paul's driving us there," Sam explained to Jack's questioning eyebrow.

"What's with your car? Don't say what my car has is contagious."

"No, Paul just drove, I promise I'll repair your car at the weekend, let's just get to Cassie first."

"She's repairing your car?" Paul spoke up.

"She can do these things," Jack shrugged.

Paul watched them as Sam smiled shyly at him, trying to hide how proud she was because of his praise.

"Okay kids, let's head out."

They drove, both Sam and Jack worrying about Janet, she did never leave Cassie alone for too long. The girl had adapted to earth life well enough but was still easily scared. The radio was humming some love song that really started to get on Jack's nerves. He was just about to ask Paul to switch stations when the news interrupted the song. Grateful for the distraction he focused on the voice babbling about the last White House tragedy.

"...the president denies any knowledge of such projects anywhere. And another thing that just came in. In a shop in Colorado Springs a man has taken hostages after a failed robbery, shots were heard but the police knows nothing about the people inside..."

The rest of the report was lost on Jack when he turned around to Sam, "You don't think? Oh my god, Paul turn left, please."

"What's up," Paul asked.

"With our friend's luck, she's probably one of those hostages," Sam explained while fiddeling for her cell phone.

"And what do you wanna do?"

"We're goin' there," Jack supplied when he saw Carter already concentrating on the phone.

"Why?" Paul asked in a whisper so Sam could understand Cassie on the phone.

"You'll see."

Sam ended her call, "I told her we'd run a little late, sir do you have a weapon?"

"I wanted the zat, but you know the general..."

"Sir!" Sam said harshly.

"Sorry, no, I didn't think it was necessary, she's Graham's sister for pete's sake."

She couldn't help but smile at him, no matter how serious the situation, this man managed to make her smile despite herself.

"We are here," Paul announced before Sam could reply.

"Okay Paul, you stay here, the Colonel and I take things from here."

'Oh no, you don't,' Paul thought and followed a few steps behind them.

They walked away from the car, looking for the officer in charge.

"Sir, ma'am, please, this is a restricted area, I can't let you through," an officer told them when they tried to get closer.

"I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill this is Major Samantha Carter, we may be able to help, could we have a look at what you have?" Jack asked politely. Sam looked at him. 'What's up with him?'

"Sir, this is no military matter, we can handle it..."

"Oh just shut up, will ya? Carter let's go," with that he pushed past the young man, who just watched them dumbfounded. 'That's my Colonel,' she thought before following him into the heart of the police rescue operation.

"But, sir-" but Jack ignored him.

Paul had managed to get through, too.

They walked straight to the man who seemed in charge. "Hey you! I need a word with you," Jack called and all went silent around the Lieutenant.

"And you are?" the man asked back.

"Colonel Jack O'Neill, USAF, do you have pictures from inside, any information about the hostages? I'd like to see it."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Colonel."

"Oh, you damn better will, 'coz if you don't you'll have no job sooner than later, understood?"

The Lieutenant looked at him for only a second, trying to find out if this man was just nuts or if he'd be true to his word. He obviously decided to believe the Colonel's threats, because he simply made room for the man to look at the pictures that lay on the car in front of him. Paul watched in amazement how different Jack acted and made a mental note not to get on his bad side. Jack took a look at the building in front of him, than back at the pictures on the car, Sam was standing beside him, studying like he was. Nobody but Paul really noticed her before Jack spoke up again, "Got everything Carter?"

"Yeah, I recommend we go in from the front, meet, greet, shoot. If we are fast enough he won't even know what hit him."

"I agree. Do you have any pictures from the inside? Positions of the hostages and such?" he asked turning back to the Lieutenant.

"We have a video tape," he answered.

"Great, we need a look at it."

"How many shots were fired?" Sam asked, speaking up again.

"Four."

They were handed a small camera and Sam switched it on before the officer next to her could explain how to do it.

"It's kinda dark, sir."

"Do you think we can do it?"

"Positive," Sam answered after she took another look.

"Good enough for me. What kind of weapons do you guys have?" Jack asked back to the police officers.

"The SWAT team is over there, they should have everything you'll need."

"Okay, listen up boys, Carter and I will go inside, you follow two minutes after we're through the door. Any questions?"

"Sir-" the Lieutenant tried for the last time.

"This is not negotiable, Carter let's go."

"Have you seen her?" Jack whispered to Sam when they were a few meters away.

"Yeah, but she lay on the floor, not moving, I'm afraid she received one of the bullets that were heard before."

"Damn, okay we go inside and just take the guy down, okay?"

"You know, right now I'm whishing for those damn armbands."

"What armbands?" Paul suddenly spoke up, forgetting that he shouldn't be there.

"Gee, Paul, don't sneak around like that, will ya? You shouldn't be here at all, get back there, okay?" Jack told him, but he didn't move.

"Paul, please, we can do this. You can't. You'll just get injured. Step back, please?" Sam asked and Paul felt himself turning around and leaving. He stood behind one of the police cars and watched them entering the SWAT-van. He was shocked to see them coming out with MP5s. Actually he was shocked to see Sam carrying one. And she seemed used to it! He saw her checking the clip than taking out the gun she'd tucked in her waistband and checking that clip, too. The Colonel beside her was doing pretty much the same. Paul wondered why a theoretical astrophysicist inside a mountain was so accustomed to guns but dismissed those thoughts when he saw the Colonel taking of his sweater.

"What are you doing, sir?" Sam asked when she saw Jack taking of his black sweater. He wore a black shirt beneath it and threw her the sweater.

"It's a little big, but it's better than yours," he said pointing to her bright, orange turtleneck.

"Yeah," was all she answered before putting it on. He was right, they didn't want to take any chances, you could still see parts of her clothes through, but they couldn't do better than that, "Okay, let's do this."

She nodded and without further communication they went in.

Paul watched in amazement, he could pinpoint the exact moment they got into full military mode. Their steps which had been slow and wide, were suddenly, small and precise. Their shoulder tensed, though he only imagined that, he really couldn't tell over the distance.

He saw Sam increase her pace as she slowly took point next to the door opposite the Colonel. He saw Jack, giving some sign before he started a countdown with his fingers. The last he saw of them was Sam kicking in the door before they rushed in.

It happened very quickly, they went in and before they heard the door crash against the wall the first bullet flew past them. They aimed and shot, Sam heard a scream, not a painful one, probably fear.

Than finally there was another scream, than a curse. "You fucking police, you shot me, fuck, look at me, look at my arm, ohmygod," suddenly everything went quiet. Well, not everything, Sam could hear harsh breathing, someone cried, someone was whispering "...this isn't happening, this isn't happening..." but there was no gunfire, no shouts.

They carefully approached the body lying on the ground, Jack pointed his weapon on the still form while Sam got to her knees, feeling for a pulse.

"He's still alive," she announced.

"Okay, let's look for Janet," Jack said as he cuffed the unconscious wannabe-robber while Sam was already getting up, looking for her friend.

"I found her!" she shouted at the same time as the police entered the building.

Paul had run after the officers, not really concerned for Sam's well-being, but curious about what happened.

What he saw shocked him. The man he presumed to be the robber was lying on the floor unmoving, his hands cuffed together. Jack was walking from him to Sam, who crouched next to another motionless form.

He looked around there were people sitting on the floor, they looked frightened, a little girl was crying.

"She's dead," he heard Sam saying, "Oh my god she can't be dead."

Sam couldn't find a pulse. There was blood oozing out of Janet's body, but the entry wound was small, Sam suspected the view of her back was much worse. What frightened Sam the most was that the blood coming out of the wound had nearly stopped. She saw why when somebody finally had the courage to flick on the light.

She froze for a second, her breath failing to leave her lungs, her heart missing a beat.

"Oh god," Jack had to look away, it was unbelievable that so much blood could come out of such a small person.

"Janet! Please, Janet honey, wake up. Come on, wake up, you can't be dead, please, Janet," Sam's face was wet with tears as she stroked her friends hair, pleading her to be alive.

"Sam..."

"Don't Sam me," she snapped at Jack, "she's not dead."

"I'm sorry, Sam, there was nothing we could have done," he tried again.

"Hell, let me go, we have been deader than this! I need the healing device," she demanded.

"You know we can't do that," he whispered, trying to calm her. "Besides, it wouldn't work, you said yourself the device can't cure death."

"I think it can't. I am not sure. We have to try, I can't just let her die!"

"Sam, it's too late. Come here."

She looked up at him, her eyes overflowing with tears, his were watery, still he shed no tear, he was too much military to do that. For a moment Sam wondered what this restraint was costing his soul. The pleading in his eyes was almost common to her. It said, 'Tell me it's not true, make it better," she'd seen it on Apophis's ship only a few days ago. Without another thought she fell into his arms. His arms embraced her so fiercely she'd have been afraid any other human being could break her. He could, too. He could break her with a word, a smile, a thought. But never would he hurt her physically.

Paul watched them shedding their tears like everybody else, most couldn't believe the two officers they'd just spoken to were capable of such a public show of emotion. The two officers in question weren't even aware of their surroundings. Sam only wanted the pain to stop, Janet couldn't be dead.

"Oh god, Cassie!" Sam suddenly said.

"We need to tell her," Jack stated the obvious. As if a switch was flicked they left each other's arms. Their eyes met for a second, delivering and receiving thanks.

"Excuse me? Sir? Ma'am? I need your statements," the Lieutenant asked quietly from behind Jack.

"Yeah, we'll do that, but we need to speak with this woman's daughter. She's all alone and frightened, we'll come to the police station tomorrow," Jack said.

"Okay, sir," was all he said, before he turned and left.

They walked outside and Paul followed them. This whole thing fascinated him more and more. Sam and Jack didn't even acknowledge him as they walked to his car.

"Ahh, Sam?"

"Huh? Paul? Sorry I spaced out for a second," she said but her face remained expressionless.

"Yeah, I got that. How did you do that back there?"

"What do you mean?" Sam asked tiredly.

"You shot that man," Paul said as if that explained everything.

"And? He'll live," Sam said.

"Unfortunately," Jack added.

"What if you'd killed him."

"Than he wouldn't have lived. Listen, what's the point of this conversation?" Sam was getting angry, one of her best friends just died and this guy did nothing but get on her nerves.

"We can walk if you want to," Jack said seeing Sam's reaction to Paul's questions.

"Yeah, let's do that, I could use some fresh air."

With that they simply walked off, never glancing back.

"Sir? I'm sorry about losing it back there," Sam said her eyes fixed on the street.

"Come on, you went easy on the guy," Jack said.

"Not that I meant in the building...", 'where I sobbed into your arms and didn't want to leave', her mind finished.

Jack stopped dead in his tracks, staring at her. "Colonel?"

"Don't you ever again apologies to me for having a heart," he hissed between clenched teeth.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked not understanding what had made him so angry.

"Nothing, just don't do it," he hissed and walked off.

"Hey! Don't you dare walk away like that without giving me an explanation," she wondered briefly why she was so pissed and quickly contributed it to the stress of the last hour. That didn't exactly help to cool her temper but at least she could explain it to herself later.

Jack turned around, looking into her direction but not her eyes, "I don't explain myself to you, Major."

"What? Don't use that crap on me. We aren't on duty, I think you owe me a little more than that."

"Here I thought you were always on duty, Major. Didn't know you had a life all of the sudden," their voices were harsh but only whispers. Like their lives were, with too much meaning but not with enough attention, not even from each other. But they were still loud enough for Paul to hear, he'd followed them and stood creeping in a corner trying to understand as much as possible.

"Well I didn't know you cared, sir," she aimed to hurt now. She knew he cared, but anger did some things to you, like wanting to hurt your friends. And right now Sam was desperate to hurt somebody, everything to make her own heart stop hurting.

"Actually what about you? We were a breath away from death last week, and you just stood there, saying nothing. I don't even know if you have a heart," she knew it wasn't true and she knew she didn't even believe it.

"The other side of a force shield not safe enough for you Colonel?"

"You know Carter this is what I meant. You are our heart, you care. Daniel is our passion, Teal'c our reason. So don't deny having a heart, ever, we need your heart," his voice had lost its menace with every word he spoke.

She looked at him as his eyes came into contact with hers for the first time. Her anger collapsed into nothingness. Leaving a black hole in her soul trying to suck her in. She hated her eyes for getting misty.

"What does that make you?" she asked softly.

"I only want to keep you safe, all of you."

"Us. You keep all of us safe, including yourself." Again they traded looks, apologies for harsh words and confirmations that they still cared. Jack squirmed a little under her intense gaze, afraid he'd crumple into her arms any second. "We need to get Cassie," he said weakly.

And Sam nodded, she knew what he was doing as she did the same. Both buried anything that threatened to come to the surface. They resumed walking without another word.

Paul had watched with more and more interest. What was that about them dying? Fascinated with their mysteriousness he followed them the short walk to Janet Fraiser's house. He'd seen the dead woman in the shop and remembered her to be the woman who was with Samantha the other night. He'd found the two women intriguing, that was why he asked Sam out, seemed like he was right.

As he saw them enter the house a small smile graced his lips.

Cassie was sitting on the couch, hugging her knees, shivering. Sam was at her side in an instant, Jack realized she was still wearing his sweater and was grateful that she did. There was a little blood on it, Janet's blood, but the black material made the color nearly impossible to see.

Cassie saw Sam's tearstained face and immediately knew what had happened.

"No!" she shrank away from Sam's embrace. "Janet's not dead," the girl said forcefully. She'd always called the doc Janet. She'd told Jack once that it bothered her a little, even more that sometimes 'mum' slipped from the girl's mouth without her realizing it, but she always meant Sam when she said it. Janet had Jack sworn to secrecy, she didn't want Sam to know, because she'd have felt guilty. So when Cassie suddenly launched herself into Sam's arms and cried 'mommy' she thought the little girl had cried out for Janet. Jack knew better. But he remained silent as Sam's pleading eyes met his. He just sat down next to Cassie and held onto both of them.

And still Paul watched, bathing himself in their misery. He saw the girl fall asleep in their embrace and Jack carrying her upstairs. Sam was sitting on the couch, her face in her hands, crying again. He whished he could hear her. Crying was so much better with sound.

He tried to push the window open and it gave away to his hands with a little shriek. He ducked his head when Sam looked over to him, presumably alarmed by the sound. He pressed his back to the wall hoping she would dismiss it as imagination. He waited five minutes and when there were no alarms he rose to take another look.

Jack was back...

He looked at her from the stairs, she was crying again. His tough no-nonsense Major was crying and it threatened to get to him too. He walked down to her.

"Carter?" he asked softly.

"Sorry, sir," she said as she hastily wiped a hand over her eyes.

"I told you not to apologies," was all he said as he sat down next to her.

They sat in silence, wanting to talk, needing the comfort.

When Jack couldn't take it anymore he said, "I need to call the base."

Sam nodded, "Oh god, Daniel," she suddenly said.

He gave her a puzzled look and she elaborated, "Daniel told me he'd started to see Janet in a different light, a few days ago he said he wanted to ask her out! He'll be devastated."

Jack was shocked that Daniel had told Sam about that, but not him. And suddenly wondered at the irony. Daniel, his best friend had confided in Sam while her best friend Janet had told him about her problems.

"Sam I need to tell you something," Jack announced.

"What?" she asked a little afraid of what he had to say.

"It's about Cassie... Janet came to me a while ago. She was a little troubled."

"Why didn't she come to me?" Sam asked immediately.

"Because you were part of the problem and she loved you to much to make you feel uncomfortable. You know Cassie always called her Janet?" it was more of a question than a statement.

"Yeah, until now."

"I don't think so..."

"I don't understand."

"When she called out for 'mommy' I think she called out for you."

"What?!"

"Janet told me that sometimes when Cassie spoke about you she would call you mum, I think that what she just did."

"Oh my god, Janet must have hated me."

"No, you were her best friend, that's why she couldn't tell you, she didn't want you to feel guilty for something you have no power over. She knew when she adopted Cassie that she had a strong bond with you and that she needed time to built the same relationship with her. She never blamed you."

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked new tears staining her cheeks.

"Cassie will need you now, more than ever, I just didn't want you to get confused if she'd call you mum. Sam please stop crying," he said before he placed a hand on her shoulder. Instead of stopping she cried even more.

Like before she turned to him, seeking the comfort and safety of his arms, this time mourning for the little girl who, again, had lost so much. And this time his tears joined hers.

Jack had called General Hammond to tell him of Janet. The General was shocked to hear of the doctor's death. Jack didn't know that they'd been close but it made sense. They were always the ones left behind worrying for their friends, that brought Doctor and General to a sad familiarity.

The General said he'd take care of the police so that they wouldn't have to go to the police station the next day, he also gave them three weeks leave to help Cassie.

Jack went back to the living room where Sam was lying on the couch, curled into a ball, hugging a cushion to her chest.

"The General gave us three weeks leave and said he'd take care of our statements," he told her when he sat down next to her.

"That's good," was all she said.

"Sam..."

"You know I thought about something," she interrupted him looking into his eyes for a split second.

"You want Cassie to come living with you."

"How did you?"

"Come on Carter, give me some credit. You wanted her to live with you when she came here three years ago. You decided you couldn't because of what we do, because it's too important, too dangerous. But now see what happened, Janet the one who was safe on earth got killed, here where we thought she was safe. You realized that life is precious and that safety can't be taken for granted, regardless of where we are."

"How?" Sam could only stare at him, he was completely right. She's had all that thoughts in the last half hour he'd been on the phone.

"When Cassie came here and we decided she'd stay on earth I first assumed she'd be with you. When that didn't happen...well I thought about adopting her myself. Having a kid in the house would certainly make it a nicer place to come home to. But I too decided it wouldn't be fair to her, I'd be gone for days and she'd have no guarantee that I'd come home alive. I forgot that there is no guarantee for life. I know what you thought, because I had the same thoughts," he finished his little explanation, exhausted from the unusual position of having to explain something to Sam.

"You'd take her?" Sam asked.

"In a heartbeat. But I know she sees you as her mother. She wants you for a mum."

"What if she wants you for a dad?"

Jack looked at her speechless. Sam colored a little.

"She had this little fantasy, she told me about. I think it was shortly after she came here," she looked at her hands, trying to hide her blush. "She asked me why I couldn't be her mother and why she couldn't live with me. I explained to her all the things you just said and she said she understood. Than she'd told me about that dream she was having. She was living in a big house and I was her mum," Sam had a far away look on her face and she seemed to relive her conversation with the girl. "I would show her the wonders of our world and you were with us," she gave a little laugh, "we'd be married and she'd have a new family."

Jack looked at her, she'd stopped speaking but still didn't meet his eyes. He wasn't sure how to react to that. He could make some funny remark and play it all down or... Or he could say what he wanted to say.

"You know Sam, I think that's a rather nice fantasy," her head snapped up and the eyes that had stubbornly avoided contact a second before where now locked to his.

"What are you saying?" she whispered.

"Nothing. Just that...you know I'm not good at this..." he trailed off, begging her to understand what he was trying to say.

"Colonel?" he hated it when she called him that.

"Colonel?" he realized he'd lowered his head, he now being the one who avoided eye contact. "Yes, Carter?"

"Do you think I'm ready to lead my own team?" he'd done it. She wanted to leave.

"Of course you are, you were ready a year ago," he said. 'I was just to selfish to let you go,' his mind added.

"Would General Hammond approve?"

"He asked me if I wanted you to lead SG-5, I said you should remain on SG-1 but I'm sure I can get you a team, you earned it, long ago," his eyes were fixed on his shoes. He didn't even realize Sam had sat up next to him.

"That's good," Sam said and Jack felt miserable for making her so uncomfortable that she wanted to leave the team.

"Listen Carter, I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable with what I said, I hope we... you know, the old cliché of staying friends," he finally looked up and was startled to find a smiling Sam sitting in front of him.

"A second ago I was Sam," she said still smiling. She could see his confusion and couldn't help but enjoy it. Still she decided to let him out of his misery. "I think it's a really nice fantasy... Jack," she tasted his name on her lips finding it had a nice ring to it. Jack stared at her, was she implying what he thought she was?

They were interrupted by Cassie screaming "Janet, no!"

Sam looked up the stairs, already half standing. She looked back down at Jack and said, "We'll talk about this later, I won't let it go this time," with that she bent down and dropped a feather light kiss on his lips before she hurried up the stairs to get to the frightened girl.

Jack looked up the stairs where Sam had just went, taking two stairs at a time. His hand came to his lips trying to grasp on what just happened.

"Did she just kiss me?" he asked out loud, before a smile graced his lips. He stood up and followed Sam.

He looked into Cassie's room but it was empty. He found them in Janet's bedroom, Sam holding the girl. She was stroking her back telling her everything was going to be alright. He joined them on the bed bringing his hand to Cassie's shoulder, rubbing it encouragingly.

"Everything is going to be okay, Cass," he said. "We'll take care of you now."

When Cassie fell asleep again Sam lay down next to her enveloping her in her arms. She smiled at Jack and whispered, "Good night," before she closed her eyes.

He smiled and lay down himself, his arm joined Sam's. Holding Cassie he whispered his own, "Good night." Within seconds he was asleep.

Outside an angry Paul kicked the wall. How dare they were happy! He'd seen that kiss! He'd make sure that they would never be happy. Samantha was his and his alone.

Chapter Two: Trying To Cope

Of course, they hadn’t talked later. They’d slept in the next day, exhausted from the events of the previous evening. The rest of the day was spent with Cassie, reassuring her that everything would be okay. Then there was the funeral to plan.

Sam had called Daniel to tell him the bad news. He’d listened to her, then excused himself. Unlike the Colonel, Daniel did cry, but he preferred to do it in private. He’d said he would stop by later that week, but that he needed some time alone first.

Teal’c reacted pretty much the same way. Sam supposed he didn’t cry like Daniel probably would, but he too excused himself to some privacy.

"How did they take it?" Jack asked as he saw Sam returning to the living room, her shoulders slumped. Still wearing his sweater, she looked more like a kid than an Air Force Major.

"Pretty good. They’ll be all right, given time."

"Daniel?"

"He’ll be okay. He’ll come by sometime at the end of the week. Probably not before the funeral, though."

Cassie was sitting next to Jack on the couch, doing homework of all things. Sam sat down next to her and carefully took the pen from her fingers.

"You don’t have to do that now, honey." Cassie was excused from her school for the next week, and, frankly, Sam wasn’t sure if that was long enough.

"Cassie?" she asked but the girl ignored her. "Cassie? I need a few things from my place, how about I go get them now? I’ll be back in no time."

"No," the girl replied firmly. Sam looked at her. Cassie hadn’t spoken or
eaten all day. "I’m going with you," she said.

"If you want to, that’s okay."

"I mean to stay. I don’t want to come back here. Everything here reminds me of Janet. Please Mom, don’t make me live here."

It was the first time in her life that Sam had been called "mom" other than accidentally by her niece or nephew. She looked into Cassie’s eyes. "I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to. Never."

"So I can stay with you?" Cassie asked.

"Of course you can, we’ll get a bigger place so you’ll have your own room okay?" Sam tried to get the girl’s thoughts away from Janet’s death.

"Can I paint it myself?" Cassie asked, unknowingly fulfilling Sam’s wish.

"Of course you can," Sam assured her.

Jack sensed what Sam was trying to do and backed her up. "Okay if I help ya, Cass?"

"Okay," the girl’s voice had back her enthusiasm. Both knew it was only temporary but didn’t care.

"Let’s pack you some things, then we'll go home."

Cassie had gone to her room and gathered some of her clothes and personal stuff. Jack was on the phone calling a cab, when Sam suddenly heard glass break. She was up the stairs and in Cassie’s room in a heartbeat.

"What happened?"she asked when she entered the room. Cassie stood in front of her desk, a photo lying on the floor. The girl stared into space, literally. There was a huge poster, a starmap, that Sam had given her when she came here to live. A bright red X marked one of the stars, the star Cassie’s planet had circled, and was still circling, now a deserted land.

Sam walked over to her and picked up the photo, careful not to get cut on the broken glass around it. It was a picture of Janet, Cassie, and her. They had been at the park, and she remembered that Teal’c had taken the photo. Sam and Janet stood close together, Cassie leaning comfortably against Sam who had her arms around her. She didn’t even touch Janet.

"I loved her," Cassie suddenly announced.

"I know that," Sam said as she took the girl into her arms.

"Yeah, but did she?" she asked sadly.

"What do you mean?"

"I never told her, Sam. Never. We had fun and all that, but I never told her that I loved her." Tears were in her eyes, ready to fall any time.

"She loved you," Jack said from the door. Cassie and Sam both turned around to look at him. "She knew you loved her. Do you remember when you drew that picture of the gate? There was the gate, SG-1, the General and Janet. You stood next to Janet holding her hand. Those were the ways Janet knew that you loved her."

"But..."

"No buts. Love is nothing you can measure or keep, you give it and receive it. Did you want Janet to love you?" Jack questioned.

The girl nodded, "I wanted her to love me and I did love her, but why am I so happy to go live with Sam? Janet died yesterday and all I can think about is that I can be with Sam now. What kind of a person am I?" Sam held her tight as the first tear fell.

"You feel guilty about it?" he saw her nod. "I bet Sam feels the same way." Sam raised her head in surprise.

"Is that true?" asked Cassie, looking up at Sam.

"Yeah, it’s true. I feel infinitely sad that she’s gone, but, on the other hand, it made me realize that some of my priorities were wrong, and I’m glad for that."

"You see Cassie? Sam is happy that you’re with her, but that doesn’t mean she loved Janet any less. If she didn’t feel guilty, if you didn’t feel guilty, then you’d have a problem."

Sam looked at him in amazement. It wasn’t just the way he’d talked with Cassie, she knew he had a special bond with children, and Cassie in particular. But since when could he read her so well?

They’d helped Cassie pack the rest of her things. The cab was waiting outside when they came down the stairs.

"Goodbye house, goodbye Janet, I love you," Cassie said as they stood by the door. She’d have to come back here of course, there would be things that needed to be taken care of, but she’d said goodbye to everything that house represented the day after Janet’s death. Not to forget about it, but to take it with her and move on, a better person, thanks to the woman who had given her a home.

Chapter Three: Coping

Paul knew where Sam lived, he’d met her in front of her apartment building the evening before. So he’d gone home last night and slept, and this morning parked his car a block away from the place. He’d found himself a nice spot where he couldn’t be seen and waited. Sam had to come here sooner or later. When they were finally alone again he’d take her. She would be his as it was meant to be.

Sam was walking to her door carrying two bags of groceries. She heard someone walking up the steps behind her as she was fiddling with her keys, but she was so engrossed in her task that she didn’t realize that the person had stopped beside her.

"If ya’d give me one of those bags this could be a lot easier." She wasn’t shocked by the familiar voice and slowly lifted her head to give him a smile.

"Just open the damn door would ya, Colonel?" she said as she let the keys drop into his hand.

Jack opened the door for her then looked back to confirm that Cassie was still behind him. He smiled at her and she returned the smile weakly as they walked in. She let her rucksack fall to the floor next to the couch and took a look around. She’d been here a few times but it looked different when it was going to be her home, at least for a little while.

It was a small apartment, consisting of two rooms, one of which was the bedroom where the only bed and Sam’s clothes were. The other room was fairly large, one corner of which was filled with books and magazines. It was the only spot in the apartment that wasn’t completely in order.

Cassie loved the book corner. Most of the books were beyond her comprehension, but every now and then there’d be something that’d catch her eye, a picture of space, a diagram, a quote... and she would sit on the floor next to Sam listening to her explain it in easy terms. She loved those times. She looked over to the computer, a self-built construction of wires and microchips way more advanced than anything Intel was selling at the moment. Cassie knew for a fact that the games on that thing were great.

Cassie smiled. The world didn’t end because of Janet’s death. She'd miss her terribly, but life would go on. And she had Sam. She sat down on the couch and observed Sam and Jack. They were walking around the apartment. Sam was making room for Cassie in her closet and Jack was carrying Cassie’s suitcase.

"Where should I put this?" he asked Sam.

"The bed’s fine, thanks," Sam replied while taking clothes from the closet and throwing them on the bed.

"Whatcha doing?"

"I’m just making a little room for Cassie’s stuff, it’s not like I’m wearing any of these," Sam answered, now nearly impossible to spot between clothes.

"A pity," Jack mumbled as a short black dress came flying out and landed on the bed.

"What was that?" Sam asked poking her head out between jackets, but Jack was already back in the living room.

"Is it okay if I put the stuff we bought in the refrigerator?" Cassie asked from the kitchen.

"Sure," Sam answered, and Cassie started to put everything away. Jack was sitting on the couch, basically just twiddling his thumbs. A wave of warmth hit her unprepared. This was like home! This was the feeling she’d missed with Janet, a family in the most stereotyped of ways: mom, dad and kid living happily together. Of course her situation was far from that, but just for a second she could imagine it.

Paul was angry. He’d smiled in triumph when Sam’s car had finally entered the street, but his happiness was short-lived when he saw the Colonel and this child from the evening before sitting in the backseat.

"Well, I have time, use yours Samantha, use your remaining time," he whispered as he crouched back into his dark corner.

Jack saw Cassie stop walking around the kitchen. He was a little concerned when she just stared into space. He walked over and caught her smiling to herself.

"Hey! What’s up?"

"Nothing."

"Come on! You can tell me," Jack said.

"It’s silly."

"I don’t think so."

"You don’t know that, because you don’t know what I was thinking," Cassie said with triumph.

"Well, if ya told me what you were thinking about I could tell you if it was silly or not."

‘Oops,’ she thought. ‘I should have seen that coming.’ Aloud she said, "I... I just thought that I really feel normal. You know, like I’m not the last survivor of my people, or even just the weird kid who calls the woman she lives with Janet and doesn’t know what VCR stands for."

Jack remembered Cassie coming home on one of her first days at school, crying because the kids had said she was dumb because there were so many things she didn’t know about earth.

"Janet wasn’t just the woman you lived with," he said softly.

"I know, it’s just...She and I never really hit it off, not like Sam and I did. I loved her and she loved me, but there was always something missing. That’s why I never called her mom."

"Maybe you both knew that you should have been with someone else? The one you DO call mom. "Cassie looked at him with a confused expression on her face. "You called Sam mom. You did it yesterday evening and even before that."

"I did? I didn’t even realize it. That’s what I meant. It’s so much easier to settle into live here with Sam than it was with Janet. But I miss her so much, I wish I had been nicer to her." She was crying again.

"Hey Cass?" Jack asked as he enveloped her in his arms. "You know that you did nothing wrong, don’t you? You're fourteen years old, and though you're pretty insightful for your age, I might add, you lost your family, twice. We know that it’s hard for you and we don’t expect you to cope with everything all at onc. Just give it a little time okay?"

"Okay," she replied but didn’t leave his arms.

Daniel came by that evening.

"Hi," he greeted simply when Sam opened the door for him.

"Hi, Daniel," Sam replied as she made room for him to enter.

"I didn’t really want to be alone," Daniel explained.

"You don’t need to say anything Daniel, just come in and have some coffee," Sam said.

He smiled weakly. "Thanks."

"Hi Daniel," Jack said from the couch. His hair was still wet from the shower he’d just taken, and Daniel smiled at him.

"Hey Jack, looking pretty much at home, aren’t we?" Daniel teased as he gestured to Jack’s clothes. He was wearing sweats and a t-shirt he’d found in his car, which was still parked next to Sam’s outside the building.

"I wanted one of those dresses Sam hides from us, but she didn’t let me have one," Jack defended himself.

Daniel laughed. His laughter might have been a little too much considering Jack’s remark, but he needed to laugh and was grateful for the opportunity. "Where is Cassie?" he asked after he’d taken a seat next to Jack.

"I’m here,"she answered from the bedroom door. She too had taken a shower and stood there now wearing one of Sam’s t-shirts over old jeans.

"Isn’t that a bit large for you?" Sam asked with a smile.

Cassie shrugged. "I think it’s comfy."

"There you see Carter, she’s here for a day and already raiding your wardrobe," Jack said.

"Better me than you, Jack. Better me than you," Cassie said as she walked over to them. They all stared at her. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," Daniel said.

"We're just happy that you’re not as sad as before," Jack said.

"How are you, Daniel?" she asked, ignoring Jack’s remark.

"I’m okay. Will be, anyway. How about you?"

"I realized a few things and... for now I’m okay."

"Well, if you guys are okay I’m going out and try to get the Colonel’s car up and running again," Sam said as she stood up.

"Can we help with anything?" Daniel asked.

"No thanks, I’ll be fine."

"Okay."

Sam walked to the door and Jack followed her. She turned to him and raised her eyebrow in a silent, ‘What?’

"Are you really okay?"

"Yeah, I’m fine. I just, you know, I need a little time to get it all into my head. And working is a good thing to do while thinking."

"Be careful, okay."

"Hey it’s just a car!" she smiled at him. "I’ll be alright." She looked back into the room and addressed Daniel, "You know, while I’m out you could try to cook something without wrecking my kitchen, don’t you think?"

"Ha, you’ll get a meal extraordinaire, Major," Jack said.

Everybody laughed at that. Whenever Jack attempted to cook he usually ended up ordering pizza. And while Sam usually managed to make scrambled eggs without problem, Jack could burn down the kitchen in the process.

"I’ll watch them, I promise."

"Thanks Cass. I’ll be back in an hour or so, have fun."

"Bye Sam," Daniel and Jack replied.

"Bye, mom," Cassie said without thought and suddenly realised what she said. She looked at Sam with big eyes. Daniel was staring at her while Jack smiled. Sam was unsure what she should do but decided quickly. She went to Cassie and looked her in the eye. "You can call me whatever you want, Cassie. But it would be an honor, if you’d call me mom," she smiled at the girl who flung herself into her arms.

"Thank you," was all she whispered.

"Don’t thank me, I should have done this three years ago," Sam answered.

"Did I miss something?" Daniel asked Jack.

"I’ll explain it to you while I'm cooking, but you know what?" he asked as he watched Sam and Cassie embrace. "I think we'll all be okay."

Chapter Four: Taken

Sam was lying under Jack’s car. It was still warm outside and she had discarded her jacket on the backseat. She liked Jack’s jeep and planned a little tour with it before she gave it back. The only thing that separated her from that was the car above her that stubbornly refused to start. On top of that, the brakes weren’t working like they should. She was just checking the brakes when she heard someone approaching her. She crawled out from under the car and saw Paul standing next to the driver’s door.

"Hi, Samantha,"he said with a smile.

"Paul? Hi, what brings you here?" she asked while getting up.

"You," was all she heard before she lost conciousness due to the door that was violently opened directly into her face.

Cassie was chatting with Jack and Daniel while she instructed them on how to make spaghetti. They were doing a pretty good job and Cassie was proud of them.

"You know, guys, this is fun," she said.

"What? Watching us do all the work?" Jack asked.

"Oh yeah, that’s fun," Cassie said with a smile.

"You know that you’ll have to this a lot while living here. If Sam thinks about cooking she usually decides between Chinese and pizza. You could just live on scrambled eggs, but you’ll be fed up with those after week," Jack informed her.

"Oh, I think we’ll manage," Cassie answered and walked to the fridge. "We could always live on ice cream. Sam seems to live on it anyway." She closed the fridge again and looked back at the others. Jack was happily cutting tomatoes, but Daniel was just staring into space.

"Hey Daniel, are you alright?" Cassie asked him.

He looked at her after shaking his head a little to come out of his daydream. Ignoring her question he asked one of his own. "So you’ll be living with Sam now?"

"I hope so," Cassie said

"That’s good. Janet would have wanted that."

"Daniel? Did you love her?" Cassie asked softly.

"No. I just... I think I could have fallen in love with her. Given time, you know. Janet was one of the most wonderful people I ever had the pleasure to meet. Loving when you were wounded, but still able to kick butt if the circumstances needed her to be. Life was fun with her."

Cassie came over to him and put his arms around him, "I was forbidden to tell you, but... she had a pretty big crush on you," she said.

Daniel started chuckling, "Did she say that?"

"No, but she was talking about you constantly. Daniel this, Daniel that... it kind of annoyed me. She was really obvious, kinda like Jack is over there," she whispered so only Daniel could hear.

"Yeah, Sam too," he whispered back and started laughing.

"Hey," Jack interrupted, "what’s so funny?"

But Cassie and Daniel could only laugh at him.

"Hmmpf." Jack made a face. "Since everything seems to be so funny in here, I’ll just go outside and see what Sam’s doing."

That only sent them into another fit of giggles.

"Fine, I’m gone," and with that he was through the door, leaving behind a smiling Daniel and Cassie.

Paul was driving out of Colorado Springs with Sam securely tied up in the backseat, covered with a blanket. He hadn’t had any problems with carrying her to his car. She was out cold after the door had hit her. The left side of her face was starting to turn into an angry red. He had been sitting in his corner until she came out of the building. He had watched her walking and decided it was safe to follow her to what he presumed was Jack’s car and had waited till she was engrossed in her work on the vehicle. She would be his now.

Jack saw his car still parked on the road and walked over to it. "Hey Sam, solved the problem?" when he was only met by silence he started worrying. "Hey Sam, you here?" still no answer.

He looked around but was unable to spot her anywhere in the vicinity of the car. Deciding she might have returned to her apartment and they somehow missed each other on the short way he turned around and headed back. Still, he was worried. All the tools Sam had taken with her were still sitting next to the car as well as her jacket. As he felt fear rising up, he nearly ran back.

Sam slowly woke with the mother of all headaches. She tried to bring her hand to her forehead, only to discover that her hands were tied behind her back. Alarmed she opened her eyes. The pain in her head increased as her eyes were confronted by the bright light outside. Closing them immediately, she concentrated on the sounds around her and concluded she was in a car.

‘How the hell did I get myself in here?’ was all her mind was able to come up with. Again she opened her eyes, carefully this time. Definitely a car, the scenery that passed by wasn’t familiar to her. Still blinking against the sudden brightness, she directed her sight to the driver. ‘Paul?’ her mind asked in disbelief. She tried to get her mind on the last thing she remembered. Paul was there... she was working on the Colonel’s car, Cassie was calling her mom... She tried to focus on what had happened to get her the nice headache she felt as well as the burning sensation on her left cheek.

There was Paul again, he’d hit the door right into her face! What was wrong with him? Sam couldn’t figure out how this happened. When the car abruptly stopped and was pulled over she looked up. Paul exited the car and opened her door.

"Paul what’s going on here?" she asked.

"Oh, you are awake Samantha!" he said ignoring her question completely. "I am sorry but I can’t have you awake yet. Good night my love."

"What?" was all she was able to say before he drove a needle into her upper arm.

"Is Sam here?" Jack asked Cassie as she opened the door for him.

"Sam? No, I thought she was with you," Cassie answered, a little perplexed.

"Well, she’s not, and she’s not outside with the car either. She would have told us if she was going somewhere, wouldn’t she?"

"Yes, she would," Daniel said from behind Cassie. "What do you think happened?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Jack asked irritably.

They looked at each other not knowing what to do.

"Well she’ll be here in a few minutes, right?" Daniel said. "Maybe she’s talking to a neighbour and you just haven’t seen her?" he added but lacked conviction.

"Yeah, she’ll be here in no time," Jack said but his instincts told him something was seriously wrong.

Whatever Paul had given her had kept her unconscious for some time, and it didn’t help her headache either. She kept her eyes closed not wanting to alert Paul. Her shoulders were hurting badly from the strain of being kept in the same place for too long.

She moved her arms a little only to discover that the restrains on her wrist were still there and slowly cutting into her skin. She sucked in a breath against the pain. ‘How long have I been in here?’ she asked herself. It had to be longer than she thought when her wrists were already damaged. She tried to think around the pain in her head, but experienced some difficulties. She took a deep breath as silent as possible and started again.

‘Escape. Escape is good. I need to escape. Problem: drugged, probably concussed, restrained, unfocused... well, Carter, you’re not doing too well so far.’ She risked opening an eye and was shocked to see that it was already dark outside. Paul was still driving.

‘Okay this is it! I quit dating. Can’t I ever meet a nice, sane, human, reachable guy?’ she thought frustrated. ‘Jack!’ She suddenly thought. ‘He’ll be worried, and Cassie...’ She wanted to cry out in frustration, but couldn’t do that, which only frustrated her more.

She lay there motionless trying to figure out what the hell happened and what she could do to get back home till her brain came finally up with something. ‘Cell phone!’ She carefully brought her hand to the pocket of her jeans. She knew that the others would have already tried calling her, so it wasn’t working, but she was hoping that it was just switched off when she fell. She closed her fingers around the little piece of technology that would, hopefully, get her out of there. She couldn’t see it behind her back so she tried to push the buttons by memory. She assumed it was off so she first switched the on/off button. She hoped the little beep she heard wasn’t loud enough to be carried to Paul’s ears. When she was sure that he hadn’t heard her she entered her pin another beep was heard but Paul didn’t hear it either.

‘Okay... Who do I call?’ Sam asked herself and finally decided on her place since that was were everybody should still be. She slowly dialled the number, careful not to misdial, this could be heronly chance, Paul would probably hear her when she started talking so she had to make most of this.

The number was dialled, now all she needed to do was to push the dial button... and of course get the phone near her mouth. ‘Damn, I didn’t think about that part.’ Her movement was limited, but she thought she could manage to roll on her other side. The problem was doing it without making a sound.

Deciding quickly, she let out a low moan. As expected, the car stopped only seconds later. She started to turn carefully pushing the phone under shoulder so it couldn’t be seen. The door opened. She moved a little more trying to give him the impression she was doing it in her sleep/unconsciousness. She froze when she felt a hand on her face.

"Shh, Samantha go back to sleep, all will be better soon." He stroke her cheek for a second before he got back into the driver’s seat.

Sam only breathed again when he started the car. He’d bought her act. She pushed the cell phone to her mouth, thankful that she hadn’t accidentally pushed more buttons. Feeling ridiculous despite her serious situation, she pushed the call button with her nose. After a last quick look over her shoulder she saw Paul driving, oblivious to her actions. She heard the dialling and hoped that the others had stayed at her place.

Part Five: Search

Jack was pacing the living room.

"Could you please stop that Jack?" Daniel asked for the fourth time. Ignoring him, Jack continued his pacing.

"It’s been an hour," Cassie said in a small voice. She was frightened. Sam was a very responsible person, she’d never just leave like this. Cassie knew that and said so. "She wouldn’t just leave. Please, we need to do something."

Jack stopped his pacing and kneeled in front of Cassie who was sitting on the couch. "Cass? Everything will be all right, I promise."

"Jack..." Daniel said, warning him of giving promises life may wouldn’t allow him to keep.

"She’s gonna be okay, Daniel. There's no other option," Jack told him with a conviction that frightened him. And Daniel was afraid, afraid he’d lose another dear friend, but even more that Jack would follow Sam. Anywhere.

They had left the apartment shortly afterwards. Jack wanted to go to General Hammond and Daniel wanted to alert the police. They split up, Cassie going with Jack.

When Jack and Cassie arrived at the base the people who knew about Janet’s death gave them puzzled and sympathetic glances, glances neither really saw. They strode purposefully through the corridors of the SGC until they arrived at the general’s office. Jack knocked, but entered without waiting for an answer.

"What the... Colonel O’Neill?" the surprised general said.

"Sorry, sir, but we need some help. Sam's vanished."

"What? Please explain, colonel." The general noted with growing concern that the colonel had called his second-in-command by her first name, but decided to ignore it for now.

"She vanished from outside her own apartment, sir. Her position is unaccounted for for nearly two hours," he said with a glance to his watch.

"Colonel I can’t use Air Force resources as I please. I’m afraid you'll have to come up with more than ‘I don’t know where she went.’"

"General..." Jack started but was interrupted by Cassie.

"General Hammond I can’t believe Sam would just walk away without telling me where she went. Her cell phone is turned off, which it never is in case there is an emergency here at the base. She told us to start cooking dinner and than just vanished. She’d never do that. Especially not after..." Cassie trailed off unable to talk about Janet. "Please, general," she pleaded.

The general took a look at the pair before him. Contrary to popular belief he wasn’t blind. He’d seen his second in command together with his head of scientific research, as well as the two of them together with Cassie. Before him stood two people who’d lost a part of their family only yesterday only to be faced with the same fear a day later. "Okay, what do we have?"

"Uh, nothing, general, nothing."

Daniel met them on base. His trip to the police station had been a waste of time. There was nothing to be done until twenty-four hours had passed. He didn’t understand that concept. Did the police have to wait until something could have happened before they intervened?

Jack had seen that reaction coming and even apologised to Daniel about his earlier behavior. General Hammond had ordered three SG-teams to start a search around Sam’s home and Jack was relieved to finally be able to do something.

They returned to the apartment where Sam had last been seen and walked to Jack’s car. That was when they noticed the blood. It wasn’t much, but it definitely didn’t belong to his car’s door. Needless to say that everybody’s worries multiplied. Cassie was crying now, with Daniel holding her.

The soldiers were searching everything until there was no light left. The neighbors wondered about all the people standing around their homes.

Cassie, Daniel and Jack stayed outside despite the cold that had enveloped them with sunset.

Everybody was alert and watching, waiting. Nobody was there to hear the phone ringing in Samantha Carter’s apartment.

Chapter Six: Contact

They had searched for hours, the sun had set long ago and the cold of the night had them in its freezing grip. Cassie was half asleep in Daniel’s embrace and he decided to get her to bed.

"Jack," he called.

"Yeah?" Jack replied from the car that had been designated HQ.

"I’m getting Cassie to bed," he said and Jack nodded, then returned back to the radio in front of him willing it to bring him the good news he hoped for.

Daniel, who was stronger than he looked, picked Cassie up and carried her to Sam’s apartment. He, like the rest of the SG-1 had an emergency key with which he now opened the door. He tucked Cassie in, leaving her in bed with her clothes on, only taking her shoes off. The girl was fast asleep.

On his way outside he let his gaze travel over the living room. That’s when he saw the flashing red light on the answering machine.

"Jack, Jack. Come on you gotta hear this!" Daniel screamed at Jack as he came running from the apartment.

"What is it, Daniel?" Jack asked alarmed, afraid that there was something wrong with Cassie.

Daniel stood before him, his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "It’s Sam, " breath, "she called," deep breath.

"What?"

"It’s on her answering machine." Another breath.

The last word hadn’t fully left his mouth as Jack had already run back to where the now hyperventilating archeologist had just come from.

Cassie was startled by the noise in the living room and slipped out of bed to investigate. The scene that greeted her would have been funny if it weren’t for the serious circumstances. Jack’s head appeared from behind the couch as he picked himself from the floor. The chair lying behind him indicated that he’d fallen over it in his haste to go to the phone.

Without glancing back he assaulted the answering machine, frowning for a second as he tried to find the right button. He pushed it and impatiently waited for the standard massage Sam had recorded to come to an end.

Cassie wasn’t sure what he was doing but slowly made her way over to him intending to find out. Her heart missed a beat when she heard Sam’s voice from the tiny machine. The was a small pause, then:

<Guys?> that was her! She was whispering and there was some noise in the background Cassie couldn’t identify, but it was definitely her.

<Where are you? Listen, I have no idea why, but Paul kidnapped me. We're in a car, not his. He surprised me while I was working and drugged me with some kind of sedative. Please, I need your help! He’s completely nuts.>

Suddenly there were noises, Cassie wasn’t sure but she thought the car had stopped. A bang was heard which could have been a door shutting.

<He’s coming, please, get me out of this!> she shouted, and that was the last they heard from Sam.

The last words that came through the phone were, <She’s mine, now.>

She was getting impatient when nobody answered the phone, and the answering machine came on after the fifth ring.

"Hi, I’m not home right now, so please leave a massage after the beep or in case of an emergency try calling me at work or on my cell phone, bye."

‘I’m definitely changing that one,’ she thought before she realized that she had to leave a massage on her own answering machine and just hope that the others would find it.‘What do I say?’

"Guys?" she asked uncertainly, ‘Where are they?’, "Where are you?" she asked completely unnecessary and the rest just bubbled out of her. "Listen, I have no idea why, but Paul kidnapped me. We're in a car, not his. He surprised me while I was working and drugged me with some kind of sedative, please, I need your help! He’s completely nuts!" the car was suddenly brought to a stop and Sam risked a quick glance behind her back, confirming that Paul had left his seat. She turned back to the phone and shouted, "He’s coming, please, get me out of this!"

He forcefully took the phone away from her face, half throwing her on the ground behind the front seats in the process. He looked at her in disgust, then smiled to the phone and said, "She’s mine, now."

Sam closed her eyes in defeat, this was it. If they didn’t get that massage they’d never find her, the colonel was the only one, besides Janet who’d ever seen Paul, they’d never figure out she was with him.

‘Oh god,’ she suddenly realized her mistake, she’d only said Paul, not Paul Hamps. She was fairly certain she’d introduced him to the colonel with his whole name, but she wasn’t a hundred percent sure. And even if she had, would Jack remember?
She could only hope he would. She was suddenly yanked back on the seat and Paul slapped her, hard.

"How dare you? I’m helping you and you call them! Him!" He looked at her again before he took the phone and threw it into the forest as far as he could. Sam closed her eyes again, awaiting more punishment, but instead she felt another needle in her arm.

"I’ll make sure you won’t try that again," Paul said, and she couldn’t even bring herself to answer with a witty remark before she fell unconscious again.

"Oh my God, Sam!" Jack looked up and saw Cassie standing there with tears in her eyes. He hadn’t even realized she was in the room before she’d spoken up.

"Cassie..." he started but was immediately interrupted by the young girl.

"I don’t wanna hear it!" With that she turned and locked herself in Sam’s bedroom. She fell back on the bed, hugging the pillow that still held the faint scent of the woman she loved like a mother.

Daniel came in, only to see the door slamming shut and hearing the lock turning. "What’s going on?" he asked Jack, who stood in front of the answering machine, dumbfounded.

"She heard," was all he said, but Daniel understood immediately what he meant.

"Oh god," he’d heard the massage, too. The pleading in Sam’s voice, then panic just before the phone was taken away from her. And the voice from this Paul guy, the confidence in his voice was creepy, even more than his words. He saw Jack standing the his eyes darting between the bedroom, the phone, and the door. Daniel knew that he was torn between wanting to help Cassie and starting a new search with the new information they’d just obtained.

"Go, Jack. I’ll try talking to her," Daniel told him, and he saw relief wash over the colonel’s face.

"Thanks Daniel. I’ll call as soon as I get any news," he started to turn to the door, but Daniel stopped him.

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"You’ll find her."

He smiled at him and the gesture was returned. "Yeah we’ll find her," he said, and then he was out the door.

"People!" Jack shouted, summoning the search teams around him. When most of the people where within hearing distance he said, "We’ve made contact."

Chapter Seven: Alone

Sam had one hell of a headache when she woke up. She realized she was no longer moving nor in the enclosed space of the car. She assumed it was a bed, the mattress was soft, a little too soft for her liking. She was blindfolded, gagged and her hands were cuffed, and all that didn’t really improve her mood.

‘Okay, I have no idea where I am, no chance of getting out of these restraints, hell, I‘ve got no chance to get out, period. What the hell am I supposed to do? Scream?’ She started to seriously contemplate the last option when she heard someone moving in the room. Suddenly the gag was taken from her mouth.

"Who’s there?" she asked. To her disappointment it was Paul who answered.

"Me, my love, who else should it be?"

‘Anybody else!’ her mind screamed but she restrained herself, there was no use in getting him angry, she’d seen before how he reacted to that. So instead she tried another approach."Uh, Paul?"

"Yes?"

"Don’t you think you could cut me loose now?"

"Oh I don’t think so Samantha, we wouldn’t want you to run now, would we?"

"I won’t run."

"I'm sorry, but I can’t believe you. It’s too soon," he said, and he even sounded sincere. Sam was worried.

"Perhaps you could take off the blindfold? I’d like to see, Paul."

"Okay, but I can’t free your wrists, you have to understand that," he said.

"I understand, just give me my sight back, please," Sam congratulated herself. She was trying to get Paul into believing he was in complete control, so he’d start to make mistakes. When he took the blindfold from her eyes, she blinked against the sudden light. As the room came into focus. she saw that she was lying on a huge bed that took nearly half the space in what she believed was the only room. The other half of the room was dominated by a kitchen area, complete with dining table and everything. Other than that there was little in the room. She guessed that she was in a cabin, everything had a really rustically touch to it, and all she could see through the huge window were trees.

‘Well all my recent fantasies about cabins sure were nothing like this!’ she thought and immediately banished the thought again. She had to focus. Paul was sitting next to her, a smile on his face, and basically being the picture of innocence. She suddenly realized that the light that had troubled her before was coming from the outside and not from a lamp; she’d been out at least a whole night.

"Paul? What time is it?"

"It’s still early. You must be hungry. What would you like for breakfast?" Paul asked her.

"I’m not really hungry, Paul. I’d like to understand a few things. Why did you bring me here? And..." She was interrupted by Paul’s sudden outburst.

"You will have breakfast with me! What do you want, Samantha?"

She ducked her head afraid he’d hit her again, but he only stared at her, his eyes alight with fury.

"Err, toast would be nice," she said to sooth him. It worked, his eyes lost their fury immediately and a smile once again graced his lips. He went to the counter a brought her a glass full of a clear sustance and held it to her lips.

"Drink," he encouraged her, but she refused to open her mouth.

"Drink!" he repeated and forced to liquid into her mouth.

She coughed violently after he'd finally taken the glass away and let her her body fall down on the matress again

"Good, I'll get you some toast." And without another word he got up and left the cabin.

‘Now what?’ Sam thought. ‘I’m supposed to come up with a plan. Ain’t I?’ Her knees felt like jelly and she doubted she could walk very far, even if she’d somehow manage to free herself from the restraints. Only now did she realize that her ankles were bound too. Not as tight as the cuffs around her wrists, but still enough to hinder her movement. Her wrists hurt like hell and there was this sick, slick feeling whenever she moved them. At best they were bleeding, at worst they were already infected. Her head hurt, and she was tired and hungry. She hadn’t eaten anything since the breakfast at Janet’s house yesterday morning.

Yesterday. It seemed unbelievable that only yesterday her life had changed tremendously. Cassie’s wish to stay with her, the little revelation about the Colonel and herself... the shock of Janet’s death... all that was only yesterday. Today was definitely worse than yesterday, much worse, and at the moment she saw no way to improve her situation. She could only hope.

"Okay, has anyone anything to say?" Jack asked the group of soldiers around him after they’d all heard the message on Sam’s answering machine.

"Who is Paul?" Lt. Fredericks from SG-7 asked. A good question.

"They were on a date yesterday, we’ll have to check him out, find out whatever we can about him," Jack said and the group before him murmured in surprise.

‘Carter went on a date? O’Neill knew about it? And he didn’t kill the guy? Well he might get a chance now.’

Daniel smiled at the bits and pieces of conversation he understood. Jack, however, didn’t hear a word; typical, he never listened when it was important.

The group slowly fell silent again until an airman Daniel didn’t recognize said, "We need his last name, sir."

Jack looked at him. His brows drew together, concentrating. "Uh, I’ll have to think about that. Until I remember, you’ll analyze the tape. I wanna know what this noise is," he instructed. The noise he was referring to was a strange banging sound just before Sam had cried out that Paul was coming to get her.

The group left to do whatever it was that they had to do. Most simply waited in some corner for further instruction. Daniel made his way over to Jack, who was thinking really hard. You could see it in his face.

"How did you know about Sam’s date?" Daniel asked him.

"Huh? Oh, I was showing Simmons’s sister around town and we met in the restaurant.

"Double date?" Daniel asked in shock.

"No! I didn’t know she was there. Anyway, Daniel, I need to think," Jack said and turned around.

Daniel shook his head and was ready to go when Jack suddenly exclaimed, "Chipmunk!"

"What?" Daniel asked, not understanding what a squirrel could have to do with all that was happening around them.

"That’s his name!" Jack said.

"His name is Paul Chipmunk?" Daniel’s eyes widened in question.

"Of course not, that’s just the name that I gave him. His name was something similar." Jack shut up again and started pacing in front of Daniel, who couldn’t understand what was happening and simply babbled, "A rodent? Guinea pig? Gophers? Beavers? Mice? Rats? What?"

"Hamster! Paul Hamps. That’s his name!" Jack exclaimed.

"What?"

"Hamps, HamsterPaul, Hamps! Don’t you get it?" Jack asked and Daniel could only mutter one answer.

"Oh boy, Jack, you sure have a twisted mind!"

Paul had been gone for over an hour, and Sam was worried. What if he didn’t come back? Her aching stomach told her in no uncertain terms that starving wasn’t on her ‘things-to-do list’. Not that she wished for him to be here. Sam wished for Jack and Cassie and a large pepperoni pizza. Her stomach growled again and she sighed. It started to be painfull. She was alone, and the only one able to help her at the moment was herself. She tried screaming for help as soon as she thought that Paul was far enough away, but no one came. So until the others found her, she was alone.

Chapter Eight: Confrontation

Sam was close to panic after she’d waited another two hours. The growling of her stomach was now accompanied by cramps that seemed to intensify each time. She struggled against her restraints, trying to get into a fetal position, anything to make the pain stop. She was worried, she shouldn’t feel like this! Something was wrong. All thoughts about escape had left her mind as she lay on the bed, close to tears.

Paul Hamps owned a cabin not far from the Canadian boarder.
"Could it be that easy?" Daniel asked the young Lieutenant before him.

"Oh it wasn’t easy, sir. We were quite lucky to find it actually. Paul Hamps is a very rich man, Dr. Jackson. He owns a few houses, restaurants all over the country, apartments even a boat."

"Then why are you convinced that he went to that cabin?" Daniel asked further.

"Those sounds you could hear on the message from Major Carter, they are airport noises. There are five airports he could have reached in a car in the time since Major Carter’s disappearance. Two are military one is the local on in Denver and the other two are private. Denver is the one. A private jet owned by his brother started only half an hour after we had contact with Major Carter, he used a false name, but the pilot identified him."

"What about Sam?"

"The pilot said Mr. Hamps was traveling alone, but he brought a large wooden box, large enough for a human body."

"And you think she in there?"

"We suspect it. The cabin belonged to Mr. Hamps’s mother, she died a week ago, it’s in the middle of nowhere."

There was a short silence before Jack finally spoke up, "Then I suggest we go get the helicopters."

Jack hated every second of their trip. If he’d ever considered a helicopter as a cool thing that image had suffered immensely since his last flight in a death glider. The other thing that gave the death gliders a plus was the fact that he’d know where Sam had been at the point, in a death glider next to him. This was worse than most of the things they had experienced together. The Goa’uld were as evil as they were predictable, but this guy... He was human, an ordinary human monster and there was no outside force to blame it on, well maybe daddy didn’t love him enough, but that didn’t really count in Jack’s book.

"How long until we’re there?" Jack asked for the hundredth time.

The pilot gave him an annoyed look that he nearly forgot to hide as he answered, "Fifteen minutes, Colonel."

Jack wanted to pace, he felt like pacing, unfortunately a helicopter wasn’t a place to do that.

"She’s going to be alright," Daniel told him in a soothing tone.

"I know, she has to be," he answered and remembered Cassie. She had screamed, cried and kicked when they’d told her that she would have to stay in Colorado Springs, but Jack couldn’t allow a girl to get into a possible dangerous situation. Jack sighed loudly and Daniel shot him another sympathetic glance.

"Sam? I got you your breakfast," Paul said as he entered the cabin, but Sam could hardly hear him through the pain. She was lying on the bed, trying to move as less as possible, holding her
stomach in her hands. All she’d done for the past half hour was hope for unconsciousness, but even that comfort eluded her.

She heard a loud noise, which she couldn’t identify although she had the nagging feeling that she should.

Paul smiled as he saw Sam lying on the bed, sleeping peacefully. Such a sweet creature. It had taken some time to get the toast, since the next shop was quite far away, but he finally managed to get some.
He was just turning to the kitchen area when he heard it. A roaring sound, which could have been a helicopter. He panicked. He took the large knife from the counter and ran outside.

"Okay guys let’s go," Jack shouted as loud as he could. He ran to the house by the lake and to his surprise saw Daniel running past him. With a glance, he could tell the archeologist was a man driven by rage. He tried to catch up but Daniel was a few years younger, which he seemed to realize for the first time. From the point the door opened everything slowed eerily down.

Paul stepped through a second before Daniel arrived at the door. Without another thought he brought his rifle down on the man, hard, knocking him unconscious. Jack could only stare. Daniel Jackson, a man who personified ‘talk first - shoot later and only if absolutely necessary’ had just hit a man with so much force that it wouldn’t surprise Jack if Paul was dead. Time returned to its normal speed as he saw Daniel vanish through the open door.

"Sam?" Daniel called even before he was through the door. He froze into place when he saw her lying on the bed and heard her soft whimpering. He obviously stood there too long because a second later Jack collided with him, causing him to stumble another step into the room and nearly fall. Jack ran past him to Sam’s side and dropped to his knees next to her.

"Carter? Sam? Please answer me," he heard him plead, and in a heartbeat he was next to his best friend, pleading with Sam to open her eyes.

Chapter Nine: Illness

They rushed her to the nearest hospital. Doctors and friends hovering above her. She knew what happened around her, but the pain prevented to respond to anything around her.

"What’s her condition?" one of the doctors asked.

The medic answered some mumbojumbo neither Jack nor Daniel understood, besides pulse.

"Do we know what got her into this condition?"

"No. She's only been gone for a day, she’s been kidnapped and drugged."

"Okay I need a full tox screening, I want her on monitors, twenty-four hour guard on that heart rate, and she needs fluids. Fever?"

"Yes."

"Good, check her temperature every ten minutes, as soon as it’s higher than 39°C, I want to be informed." With that the doctor left to hurry to another patient who was just rolled in.

"What now?" Daniel asked the nearest nurse.

"We have to wait on the tox screening, it shouldn’t take long. The doctors will tell you more then," she too hurried off to other patients.

Jack and Daniel sat down and waited for what seemed like eternity. A nurse came in every few minutes and two pairs of eyes rose up hopefully every time the door opened. All she could do was give them a sympathetic smile and an apology before she took the readings she needed and left again. Jack had forgotten how many time they’d done that until the doctor finally appeared again. Studying his papers as he walked in, he looked up shortly to acknowledge Jack and Daniel then let his gaze drift over his patient.

"Excuse the rush gentlemen, there was an accident on m-street. We just got the results back and I’m afraid I can’t give you any good news. Her system is full of some kind of drug cocktail that's now burning through her stomach like acid. We are not sure how it got there since there are puncture marks in her arm where we think the drug was inserted, she must have drunk at least some of it. I’m afraid there isn’t much we can do. We can treat her wrists, which have become infected, hence the fever. Her ankles are only slightly injured, which we can take care of, but as for her stomach... the substance that's done the damage seems to have been neutralized, but we don’t know how to repair the damage already done."

"What are you saying?" Daniel finally asked in a whisper.

"I’m saying that she will most likely not survive the night."

You could have heard a needle drop right then. Jack felt as if a house had fallen down on him.

"I'm sorry," he heard the doctor say before he left to give them some privacy.

Daniel looked to his friend expecting some reaction, but Jack only stared at the still form lying on the bed before he turned on his heel and left the room.

"Jack!" Daniel called after him, but he got no response.

"General?"

"Not good, sir. She’s very ill, the doctor said she probably won’t last the night."

"No, it’s too late."

"With all due respect, sir, you don’t know crap, I want Jacob or any other Tok’ra with a healing device here asap."

"Then tell the damn Tok’ra that their precious Jolinar’s last host is dying, and believe me, they’ll send someone."

"..."

"Jack, where have you been?" Daniel asked from Sam’s bedside.

Jack just stood at the door, taking the sight of her in. There lay his beautiful Major, one side of her face swollen, her ankles and wrists wrapped in bandages, smelling like antibiotics.

Machines that were connected to her body via all kinds of tubes and wires beeped constantly. He shook his head to break the spell he seemed to be under and looked at Daniel. He knew he’d been asked a question but couldn’t for the life of him remember what it was.

"Where have you been?" Daniel repeated as it became clear that Jack hadn’t heard him the first time.

"I called the General and asked him to contact the Tok’ra, but he didn’t think they’d help us," he fell into the chair next to Daniel trying to find the stunning woman he knew in this nearly lifeless shell.

Daniel didn’t know what to say to that, so he simply sat by Jack in silence.

"Could you call Cassie? Tell her that we found her and... and that she’s not well, but spare her the details, please," Jack finally said.

"Okay, but call me if anything changes," Daniel said as he stepped to the door.

"I will," Jack answered as Daniel was closing door.

"Cassie? This is Daniel, we found her."

"Not too good I’m afraid."

<...>

"Cassie?"

"She could, but we're not giving up on her yet."

"There isn’t much we can do to help her."

"We don’t think they’ll take a part in this."

"It’s not about Sam. Their resourcses are limited and..."

"Cassie..."

"Cassie... Cassie?"

<...>

When Daniel re-entered Sam's room, Jack looked up from the bed at which he’d been staring for the last fifteen minutes.

"Daniel. How'd she take it?"

"Bad. She wants to come here."

Jack didn’t know what to say to that so he simply remained silent.

"General Hammond!"

"Cassandra! You shouldn’t barge in like that," a surprised General said as he was suddenly confronted by a furious Cassandra Fraiser.

"I’m sorry but I need your help," she said a little out of breath from her run down the corridors.
"If this is about the Tok’ra, I already told Colonel O’Neill that it’s most unlikely that we can reach them or, even if we could, that they could help us."

"This is not about the Tok’ra, I need to get to the hospital mom is."

"Mom?"

"Sam. I need a helicopter or a plane or whatever can get me there the fastest," she demanded.
"I’m sorry, but I can’t just authorize that. Do you know how much it costs to..."

"I don’t care! It can’t be more than Sam’s life. I’ll pay you back if you want, just wait till I’m grown up, okay?" Her voice was so full of desperation. that the General briefly wondered what all this did to the little girl.

"Okay I’ll get you a helicopter," he said after he’d locked eyes for a few seconds.

"Thank you. There's something else, I need," Cassie added.

"What's that?" Hammond asked curiously.

"A healing device."

Chapter Ten: Savior

Nurse Jennifer Hopps stood between a doctor and a young man, whom she personally found quite cute, having no idea what she was doing there.

"Dr. Jackson? What are we waiting for?" she finally asked.

"A friend," he only answered and his eyes lit up as a helicopter appeared on the horizon. They cleared the landing area, so the chopper could set down.

"A specialist?" she asked above the noise. She knew about the condition of Samantha Carter, poor girl.

"No," was the answer she could only guess at from Daniel’s lip movements. The chopper landed in front of them, its noise making a conversation practically impossible.

Hopps wondered about the young man who hopped out. ‘What’s so special about him?’ she thought. She saw him turn around and help another person off the helicopter. She gasped when he stepped aside to reveal Cassie.

"A girl?" she asked as loudly as possible, but nobody heard her.

"Daniel!" Cassie called out. "Where is she?" she asked, ignoring the other two people with him.

"Follow me," Daniel said letting her and the Airman who was with her inside.

"What are you doing here Airman?" he asked as they waited for the elevator.

"I’ve been assigned to accompany Ms. Fraiser, sir," he answered.

"You can go now, I’ll be with her all the time," he said.

"I’m afraid I can’t so that, sir. General Hammond ordered me to guard her and the equipment she brought," Daniel looked at him quizzically, then back to Cassie. She was carrying a small silver box under her arm, which he hadn’t noticed before.

"What did you bring?" he asked Cassie.

The elevator arrived with a ‘bing’ and they all stepped inside.

"Cassie?" Daniel asked again.

Cassie looked at him and said, "Equipment," before she glanced at the two strangers with them.

"Oh," Daniel said, catching her meaning, he wondered what she needed from the base. The elevator stopped at their floor, and they walked down the corridor together.

"This is it," he announced when they stood in front of Sam’s room.

Cassie took a deep breath and then entered.

"Jack?" Cassie called softly.

Jack looked up and greeted her with a sad smile, "Hey honey, how are you?"

"I’m... better and I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier," she said, trying to apologize.

He shook his head dismissively and motioned for her to stand beside him. Cassie walked carefully to his side, finally looking at the bed. As she brought her gaze to the still form on the bed, a lone tear made its way down her cheek.

"Oh, mom!" she breathed and took Sam’s hand. Bending down, Cassie kissed her softly on the forehead. "I’ll make it all better soon." She stood up and then turned to address the doctor and nurse who stood in the room, a little uncomfortable with the intense situation. "Could you give us a moment in private please?" she asked politely but with so much authority that there was no question what their answer would be.

"Of course," the doctor mumbled and the nurse simply followed without aword.

When they were outside Cassie turned to the airman, "Could you take guard outside please? No one is to be allowed inside here."

"Yes, ma’am," he answered and left to stand outside by the door.

"Cassie, what’s going on?" Daniel asked surprised.

"I think I can help Sam, but we have to get her transferred, I thought I’d better talk to you guys before I suggested that to the doctor," Cassie answered.

"Why? And where?" Daniel asked again.

"I don’t care, as long as it's a military place where I can use this without answering at least a thousand questions." With that, she unpacked the healing device from the silver box she’d brought and showed it to the two man.

"But I thought only Sam could use it?" Jack finally spoke again.

Cassie smiled at him, "That’s not entirely true. I think I can use it, too. The way Sam explained it to me, she can use it because there is naquadah left in her body from the time she’d been infested by Jolinar. I was never infested by a Goa’uld, but I, too, have naquadah in my system. I sensed Jolinar just as Sam can sense other Goa’uld, so why shouldn’t I be able to use their technology?"

"And you think it will work? Have you tried it?"

"I did, but it didn’t work, but Sam told me she was having difficulties at first, too. Please Daniel, Jack, I need to try it!" she pleaded with them.

Jack was just about to call for the doctor to handle the transfer when one of Sam’s machines made a discouraging beeping sound.

"This is not good," Jack said.

Cassie heard an argument just outside the door and remembered her order to the airman.

"Let them in airman!" she called, her eyes fixed on Sam’s form in front ofher.

An angry doctor nearly fell through the door. "Who do you think you are?"he asked Jack, but it was Cassie who answered him.

"He was under my orders and I apologize for the inconvenience, if you want a fight, fight with me, but could you take a look at my mother first?" she asked in her best Dr. Fraiser imitation.

The doctor looked at her strangely, but for only a second before his medical training kicked in and he hurried to Sam’s bedside to check the computers.

"Her blood pressure is starting to get out of control," he said to a nurse nearby. "This could be connected to the strange substance we found in her blood. We need to double check the results again," he ordered then urned to the others.

"He blood pressure is falling and rising, which isn't good. We found a substance in her blood, which we weren’t able to identify, it could have a toxic effect on her system. It’s not life threatening yet, but that could change every second."

"Can I see those results?" Cassie asked, afraid that she knew what the doctor was talking about.

"Uh, yes, of course." He took Sam’s chart and looked through it until he found the right piece of paper. "Here, I can explain it to you if you like," the doctor said, but Cassie shook her head. Janet had told her a lot about medicine and she’d been eager to learn more, certain that she’d become a doctor herself one day. That knowledge now came in handy as she scanned the familiar polypeptide-chains linked by amino acids. She sighed audibly.

"We think it could be a toxin, maybe a part of a new drug or something," the doctor said.

"No, it’s a protein, it’s not responsible for her condition."

The young doctor in front of her stared at her, "How do you know that?"

"Oh, you’d be surprised if you knew what they teach us in school these days," she answered hoping the doctor would let it go. He did, but only because one of the monitors started to beep again.

"It’s getting worse," the doctor said and looked at the people around him. All of them looked shaken, even the girl who displayed so much unusual confidence and knowledge. Those people weren’t prepared to let this woman go, ever.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Could you give us another moment?" Cassie asked again.

"I should be here in case something happens," the doctor said, but Cassie looked at him, with pleading eyes "All right, just a few minutes," he finally said.

"Thank you." She smiled gratefully.

The doctor and nurse left the room and Cassie immediately went to the healing device. "It’s now or never, there's no time to transfer her. Please make sure no one gets in here. The General will kill me if he has to explain this, and he'll kill me twice if he has to explain to someone who actually saw me trying this." Daniel and Jack nodded, and took positions by the door, the guard still outside.

Cassie slipped the healing device on and pointed it to Sam’s chest. Her grip on it was unsteady, her hand too small for the device, causing her to stretch her fingers as far as she could to manage a firm grip. She closed her eyes and concentrated on Sam and her injuries. ‘This has to work, this has to work, this has to work,’ she chanted to herself.

Jack watched Cassie, her face an image of total concentration, and it seemed like every muscle in her body was strained. He prayed she would succeed, not only for Sam’s or his sake but for hers. He couldn’t even imagine what the loss of your whole family felt like. Cassie had lived through that, twice. The third time could destroy her.

She suddenly relaxed and soft smile grazed her face and a millisecond later a yellow light came from the healing device. It lasted about ten seconds before the beam disappeared again and Cassie opened her eyes. What she saw made her squeal in delight.

"Sam! You are awake!" she said and flung her arms around her.

Sam smiled at Jack, who stood behind Cassie before she closed her eyes and hugged Cassie back. "Thank you for saving me, honey," she murmured.

A minute ago she’d suddenly felt an intrusion in her pain fogged mind. She felt worry that wasn’t her own and briefly panicked at the familiar feeling of a second mind in her own head before she realized that it was Cassie. She wasn’t sure how she knew it was her, but she knew the instant the worry she felt turning into determination. She felt warm and surrounded by love, love that was so unconditional that she wanted to cry in awe. She’d never realized how deeply Cassie felt about everything. In those ten seconds that they were connected, she swore to herself and the girl that would soon be her daughter that she would never let her be hurt again.

Cassie released Sam with a smile and tears in her eyes, "I’m so glad you’re awake, I thought I’d lose you," she whispered.

Sam took her in her arms again, "I’m not going anywhere. We’ll be a family soon."

Cassie stepped back from the bed to allow Daniel to give Sam a hug, and to hide the healing device again. When she turned and saw Jack she smiled. He looked at Sam as if she was the eighth wonder of the world. She quickly went to him and motioned him to bend down so she could whisper in his ear.

"You better kiss her now or I don’t know what I’ll do." She moved her hand as if she had a ribbon device and he looked at her shocked before a small smile crossed his lips. He shook his head at Cassie’s direct approach.

"Yes, ma’am," he whispered as he took two steps to Sam’s bedside, "Hey Sam," he said, and Sam smiled back at him. "Hey."

Cassie took Daniel’s hand and led him out of the room to give them a little privacy. Sam saw the door shut and looked at Jack quizzically.

"Where are they going?" she asked.

"Oh, I think Cassie has a plan," he replied with a grin.

"And what would said plan be?"she asked.

He bent down to her so he could look directly into her eyes. "Something like this," he whispered before he touched his lips lightly to hers. The kiss only lasted a second before he pulled back and touched her forehead with his. "I don’t think I've ever been so worried."

"Sorry."

"You apologize too much," he admonished her with a smile. "I love you." At the words, his eyes widened as well as hers. He hadn’t planned to say that. "I... I..." he stammered before Sam brought a finger to his lips.

"Don’t you dare apologize for that, Jack O’Neill," she said, her eyes deadly serious. Her hand wandered from his lips to his neck to pull him back down to her. Their lips where so close that they touched when she said, "And just for the record, I love you, too."

He closed his eyes and his whole body tingled at the knowledge that this amazing woman loved him.

Cassie and Daniel stood outside embracing, "You were fabulous, Cass," Daniel told her.

Cassie smiled back at him. "Thanks Daniel."

"Excuse me?"

They turned around to see the doctor standing before them. "What happened?" he asked carefully, confused about their smiles. He'd anticipated the worst when he’d seen them step out of the room a few minutes earlier.

"See for yourself," Cassie said and peeked inside before she made room for the doctor to enter.

His jaw nearly hit the floor when he saw his patient sitting up, very much alive, pulling her sweater over her head. The machines around her started beeping angrily as Sam removed all wires that were attached to her.

"Hey, don’t do that!" the doctor said as she tried to stand up. "You shouldn’t even be awake!"

"And you would be?" Sam asked.

"I’m your doctor, now get back to bed, I need to do a few tests."Something had healed this woman, and he wanted to know what it was.

"No," Sam answered calmly. "I’ll go home now, thank you for all you’ve done doctor."

"But..."

"No buts, we’re going," she said and walked through the door.

The doctor watched her disbelieving then turned to look at Jack

"Don’t look at me pal, she’s all right." With that he walked out of the room, and together with Cassie, her guard, Daniel, and Sam, he left the building.

Chapter Eleven: Survivors

Cassie broke down on the fourth day after Janet’s death.

When Janet had to pull her first night shift after Cassie had come to live with her, Cassie had been really frightened, so Janet had brought her a little teddy bear, complete with lab coat and stethoscope. Cassie had
carried the stuffed animal everywhere for two months until one of the other kids in school had laughed about it. After that she’d left it at home when she went to school, only carrying it to the SGC, dentist appointments, and such. After four months she’d grown confident enough to leave the beloved animal at home.

When Sam had been infested by Jolinar, Cassie had taken teddy for a house call. And he’d stayed there.

She knew she’d left him at Sam’s place, but she’d still been shocked when she found him sitting on one of the bookshelves. She’d taken her dear friend and gone into Sam’s bedroom, crying until she’d fallen asleep. She did that for two days until she had at least partially dealt with the loss of Janet.

Sam had been worried, but all she could do was lie down next to her and embrace the little girl. She brought her food and apple juice, but she only took a few sips of the juice, nothing else.

Jack never left them, his still useless car was parked outside next to Sam’s and he spent his time running errands and talking to General Hammond about Sam’s new command and the adoption papers she’d need for Cassie. He also dealt with all the statements regarding Paul and the last they ever heard of him was that he was transferred into a high security mental institution. Apparently the death of his mother had made him snap. Jack didn’t care a damn about him as long as he didn’t threaten his family. All he had to now was convince Sam about the family part, but he had time and he wanted to make the most of it.

After two days spent in bed Cassie simply turned around and smiled at Sam. Sam smiled back and they embraced.

"You gonna be okay now?" Sam asked in a whisper.

"I guess, I’m sorry for worrying you, I was just so overwhelmed with everything that happened, I was so sad all I wanted was cry..." Cassie's voice trailed off.

"Shh," Sam told her. "There is nothing to apologize for. You went through a lot. Think about it, even with all pain you felt at the time you were strong enough to safe me, but you don’t have to be strong all the time, you got every right to cry, my little savior."

"I’m your savior?"Cassie asked, pulling back to gaze at Sam.

"Of course you are! Without you I wouldn’t have survived Paul or Jolinar. You're my savior."

"And you're mine,"Cassie whispered.

Sam smiled. "So I guess we're each other’s saviors. We're both saviors and survivors wrapped in a nice family package."

Cassie laughed at that. Everything was going to be all right.

Epilogue

Cassie sat on the stone wall that surrounded her schoolyard, leaning against the building. The other kids avoided her. She’d always had few friends, most of her true friends being at Cheyenne Mountain, but even those few got out of her way now.

Everybody knew about the death of ‘Janet,’ Cassie’s ‘mother.’ The day after they had returned home with Sam the whole SGC had attended Janet’s funeral. Only a skeleton crew had remained to man the base. The joy of having Sam back was tainted by the reinforced awareness of a lost loved one.

So, people tried to keep their distance from her and she was fine with that. She couldn’t really explain what happened in the last week she’d been absent from school, and she didn’t really feel like trying either.

So she sat there alone, reading a book and waiting for the break to be over. It was a fairly small yard, so when the two figures in complete dress uniform made their way towards Cassie, the kids around them stared openmouthed.

"Hey Cass," she heard the familiar voice call, and with a bright smile she looked up to see Jack walking toward her with Sam by his side.

She looked closely at Sam. Something about her was different, and it wasn’t just that she seemed to be beaming. No there was something else...

"Oh my goodness, congratulations," Cassie exclaimed, and hugged Sam as she saw the silver insignia on her shoulders. "They made you Lieutenant Colonel!"

"Yep, you’re standing before Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter, new leader of SG-4," Jack said with pride. The promotion had been a surprise for Sam, and had she been surprised!

"But that’s not why I’m totally happy," Sam said, and Cassie looked at her strangely. Sam only smiled at her, then took a piece of paper from her pocket and gave it to Cassie. Cassie read as far as ‘Approval of Adoption’ before she flung herself into Sam’s arms again, tears in her eyes.

By the time the school bell rang the whole school was staring at them. Cassie left Sam’s arms reluctantly and smiled at her.

"This is sooo great!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah it is, now get inside before you're tardy. We'll meet you here after school, okay? We are going house hunting today," Sam said and Cassie smiled as she gathered her things to head back inside.

"Sure, I’ll be here, see ya then mom."

"Yeah, daughter." Both of them giggled at that, and Jack rolled his eyes.

"Come on girls there’s enough time for giggling later."

"Sure ‘dad.’"Cassie teased him, only a little serious. Before Jack could answer she'd turned around and headed for the school’s entrance.

Jack put his arm around Sam and she turned around to face him. He dropped a light kiss on her lips, then smiled at her delighted, by the knowledge that he could kiss her and that she loved him.

"So Lieutenant Colonel Carter, what do you wanna do till we have to meet that wonderful daughter of yours?"

"Uh, I don’t know, how about..."but Sam didn’t finish as Cassie shouted across the schoolyard.

"Hey mom! Jack's got a pretty big house, doesn’t he?"

FINI Saviors and Survivors

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