| Primary Characters: | Sam, Daniel |
| Rating: | M |
| Spoilers: | minor ones |
| Warning: | m/m sex implied |
| Description: | Sam comes back from a mission and the world is a changed place. Everything and everyone she thought she could take for granted seem to be intent on betraying her. |
“Dial home, Carter. Teal’c and I’ll cover you. Get Daniel out of here.”
“Yes, sir. Dialling.”
The aliens of this particular planet might not be Gu’a’uld, but they didn’t seem to be much more peaceable. This time even Sam had to admit that O’Neal had done very little to aggravate the situation. In the end there had been nothing left for them to do but make a run for it. Now the Stargate was towering above them, Sam was punching in the last two chevrons, with Daniel right behind her. All the time they could hear and occasionally see the weapons fire from behind.
“Sending our code now. Yes, they’re opening the iris for us. Time to go, Daniel.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll let Jack and Teal’c know. You go on ahead.”
“No. I’ll see you out of here first.”
Daniel shrugged. He had long since given up trying to make his lover see that merely because he was a civilian he wasn’t made of glass. No matter what unforeseeable circumstances might occur, he wanted to take his chances among the rest of them. But Sam just wouldn’t change her mind.
And at least in one important case she was right. She was the trained air force officer. He was not. It was as simple as that. He might be physically stronger, but he wasn’t trained for hand-to-hand combat, and frankly didn’t want to. His mission was more of a diplomatic nature. And though he knew how to fire a hand gun well enough, he was no expert on firearms, and again, he didn’t want to be. His function on the team was different.
Now that the Stargate was open, he wasted no time passing through it, if only so Sam would be able to do the same, no longer concerned about his safety.
As soon as she saw her lover disappear through the wormhole, Sam went through as well, knowing that Colonel O’Neal and Teal’c were right behind her. The trajectories of some of the laser-like energy fields were getting far too close for comfort. At the last second before stepping through to the event horizon, Sam felt a burning sensation on the side of her head. It wasn’t all that painful and she soon forgot all about it.
Her last thought before stepping out on the other side of the wormhole was how fortunate she was to have Daniel. It had taken them a long time to reach the insight that they belonged together, but now Sam couldn’t imagine life without him by her side, and in her bed. Even so, the rest of the team meant the world to her. Their work together, their friendship, knowing she could count on them to cover her back like on this particular mission.
When they were all safely back home, a quick visual inspection reassured all four members of the SG1 team that they were all quite unharmed, though in the case of Colonel O’Neill and Daniel, a bit winded, and none the worse for wear. After a shower and a change everyone drifted apart to their respective quarters. They now had 48 hours until the next scheduled Stargate mission, so they could take some time to relax.
Technically, they weren’t obliged to stay. If the chose to, they could go back to their own homes, but until the next two week interval in their shifts, all of them normally chose to stay on base, rather than have to fly back. Sarah O’Neill’s shift was closely enough synchronized to her husband’s that she too, normally stayed on base. It was an good opportunity for her to get reacquainted with her husband after all the years they had spent apart.
Sam spent the first couple of hours going through her work in the lab. It was her first priority, especially during normal working hours. Later in the evenings, she would join her lover and they would relax together in a variety of ways. When hunger made it hard to concentrate anymore, Sam decided to call it a day.
She was wondering if maybe she would run into Daniel in the mess hall. But when she looked inside, the tables were mostly empty and the people in there were none of her closer acquaintances, though naturally she knew most of them by name. She sat down to her meal anyway, and decided she would go to Daniel’s quarters afterwards.
There was no premonition, no hint that everything would change in the split second Sam took a right turn and ended up in front of the door to Daniel’s quarters. A woman laughing. Impossible. Daniel rarely had male visitors, so who could this woman be? Driven by a sudden urgency, Sam opened the door and entered, without knocking. She never knocked on Daniel’s door.
Her lover was sitting on the bed, with his arms around Sarah O’Neill, Colonel O’Neill’s wife. For a space of a heartbeat, Sam couldn’t find any words to express what she felt, couldn’t even think. It was as if time stood still. She wanted to confront them, she wanted to drag Sarah off Daniel’s bed by the hair, she wanted to – But all she managed was one feeble word.
“Daniel?”
The couple on the bed turned to face her, and their reaction wasn’t any that Sam could have predicted. To her astonishment and horror they just laughed at her. Daniel, her lover, and Sarah, a woman she had considered a friend, were sitting there, their arms around each other, as if that was entirely as it should be, and they were laughing at her. This was too much. Now Sam was beginning to feel the first traces of anger. It helped. They wouldn’t get away with this. At the very least they would have to provide an explanation.
“Well?”
“Well, what, Sam?”
“Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“About what?”
This was simply unbelievable. They had shaken the very foundations of her existence, and now they were asking her what she was referring to. It was getting harder and harder to remain calm. How could they do this to her?
“About this – about you.”
Sam’s hand shot out in a violent gesture, taking in the scene on the bed. Her lover with another woman. How trite, how commonplace. And even so how heartbreaking.
“Oh, that.”
And again the two people on the bed were laughing at her, making fun of her. For just a second, Sam wanted to grab them one at a time and shake some sense into them. But what good would it do? No matter what she did, nothing would change. It was over. Her happiness, her contentment, her reason for living. She almost turned and left without listening for the explanation.
“You figure it out. Sarah and I are getting to know each other better.”
“Getting to know each other better?”
Sam could hear the defeat in her own voice, and she hated her own weakness.
“What does it look like we’re doing?”
The scorn in Sarah’s voice was cutting, and Sam knew she had had enough. Even slapping the bitch around wouldn’t give her any satisfaction. Spitting in Daniel’s face wouldn’t do any good. Shaking her head in disbelief she left the room, their taunting laughter following her into the corridor. Tears blinded her, and she hardly knew where she was going, until she found herself outside O’Neill’s quarters.
With some vague idea at the back of her mind of telling him about Sarah, just out of spite, Sam opened the door and burst inside. Normally, she would never do that to anyone, out of ordinary everyday politeness. And she most certainly wouldn’t barge in on her commanding officer this way. But she was way beyond such trivial concerns. Jack had to know what sort of wife he had, and what kind friend Daniel was. It hadn’t occurrred to her until now that Sarah was betraying Jack every bit as much as Daniel was betraying her. But Sam’s words never left her mouth. On the doorstep she froze, gaping mouth and eyes wide open.
In this room too a bedroom scene of a sort was displayed. It took her a while to take in all the details. At first she thought maybe Jack and Teal’c were wrestling, or practicing some new self-defence technique. Of course, it was her understanding that men usually worked out wearing some sort of clothing. Shorts, a t-shirt, whatever. Her C O and the Jaffa were wearing nothing. And what they were doing –
Oh, no, this couldn’t be happening. Again, Sam shook her head, this time to clear her vision. Had the shock of seeing Daniel with Sarah affected her mind? A rising feeling of panic began to take over. Why had the world suddenly turned upside down? It was as if the ground beneath her feet had given away, and she found herself falling.
Now Jack and Teal’c let go of each other and rolled over to face her. Sam was still staring at the two men on the bed in disbelief. This time words failed her right from the start. Her mind was a blank. Of all the things that might have happened, this was the one she would never ever have been able to imagine.
“Ever heard of knocking, Carter? You know, “knock, knock”, “who’s there?” and so on.”
“I -“
“Never mind. You’re here. Well? What can I do for you? Now that you’ve interrupted us anyway.”
“I – I can’t believe this, Jack.”
“Believe it. Is that all?”
“Sarah -“
“Yes, Carter, what about her? Is she outside in the corridor too?”
“No. I mean, I just saw her. In Daniel’s quarters.”
“Oh.”
“Is that all you can say? Your wife and Daniel were -“
Sam’s voice trailed off uncertainly. Under these circumstances perhaps Jack couldn’t care less what his wife had been doing.
“Yes?”
“They were kissing.”
“Good for her. Now if that would be all…?”
“You don’t care what she’s doing?”
Jack appeared to be thinking the question over for a second or two.
“No. Can’t say that I do. Is that it, Carter?”
“You and Teal’c. I can’t believe it.”
“Yeah, you said that. It’s a warrior thing. A man to man thing. Does that make it any clearer?”
At this point, Sam felt dizzy and weak. Her world had been turned upside down and she had expected that at O’Neill would sympathize, or at the very least understand. She staggered back into the corridor and ran blindly away from Jack’s quarters and the scene she had just witnessed. Nothing made any sense anymore. Not looking where she was going, Sam stumbled and fell, twisting her ankle painfully. The pain cleared her head a little.
Now she knew where to go. Looking around, she got her bearings, and turned around, made a left turn and eventually found the elevator. Going up three floors, she continued on her way until she found General Hammond’s ready room. With a little luck he would still be around, finishing up some paper work.
Remembering what she had walked in on, not ten minutes earlier, Sam stopped outside the door, and took a few deep breaths. After steadying herself a little, she raised her hand to knock. But the door swung open before she could touch her knuckles to it. She found herself facing her General.
“Sir.”
“Ah, there you are. I was just about to send for you.”
“Oh? Anything wrong, sir?”
“Wrong? No, absolutely nothing’s wrong. But won’t you sit down, Captain?”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
“Excellent. I was just about to have a cup of coffee. Can I get you anything?”
“No, thanks, sir. What did you want to see me about?”
“May I call you Samantha?”
What? This conversation wasn’t leading anywhere she had been able to imagine.
“I suppose so.”
“Samantha, have you ever considered marriage?”
“Yes, I did. But now -“
Remembering how the only man she had ever wanted to marry had just betrayed her, Sam again felt her eyes brimming over with tears. But General Hammond didn’t appear to notice.
“My marriage was a very happy one. When I lost my wife I was devastated. Still, life goes on. My children, and my grandchildren make me very happy. But a man needs a woman by his side. Samantha, for some time now, I have been considering marrying again.”
Here the General broke off, and since he appeared to be expecting a comment of some kind, Sam forced herself to make some polite conversation. This was getting more and more exasperating.
“I see.”
“Well?”
“Well, what, sir?”
The General got up from his chair and walked around the desk, to where Sam was sitting. To her astonishment and dismay, with some effort he proceeded to get down on his knees in front of her, and clasped both her hands in his.
“Will you be my wife, Samantha? It’s not too late to start a new family and I want you to be the mother of my children.”
For a moment Sam’s vision blurred, and she thought she was blacking out, but the dizziness passed and she was able to get to her feet, and pushing past the General with no regard for the respect due a superior officer, she ran back out into the corridor. Something was wrong. The entire base seemed to be taken over by some madness. Could there be some sort of chemical weapon affecting them? There was no way all this could be happening on the same day.
The thought of chemical weapons or insanity set Sam’s mind working in the direction of the infirmary. If the people on this base were suffering from some mental condition or were affected by a hallucinogen, medical advice was needed.
Breathlessly, Sam burst through the door into the infirmary and found Janet poring over a chart. Seeing her friend enter, Janet smiled warmly and put the chart down on her desk.
“Sam. How nice to see you. Is this just a social call or is anything wrong?”
“You have no idea. This day’s been totally crazy. And I’m beginning to think that maybe something is wrong. Some weapon that we’ve been exposed to without noticing.”
Janet frowned.
“Go on. Exactly what makes you say that?”
“To begin with I found Daniel and Sarah in his room. Holding each other, kissing. Would you believe they’d do something like that to me?”
“That sounds totally unlike either one of them, I agree, but I guess you never can tell. Is that all?”
“No. After finding them together, I ran to Jack’s quarters. But guess what I found in there?”
“Jack?”
“Yes, but he wasn’t alone. Teal’c was with him and -“
This was what took the most getting used to. Jack and Teal’c. Together. Sam would never have guessed anything like that even remotely possible. Her incredulity must have shown on her face. Janet again encouraged her to go on.
“They were doing the same thing Sarah and Daniel were doing. It was a total shock to me.”
“Jack and Teal’c? Unbelievable. Anything else?”
“Yes. Sam broke off uncertainly.”
Oh, boy, how was she going to explain this last lunacy? General Hammond on his knees proposing marriage. Her head was still spinning from that shock.
“You won’t believe me, but General Hammond just proposed marriage to me. It’s true, Janet, I swear. I’m not making this up. In his office not 5 minutes ago, he asked me to marry him and told me he wanted to start a new family.”
“At his age. He’s got a nerve.”
“Exactly.”
At least Janet seemed to understand and sympathize. The feeling of unreality was fading a little. If Janet was with her on this, maybe they could fight whatever it was that was afflicting the SG1 team and the General, and for all she knew, perhaps the entire base.
“These men, they’re such a bunch of losers. Morons. Where would they be without us?”
“What?”
“Always making a mess of things, then running to us to fix everything for them.”
“Janet? What are you talking about?”
“You and me, Sam. We don’t need any men. Just you and me.”
“This is a joke, right?”
Sam’s voice was cracking like a little girl’s. This couldn’t mean what she thought it meant. Her friend had to be joking with her. For whatever reason. Perhaps to lighten things up a bit. But it wasn’t working. It wasn’t funny.
“No joke. We could forget about those losers and go over to your place, Sam. You and me, we belong together. Why waste any more time on men?”
Now Janet was advancing on Sam with outstretched hands, as if she wanted to pull her friend into her arms. Sam involuntarily pulled back. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be happening. Whatever was going on was just too much. The final straw. Avoiding those arms reaching for her, Sam turned and ran out again, screaming at the top of her voice.
She couldn’t take it anymore. All she wanted at this point was to find a hiding place far away from other people. Maybe there she could make some sense of the situation. In her agitation, she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going. Suddenly she ran into a tall, heavily built man. At first she shied away from him, fearing some other insane attack. Then she recognized him. It was her father.
“Dad.”
The relief was endless. Whatever was going on, dad would fix it. Just like in the old days. If one of her toys had broken or another kid at school was giving her a hard time, dad would take care of the problem.
“Hello, Sam. I was just looking for you.”
That sounded eerily like General Hammond’s words not so long ago and Sam tensed up. But this was her father. He wouldn’t be saying anything weird. He would be able to help her.
“Dad, you have to help me. Everyone’s going insane. It has to be some kind of attack. Some weapon that we have been exposed to.”
“Don’t worry about that, Sam. It’s time for you to join us. The To’kra.”
“What?”
“You know we need new hosts. And I said you would be one of us. Come on, Sam. Wouldn’t it be great? You and I, living for hundreds of years together. And think of all the knowledge you’d have access to. Here. This is Warcha’k. She is a brilliant scientist. You and she would be completely compatible.”
In his outstretched hand her father was holding a symbiont, a larvae of the To’kra. What difference was there between a Gu’a’uld and a To’kra anyway? They were all crawly, slithery worms. And her father appeared to be perfectly serious. He was holding out the squirming snake to her, expecting her to let it crawl down her throat. Sam opened her mouth to scream, but her father moved closer and tried to push the larvae into her mouth. Twisting away from him, Sam managed to get past him and kept running down the corridor.
She had no conscious thought in her mind except to get away from the horror behind her. Again she was careless in her mindless panic and hit a door. Hard, painfully. This time she went down. She could feel her mind slipping away. The darkness opened up to claim her and she blacked out. At the last moment she felt such relief. Finally, she had found refuge from this craziness.
***
Her eyelids flickered and opened. There was a bright light above her. She was in a clean white room and appeared to be lying on some kind of bed. It took her dazed mind a while to get its bearings. The infirmary. She was in the infirmary. But there was something wrong about the infirmary. This wasn’t where she wanted to be. Struggling to fight free of the sheets covering her, she tried to get up. Someone was standing a little distance away. That person turned around and started walking in her direction. Now she recognized the person. No. Sam could hear a scream making its way across her lips.
“Sam. Glad to have you back. Is anything wrong?”
Janet bent down to examine her patient. Alarmed by Sam’s reaction the doctor straightened up again.
“What’s wrong, Sam? Are you in pain?”
“Get away from me.”
“Sam, it’s me. Janet. You’re perfectly safe here. Do you remember anything of your last mission?”
It was a while before Sam picked up on Janet’s changed behavior. This wasn’t the deranged woman from earlier, it was her old friend and doctor.
“My last mission? Why do you ask?”
“Because you lost consciousness as soon as you’d passed through the Stargate. Gave Daniel quite a shock when you just folded up and dropped to the floor. He came in here, carrying you in his arms. I’ve never seen him looking so concerned. He’s waiting outside. Actually, I’ve had to order him to stay away. We had to make sure you were going to be ok.
“I remember fighting. The natives weren’t exactly friendly. We had to leave in a hurry. Daniel had just gone through the gate and I was following. The others were right behind me. Did they get back ok?”
“Yes, don’t worry about that. You had a small flesh wound on your right temple, so I’m assuming you were grazed by one of their energy beams. There’s no harm done as far as I can tell. Just to make sure I’ve ordered a few additional tests, but so far everything appears to be normal. You were just unconscious for such a long time I was beginning to worry.”
“I see. How long have I been out?”
“About ten hours.”
“Oh. So it was all a dream.”
“What was?”
“I had this unbelievable nightmare.”
“Yeah? What about?”
Sam sorted through the memories in her mind. Thank goodness it wasn’t real.
“It was totally insane. Never mind. You said Daniel was outside?”
“He was the last time I checked. Want me to bring him in?”
“Yes, please. I’d like to take a look at him. Make sure he’s ok.”
And alone. Not standing out there, with another woman’s arms around him.
“Ok.”
The doctor returned seconds later, with a very worried-looking Daniel. One look convinced Sam that there were no thoughts in his mind about any other woman. So she smiled encouragingly to her lover and indicated that he could sit down on the side of the bed. Somehow, she was sure Janet would overlook this breach of the infirmary’s rules for just a while. And she could tell that Daniel was just as relieved to have her back, as she was to have him safely within reach again.
“Hey. You had me really worried there for a while.”
“I guess I was out for a long time. And I had the weirdest dream.”
“Oh. What kind of dream?”
“The worst kind of nightmare. I thought I had lost you to – to someone else.”
“No chance of that. You think I’d be such a fool, now that I’ve finally got you where I want you? Oh, not here in the infirmary. It would kind of cramp my style with the welcome I’ve got all planned out for you. Witnesses would, I mean. But – “
“I know what you mean. Mm. Maybe Janet would let me get out of here now? Seeing that you’re here to wait on me hand and foot.”
“Sounds wonderful. Let’s ask her. Janet?”
“Yes?”
“You wouldn’t consider letting me take Sam back to her quarters? She seems ok to me.”
Janet thought the suggestion over, and though she knew that she ought to keep Sam at least over night for observation, she was a sucker for the puppy look in Daniel’s eyes.
“Alright. Go on. But you’ll have her back here right away if she exhibits any more symptoms.”
“Yes, ma’am. Absolutely. You can count on me.”
“Hmm. I’d better. Ok, get out of here, both of you. Now maybe I can get to my quarters and fix my hair in time for my date with Alex.”
If Janet expected her friend to show any curiosity or even happiness on her account, she was disappointed. But she knew that look in Sam’s eyes. Right now, there was only one person on her mind. Daniel. So Janet smiled indulgently at the lovebirds. Her patient would be fine now, it was more than obvious. She could have made that diagnosis as a first year med student, or even as a high school junior.
Outside in the corridor they ran into a few visitors. O’Neill and his wife were walking, well, fairly close together to put it mildly. In fact, Jack had his arm around Sarah’s shoulders, and the possessive look Sam had last seen in Sarah’s eyes in Daniel’s quarters was directed straight at her husband.
“Looks like we’re too late. Almost missed the patient.”
“You were coming to see me, sir?”
“Oh, come on, Carter. It’s after hours. I don’t think anyone will mind if you call me Jack. I won’t tell anyone. Oh, as long as the boss won’t have a problem with it.”
Sarah smiled smugly and nodded her acknowledgement to such fraternisation between officers and the men – and women – under his command.
“Then you must call me Sam, Jack.”
“Whatever. I see you’re back on your feet again. Good. You had us worried there for a while.”
“Glad to see you looking so much better, Sam.”
“Thank you, Sarah, thanks, Jack. Well, this was nice. Daniel was just taking me back to my quarters. You wouldn’t like to drop by for a chat?”
“Rain check, ok? Sarah and I had some things we – uh – wanted to – uh – discuss.”
“I see. Daniel have a thing or two we need to discuss as well. So we’ll see you later then.”
“Great. Have a – hm – nice – uh – discussion, Sam.”
“You too, Jack, and Sarah of course.”
“See you later, Sam.”
Sam noted with satisfaction that there was no sign of either Teal’c, General Hammond or her dad on the way back to her own quarters. Right now, on top of that strange dream, she wasn’t sure she’d be pleased to see either one of them. Especially not the last two. But they got safely to their destination without any other visitors catching up with them. And Colonel O’Neill would have been pleased to know that his wish for a nice discussion was realized. Not that he would ever know that, unless he guessed.
When Sam fell asleep some hours later, it was in the safe knowledge that all was right in her world, and Daniel was exactly where she wanted him. Securely pinned down under her weight. If anyone wanted to lay their hands on him, they would have to get through her first, and she would never let them.
FIN
© Tonica