NeverEnding 7/?
Ok, so this took much longer to get up than I had planned and half of the problem was that I HATED this chapter when I first wrote it. But with re-reading it, I realised what was missing and after I had added it in, I loved it. It's funny how adding a third character to a scene can just change everything and suddenly make something that hadn't been working, work. Plus, we finally get to know what happened after Sam kicked Jack out of her lab!
Any-hoo, here's the next chapter (finally!); enjoy!
NeverEnding 7/?
Title: Escalation
Author: Chozen Rogue
Rating: Teen; language, sexuality, character death
Characters: Jack/Sam; Team; Landry; Thor
Summary: What if Jack was on the Odyssey during the events of “Unending?”
Spoilers: Unending (Duh!)
Disclaimer: Stargate: SG-1 belongs to MGM, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Films. I just took the characters out for a spin.
Previous chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
TWO WEEKS AFTER THE ORI ATTACK
Daniel sighed as Teal’c entered his make shift lab, where he was studying the Asgard database; he had almost forgotten about the meeting. It had been two weeks since Sam had told them rest of them that they would be stuck here for at least three months and he had a sinking suspicion that her estimate was about to increase.
He shut off the computer and met Teal’c at the door; looking the Jaffa up and down he commented, “What’s wrong?” At the arched eyebrow, Daniel elaborated, “You look like your about to punch a hole in the wall.”
“I have just come from inventorying the last of the supplies.”
Nodding in his sudden understanding, Daniel started out of the lab. “Vala has a habit of doing that to people.”
“I am trained to ignore such feelings but I do find her,” Teal’c searched for the right word, “most irritating at times.”
“I bet you do,” Daniel said with a smile in his voice. “So, besides wanting to throw her out of the nearest airlock, what have we found out about the supply issue?”
“If rationed, I believe we could last longer than three months.”
Horrified at the prospect, Daniel stopped and turned towards Teal’c, “Let’s not mention that to anyone, three months is going to be long enough.”
Raising an eyebrow, the other man asked, “So you are confident in Colonel Carter’s ability?”
Daniel closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “I know that Sam can do this, I mean she’s done everything else, but I just not sure if three months is enough time.”
Tilting his head, Teal’c turned and continued down the corridor only to have Sam herself come into view further down the hallway. Seeing that she hadn’t noticed them, Daniel called out, “Hey Sam! Wait up!”
She stopped and waited for them to catch up with her, “You on your way to the briefing?”
“Yeah, Teal’c came to get me.”
Smiling at the blue-eyed man, Sam nudged him with her shoulder. “Meaning, he needed to remind you because you got caught up with work?”
“Indeed.”
Both turned to see a strange gleam relected in the eyes of Apophis’s former first prime. Recognizing it immediately, Daniel loudly whispered, “Traitor.”
Shaking her head as she bit back a laugh, Sam started walking again. “Come on guys, we’re gonna be late.”
“Which would be a travesty since you are the key speaker.” Sam’s hand shot out and smacked Daniel’s chest, “Ow! It was a joke!”
Hearing the obvious laughter in the man’s voice, Teal’c ignored the outburst and turned his attention to the woman next to him. “May I ask you a question, Colonel?”
“Teal’c, we’ve been friends for ten years now, you needn’t ask.” Daniel smiled in response to Sam’s slight frustration; even after all these years, the former Jaffa’s extreme formality could still annoy her.
Teal’c tilted his head and voiced, “Do you know why O’Neill was acting strangely today?” Sam shot him a confused looked. “He did not seem himself when he was in the sparring room with Mitchell and me.”
Intrigued by this information but having no doubt of the reason for Jack’s behavior, Daniel asked, “How so?”
“Mitchell and I both tried to have him join our sparring match but he would not accept. Instead, he chose to sit quietly in a corner.” As they reached the lift doors, Sam and Daniel glanced at one another; a quiet Jack O’Neill was typically a dangerous one. “He was morose.”
The doors to the elevator slid open and they stepped into it, an awkward silence settling over them. Daniel, acutely aware of the sudden change in the atmosphere traded glances with Teal’c, hit the button for the command deck. As the floor shuddered slightly, signaling that they had started moving, he took a moment to study Sam. She was staring resolutely at the polished surface of the doors in front of her.
Crossing her arms, she finally said, “I sort of kicked him out of the lab earlier.”
One eyebrow arched on Teal’c’s forehead as Daniel shook his head, he had come to the same conclusion that Jack’s mood had been caused by this event. At their reactions, Sam hastily added, “He broke one of my magnifying glasses!”
There was another awkward pause as the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open.
“O’Neill’s apparent obsession with glass objects aside, you should not have done that.”
The Colonel felt her jaw drop as the Teal’c stepped out of the lift, followed by Daniel. She watched them as they walked away, moving only when the doors started to close again. Leaving the lift behind her, she ran to catch up with them. “Why is the General’s mood my fault?”
Finally voicing his opinion, Daniel said, “Look Sam, Teal’c isn’t blaming you but I was there. Jack did seem a bit put out when I talked to him.” She stared at his in confusion and he clarified. “I was there when you kicked him out; saw the whole thing.”
Sam’s horrified expression at someone seeing the slightly insubordinate event was disregarded by Teal’c as he voiced his own opinion. “He is also currently having problems coping with the physical aftermath of the attack and having to be contained within this ship.”
Glancing from Teal’c to Daniel, she sighed; Sam could feel a headache coming on. “That’s not my fault.”
“No, it isn’t,” the larger man’s expression softened, “but he has always been and is attached to you.” Her blue eye met his dark ones in shock. “You share a bond and by shutting him out, you seemed to have affected him greatly.”
And with that, Teal’c turned and walked down the hallway to disappear around a corner, leaving Daniel and her to stare after him.
Daniel’s attention quickly turned to Sam as he heard her body sag against the bulkhead. “You okay?”
At her weak nod, he laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, “Nobody blames you.”
Meeting his eyes, Sam straightened, “So you said.” Smiling a bitter smile, Daniel turned to follow the direction Teal’c had gone. Watching him leave her there in the hallway, Sam had the overwhelming desire to hit something appear.
She about to tell her friends that they were stuck here for at least another two weeks because every simulation still ended with the Odyssey exploding, taking them with it. Plus, she still wasn’t anywhere close to being able to replicate Merlin’s device because of this data.
She had thought the time dilation field was a savior; a way to buy them the time they needed. But now, she was convinced that she was just prolonging their deaths.
And to top everything off, she now had to deal with the fact that she had managed to hurt Jack’s feelings. All she had wanted was peace and quiet to work in and he had been driving her crazy! Wasn’t her sanity just as important as his?
Sighing, she continued her way towards the control room, knowing that the universe wasn’t going to give her a break on this one.
*****
“All right, now that Colonel Carter is here, let’s get started.” As soon as the words were out of Landry’s mouth, the sound of chairs scraping filled the room.
Carter watched as SG-1 and the General took their seats, with the exception of Mitchell who had remained standing, and immediately noticed that there was a person missing. Scanning the room, her eyes settled on O’Neill leaning against the window, completely removed from the group. When their eyes met, she quickly averted hers and started the briefing.
“Before I tried to build Merlin's out of phase technology, I decided to run a simulation,” she pressed a button to begin the simulation behind her, which showed the Odyssey exploding after being hit by the Ori weapon.
Exasperated, Cam asked, “Are you saying it took two weeks to figure out this idea wouldn't work?”
Landry threw the upset man a pointed look as General O’Neill said, “Colonel, let her finish.” Mitchell nodded his apology and turned back to Sam who had closed her eyes in a heavy sigh.
“I'm sorry,” Carter turned and walked towards the view screen, “I've been trying to adjust the parameters.” She crossed over to Landry, and planted herself in front of him, “Now the problem is, according to Thor, I can't seem to take this ship out of phase before I shut down the field.” Everyone in the room tried to ignore the sound of Jack’s head dropping back and hitting the window behind him. “And once we deactivate the time dilation field we have .86 seconds before the blast hits us and that just isn't enough time to take the ship out of phase.”
“Ok…time for plan B,” Sam saw Mitchell’s knuckles turn white as his grip on the console tightened.
“Actually, I ran that simulation too,” she gripped the crystal in front of her and moved it causing the simulation to reset itself. “If we beam ourselves into the buffer, ready to transport down to the planet, and set the time dilation field to deactivate on a timer,” she moved the crystal again to show the Odyssey blowing up again, but this time it also took out a white stream exiting the ship, “the matter stream still doesn't have enough time to fully exit the buffer and get clear of the explosion.”
“Fine,” again Cam grounded out, “plan C: we go to the 302s. That's how I got off the Korelov.”
Sam dipped her head and said, “Ran that too.” She started to move down the console, the anxiety in the room gaining her attention, “Based on the way the Odyssey's going to be hit compared to the Korelov; it won't work.”
Jack suddenly left his chair, in a fashion that Sam was sure pulled at the still sensitive stitches along his torso and leaned his forehead against the cool window facing the Ori torpedo. Vala puffed out her cheeks as she turned to Daniel, while everyone else just stared at up at her.
“The computer’s wrong,” Cameron looked as though his body was about to snap from the tension that was emanating from him in waves. Sam couldn’t help roll her eyes at his statement; of course the computer would be wrong to him.
“Both of the last two scenarios don't preserve the ship or the Asgard knowledge.”
Sam looked down in defeat, “I know.” Leave it to Daniel to worry about the survival of a now extinct race’s knowledge; she agreed, of course, but she had already come to the conclusion that Thor’s race would indeed die along with the ship.
Landry turned his chair to face the rest of SG-1 and said, “Ok, it's only been a couple of weeks.” Sam couldn’t help but feel disappointed as she heard the exasperation in the General’s voice. He was helping her but he wasn’t enjoying it.
“I'm having a problem with the word ‘only’,” Vala voiced.
“The good news is,” Sam paused and seriously doubted that no matter how much awe she managed to put into her voice, that the people in front of her wouldn’t agree with this ‘good news’, “the Asgard have provided us with some truly amazing technology.” Just as she predicted, no one looked thrilled, not even Daniel.
“Just nothing to get us out of this mess.” Sam was this close to decking Cam, god he could be an ass at times; couldn’t he see that she was trying? Which seemed to be a hell of a lot more than he was contributing at the moment!
“I don't know that yet. However,” Sam prayed that her next bit of information would lighten the mood somewhat, “with only a slight modification to the beaming technology we have a matter converter that will literally allow us to manufacture food, water, oxygen, and pretty much anything we need.”
“Except a way off this ship.”
Landry opened his mouth to say something, as Sam’s head fell to her hands on the console, but Jack’s voice rang through the lab, “For crying out loud! That’s enough, Mitchell!”
All of the room turned to give him a weary look, including Sam whose head had risen in shock at the sound of his voice. He was still staring out of the window but his body had become rigid and a sense of authority was radiating from him.
Daniel smiled at the intimidating scene. He was as frustrated with this situation as Cam, but there was no need to be treating Sam like that.
Landry turned his chair to Cam, “As General O’Neill has already pointed out: You've made your point son. I doubt very much Colonel Carter has even scratched the surface of what's possible.” With that said, Landry lifted himself off his chair, “Just give her some more time.”
He moved towards the exit and looked to Jack as the man came over to him, only to pass him without even a glance. Landry shook his head at the man’s actions; he had known Jack O’Neill a long time and to see him in such state was as bad as watching Mitchell make an ass out of himself.
SG-1 watched as both Generals left the lab and as soon as they were out of ear-shot, Mitchell kicked the console in front of him, causing everyone, except for Teal’c, to jump. They all watched as Cameron stormed out of the room, Vala following shortly there after.
Soon after their departure, Teal’c crossed the room over to where Sam was still standing and laid a hand on her shoulder. Her own came up to clasp his, which squeezed her hand in a comforting gesture. Daniel, who hadn’t moved, quietly reiterated, “Sam, none of this if you fault.”
Sam let herself fall slightly back against Teal’c’s chest and whispered, “Yes, it is.”
Continue to Chapter 8
____________________________________
-- Hope y'all enjoyed it! Comments are love!
Any-hoo, here's the next chapter (finally!); enjoy!
NeverEnding 7/?
Title: Escalation
Author: Chozen Rogue
Rating: Teen; language, sexuality, character death
Characters: Jack/Sam; Team; Landry; Thor
Summary: What if Jack was on the Odyssey during the events of “Unending?”
Spoilers: Unending (Duh!)
Disclaimer: Stargate: SG-1 belongs to MGM, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Films. I just took the characters out for a spin.
Previous chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
TWO WEEKS AFTER THE ORI ATTACK
Daniel sighed as Teal’c entered his make shift lab, where he was studying the Asgard database; he had almost forgotten about the meeting. It had been two weeks since Sam had told them rest of them that they would be stuck here for at least three months and he had a sinking suspicion that her estimate was about to increase.
He shut off the computer and met Teal’c at the door; looking the Jaffa up and down he commented, “What’s wrong?” At the arched eyebrow, Daniel elaborated, “You look like your about to punch a hole in the wall.”
“I have just come from inventorying the last of the supplies.”
Nodding in his sudden understanding, Daniel started out of the lab. “Vala has a habit of doing that to people.”
“I am trained to ignore such feelings but I do find her,” Teal’c searched for the right word, “most irritating at times.”
“I bet you do,” Daniel said with a smile in his voice. “So, besides wanting to throw her out of the nearest airlock, what have we found out about the supply issue?”
“If rationed, I believe we could last longer than three months.”
Horrified at the prospect, Daniel stopped and turned towards Teal’c, “Let’s not mention that to anyone, three months is going to be long enough.”
Raising an eyebrow, the other man asked, “So you are confident in Colonel Carter’s ability?”
Daniel closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “I know that Sam can do this, I mean she’s done everything else, but I just not sure if three months is enough time.”
Tilting his head, Teal’c turned and continued down the corridor only to have Sam herself come into view further down the hallway. Seeing that she hadn’t noticed them, Daniel called out, “Hey Sam! Wait up!”
She stopped and waited for them to catch up with her, “You on your way to the briefing?”
“Yeah, Teal’c came to get me.”
Smiling at the blue-eyed man, Sam nudged him with her shoulder. “Meaning, he needed to remind you because you got caught up with work?”
“Indeed.”
Both turned to see a strange gleam relected in the eyes of Apophis’s former first prime. Recognizing it immediately, Daniel loudly whispered, “Traitor.”
Shaking her head as she bit back a laugh, Sam started walking again. “Come on guys, we’re gonna be late.”
“Which would be a travesty since you are the key speaker.” Sam’s hand shot out and smacked Daniel’s chest, “Ow! It was a joke!”
Hearing the obvious laughter in the man’s voice, Teal’c ignored the outburst and turned his attention to the woman next to him. “May I ask you a question, Colonel?”
“Teal’c, we’ve been friends for ten years now, you needn’t ask.” Daniel smiled in response to Sam’s slight frustration; even after all these years, the former Jaffa’s extreme formality could still annoy her.
Teal’c tilted his head and voiced, “Do you know why O’Neill was acting strangely today?” Sam shot him a confused looked. “He did not seem himself when he was in the sparring room with Mitchell and me.”
Intrigued by this information but having no doubt of the reason for Jack’s behavior, Daniel asked, “How so?”
“Mitchell and I both tried to have him join our sparring match but he would not accept. Instead, he chose to sit quietly in a corner.” As they reached the lift doors, Sam and Daniel glanced at one another; a quiet Jack O’Neill was typically a dangerous one. “He was morose.”
The doors to the elevator slid open and they stepped into it, an awkward silence settling over them. Daniel, acutely aware of the sudden change in the atmosphere traded glances with Teal’c, hit the button for the command deck. As the floor shuddered slightly, signaling that they had started moving, he took a moment to study Sam. She was staring resolutely at the polished surface of the doors in front of her.
Crossing her arms, she finally said, “I sort of kicked him out of the lab earlier.”
One eyebrow arched on Teal’c’s forehead as Daniel shook his head, he had come to the same conclusion that Jack’s mood had been caused by this event. At their reactions, Sam hastily added, “He broke one of my magnifying glasses!”
There was another awkward pause as the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open.
“O’Neill’s apparent obsession with glass objects aside, you should not have done that.”
The Colonel felt her jaw drop as the Teal’c stepped out of the lift, followed by Daniel. She watched them as they walked away, moving only when the doors started to close again. Leaving the lift behind her, she ran to catch up with them. “Why is the General’s mood my fault?”
Finally voicing his opinion, Daniel said, “Look Sam, Teal’c isn’t blaming you but I was there. Jack did seem a bit put out when I talked to him.” She stared at his in confusion and he clarified. “I was there when you kicked him out; saw the whole thing.”
Sam’s horrified expression at someone seeing the slightly insubordinate event was disregarded by Teal’c as he voiced his own opinion. “He is also currently having problems coping with the physical aftermath of the attack and having to be contained within this ship.”
Glancing from Teal’c to Daniel, she sighed; Sam could feel a headache coming on. “That’s not my fault.”
“No, it isn’t,” the larger man’s expression softened, “but he has always been and is attached to you.” Her blue eye met his dark ones in shock. “You share a bond and by shutting him out, you seemed to have affected him greatly.”
And with that, Teal’c turned and walked down the hallway to disappear around a corner, leaving Daniel and her to stare after him.
Daniel’s attention quickly turned to Sam as he heard her body sag against the bulkhead. “You okay?”
At her weak nod, he laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, “Nobody blames you.”
Meeting his eyes, Sam straightened, “So you said.” Smiling a bitter smile, Daniel turned to follow the direction Teal’c had gone. Watching him leave her there in the hallway, Sam had the overwhelming desire to hit something appear.
She about to tell her friends that they were stuck here for at least another two weeks because every simulation still ended with the Odyssey exploding, taking them with it. Plus, she still wasn’t anywhere close to being able to replicate Merlin’s device because of this data.
She had thought the time dilation field was a savior; a way to buy them the time they needed. But now, she was convinced that she was just prolonging their deaths.
And to top everything off, she now had to deal with the fact that she had managed to hurt Jack’s feelings. All she had wanted was peace and quiet to work in and he had been driving her crazy! Wasn’t her sanity just as important as his?
Sighing, she continued her way towards the control room, knowing that the universe wasn’t going to give her a break on this one.
*****
“All right, now that Colonel Carter is here, let’s get started.” As soon as the words were out of Landry’s mouth, the sound of chairs scraping filled the room.
Carter watched as SG-1 and the General took their seats, with the exception of Mitchell who had remained standing, and immediately noticed that there was a person missing. Scanning the room, her eyes settled on O’Neill leaning against the window, completely removed from the group. When their eyes met, she quickly averted hers and started the briefing.
“Before I tried to build Merlin's out of phase technology, I decided to run a simulation,” she pressed a button to begin the simulation behind her, which showed the Odyssey exploding after being hit by the Ori weapon.
Exasperated, Cam asked, “Are you saying it took two weeks to figure out this idea wouldn't work?”
Landry threw the upset man a pointed look as General O’Neill said, “Colonel, let her finish.” Mitchell nodded his apology and turned back to Sam who had closed her eyes in a heavy sigh.
“I'm sorry,” Carter turned and walked towards the view screen, “I've been trying to adjust the parameters.” She crossed over to Landry, and planted herself in front of him, “Now the problem is, according to Thor, I can't seem to take this ship out of phase before I shut down the field.” Everyone in the room tried to ignore the sound of Jack’s head dropping back and hitting the window behind him. “And once we deactivate the time dilation field we have .86 seconds before the blast hits us and that just isn't enough time to take the ship out of phase.”
“Ok…time for plan B,” Sam saw Mitchell’s knuckles turn white as his grip on the console tightened.
“Actually, I ran that simulation too,” she gripped the crystal in front of her and moved it causing the simulation to reset itself. “If we beam ourselves into the buffer, ready to transport down to the planet, and set the time dilation field to deactivate on a timer,” she moved the crystal again to show the Odyssey blowing up again, but this time it also took out a white stream exiting the ship, “the matter stream still doesn't have enough time to fully exit the buffer and get clear of the explosion.”
“Fine,” again Cam grounded out, “plan C: we go to the 302s. That's how I got off the Korelov.”
Sam dipped her head and said, “Ran that too.” She started to move down the console, the anxiety in the room gaining her attention, “Based on the way the Odyssey's going to be hit compared to the Korelov; it won't work.”
Jack suddenly left his chair, in a fashion that Sam was sure pulled at the still sensitive stitches along his torso and leaned his forehead against the cool window facing the Ori torpedo. Vala puffed out her cheeks as she turned to Daniel, while everyone else just stared at up at her.
“The computer’s wrong,” Cameron looked as though his body was about to snap from the tension that was emanating from him in waves. Sam couldn’t help roll her eyes at his statement; of course the computer would be wrong to him.
“Both of the last two scenarios don't preserve the ship or the Asgard knowledge.”
Sam looked down in defeat, “I know.” Leave it to Daniel to worry about the survival of a now extinct race’s knowledge; she agreed, of course, but she had already come to the conclusion that Thor’s race would indeed die along with the ship.
Landry turned his chair to face the rest of SG-1 and said, “Ok, it's only been a couple of weeks.” Sam couldn’t help but feel disappointed as she heard the exasperation in the General’s voice. He was helping her but he wasn’t enjoying it.
“I'm having a problem with the word ‘only’,” Vala voiced.
“The good news is,” Sam paused and seriously doubted that no matter how much awe she managed to put into her voice, that the people in front of her wouldn’t agree with this ‘good news’, “the Asgard have provided us with some truly amazing technology.” Just as she predicted, no one looked thrilled, not even Daniel.
“Just nothing to get us out of this mess.” Sam was this close to decking Cam, god he could be an ass at times; couldn’t he see that she was trying? Which seemed to be a hell of a lot more than he was contributing at the moment!
“I don't know that yet. However,” Sam prayed that her next bit of information would lighten the mood somewhat, “with only a slight modification to the beaming technology we have a matter converter that will literally allow us to manufacture food, water, oxygen, and pretty much anything we need.”
“Except a way off this ship.”
Landry opened his mouth to say something, as Sam’s head fell to her hands on the console, but Jack’s voice rang through the lab, “For crying out loud! That’s enough, Mitchell!”
All of the room turned to give him a weary look, including Sam whose head had risen in shock at the sound of his voice. He was still staring out of the window but his body had become rigid and a sense of authority was radiating from him.
Daniel smiled at the intimidating scene. He was as frustrated with this situation as Cam, but there was no need to be treating Sam like that.
Landry turned his chair to Cam, “As General O’Neill has already pointed out: You've made your point son. I doubt very much Colonel Carter has even scratched the surface of what's possible.” With that said, Landry lifted himself off his chair, “Just give her some more time.”
He moved towards the exit and looked to Jack as the man came over to him, only to pass him without even a glance. Landry shook his head at the man’s actions; he had known Jack O’Neill a long time and to see him in such state was as bad as watching Mitchell make an ass out of himself.
SG-1 watched as both Generals left the lab and as soon as they were out of ear-shot, Mitchell kicked the console in front of him, causing everyone, except for Teal’c, to jump. They all watched as Cameron stormed out of the room, Vala following shortly there after.
Soon after their departure, Teal’c crossed the room over to where Sam was still standing and laid a hand on her shoulder. Her own came up to clasp his, which squeezed her hand in a comforting gesture. Daniel, who hadn’t moved, quietly reiterated, “Sam, none of this if you fault.”
Sam let herself fall slightly back against Teal’c’s chest and whispered, “Yes, it is.”
Continue to Chapter 8
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-- Hope y'all enjoyed it! Comments are love!