Merry Christmas, time_agent!!!!!
First - a fic!
Title: Shifting Perspectives
Author: Jen (aka marsheadtilt)
Rating: PG13
Fandom: FH
Characters: Jack Harkness/Sam Carter, Veronica Mars/Cameron Mitchell
Spoilers: Vague for 9x18 - Arthur's Mantle, Stargate: SG1
Author's Notes: This is my attempt to re-write the episode giving it an FH background. Many, many thanks to cameronmitchell and sam_i_am for their feedback and Extra Special Thanks to janetfraiser for her very thorough beta.
Jack was pacing. Well, attempting to pace. It was hard to pace effectively when you lived in a small apartment. But when your girlfriend hadn’t come home or answered her phone for a week, there wasn’t much else to do besides pace.
Well, he supposed that if his girlfriend was a normal woman, he would be able to notify the authorities, and they would be able to look for her. But when your girlfriend was a highly decorated Air Force officer, the rules were a little bit different.
He grabbed his phone to check his voicemail for what was probably the six hundredth time, and wondered why he was even bothering. It wasn’t like Sam had never had to be out of touch for her job before, but she always tried to call and leave a message. He was so caught up in his thoughts, that he didn’t even realize he hadn’t hit the button for his voicemail. Jack blinked at his phone when he heard a familiar female voice.
“Mars.”
“Veronica,” he said, after his moment of surprise wore off. “It’s Jack. I was trying to check my voicemail, and I wasn’t paying attention.”
“That’s okay,” she assured him and he noticed a note of disappointment in her tone. He barely resisted the urge to facepalm when he realized that she was probably going through the same thing he was.
“I’ve been going nuts worrying about Sam for the last week,” he confided. “Have you heard from Cam at all?”
Veronica sighed. “No, I haven’t,” she admitted. “And I’ve been worried, too. Cameron usually calls me before they go off-world for any length of time but I haven’t heard from him since he left for work last Monday morning.”
“Same here,” Jack said, running his hand through his hair. “And it sucks because it’s not like we can call up the SGC and ask for an update without getting them in trouble. The last thing I want to happen is them to get kicked out because they told us the truth.”
“I know,” she replied and Jack realized that she sounded as dejected as he felt.
“Hey, you want me to come over?” he asked. “We can wait together. Maybe it’ll be a little less lonely.”
He noticed the slight hesitation before she responded. “Yeah, that’s a good idea,” she said. “If you want, you can stay in our guest room.”
“Okay. Give me an hour or so to pack a bag and leave Sam a note and messages on her office and cell phones and I’ll be there.”
***
Cameron was flailing. “He better keep his hands off of her!” he exclaimed, glaring at Sam.
“Cam, they’re worried about us. Do you really think either of them would do anything like that?” Sam asked.
“I know how Harkness is. He’s always had a thing for Veronica,” Cameron accused. “Why can’t you fix this and get us back in the right dimension? It’s been a week!”
“I’m doing everything I can!” she retorted. “Besides, Jack is with me and has been for years. Aside from his twice a year trips to England to visit Cedric, he’s been completely faithful. And you know Veronica would never cheat on you. So relax.”
Cameron rolled his eyes. “I want to go with him to keep an eye on things.”
“Jesus, Cam! We’ve got more important things to worry about than babysitting our significant others! If we want to get back to them, we need to get back to our plane of existence.”
“Fine, so what are we doing here again?” Cameron asked, tapping his foot.
Sam took a deep breath to calm herself. “I have a book here that should help me figure out what’s going on.”
“Sam, we can’t touch anything in that dimension. How is this book going to help?” Cameron asked.
“I have some ideas on that,” Sam said, giving Cameron a reassuring smile. “Trust me. You’re the one who badgered me to join the Air Force again with you, remember?”
That elicited a smile. “Yeah, and you’ve been nothing but a pain in my ass ever since,” Cameron teased.
Sam snapped off a perfect mock salute. “I live to serve, Colonel. Now, help me find this book, please?”
Cameron didn’t answer her right away and Sam realized that he was following Jack around to see what he was packing. She walked over and poked him. “If you want to get back to your girlfriend, you’ll help me,” she said.
He turned and poked her back. “Fine. But he better take clothes.”
***
It took a few minutes for Veronica to answer the door when Jack arrived, and when she did, he was stunned by her appearance. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, she was wearing sweats and what was obviously one of Cameron’s Air Force tee-shirts and there were dark circles under her eyes. Jack wondered if she had slept at all over the last week.
She didn’t say anything, just opened the door and let him in. He waited until she shut the door, then put his bag down and pulled her into his arms. She immediately buried her face in his chest and he could tell by the way her shoulders were shaking that she was crying quietly. He murmured soothing words and held her close, letting her get it out of her system.
When she finally stepped back, she gave him a weak smile. “Sorry,” she apologized, rubbing at her still wet eyes.
Jack gave her a look. “You don’t have to apologize, V. I know what you’re going through.”
Veronica let out a short, harsh laugh. “Not quite,” she said cryptically. “But I’m glad you’re here. Come in, get settled. You know where the guest room is. I made lunch.”
Even though he was confused by her attitude, he followed her instructions, taking his bag upstairs to the guest room that doubled as Veronica’s home office and then going back down to meet her in the kitchen.
“You didn’t have to go to any trouble,” he said when he saw the tray of sandwiches and vegetables she had put together.
“It kept me busy,” she shrugged. “There’s a pitcher of iced tea in the fridge. If you could grab that and a couple glasses, we can take this in the living room where we’ll be more comfortable.”
They settled in with a movie for background noise while they ate. Well, while Jack ate. He noticed that Veronica picked at her sandwich and nibbled at a few carrots, but didn’t really eat anything. He frowned. “Have you been eating?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Not so much. Haven’t been hungry.”
He sighed. “You need to eat, V,” he said gently. “Not eating isn’t going to help anything.”
“Just haven’t been feeling that great,” she said.
Eyeing her carefully, Jack put his glass down and took her hand. “What’s going on?” he asked.
Veronica hesitated before replying. “My boyfriend has been missing for a week,” she said. “Isn’t that enough?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “It just feels like there’s something you’re not telling me.”
He saw a flicker of fear in her eyes and knew for certain that she wasn’t being completely honest with him. He couldn’t ever remember seeing her scared. But he knew better than to push if she wasn’t ready to talk. She was a lot like Sam in that respect.
“It’s not important,” she said. “Let’s just watch the movie.”
***
Cameron kept roaming around the SGC and it was driving Sam up the wall. He was the only person she could talk to and every time she turned around to ask him a question, he was gone.
She was making progress. It was going slow, but it was a step in the right direction. It would be a lot easier if she could communicate with someone on the other side, but so far, nothing they had tried was working.
“How’s it going?” Cameron asked, coming back in to her office. “Landry’s about to blow a gasket trying to find us. He’s got every SG team trying every possible planet they can come up with that we might have visited. Walter keeps telling him that there weren’t any unaccounted for gate activations, but he’s convinced we got a lead on how to defeat the Ori and ran off to check it out without telling anyone.”
Sam rolled her eyes. “You’d think he would know us better than that,” she said. “And it’s going. Slow, but its going. I think I figured out what I need to do, I just need to translate this text. I wish Daniel was here.”
He nodded. “Anything I can do to help?”
“I don’t think so,” she said. “But you can keep me company and not run off every five seconds.”
Cameron gave her a sheepish smile. “Sorry, Sam. I’m just trying to keep track of what’s going on and see if anyone clues in to what’s really going on with us.”
“I know,” Sam smiled back. “But it’s kind of lonely when there’s no one to talk to.”
“Not like I understand half of what you say,” Cameron teased.
She laughed. “Yeah, but you listen and that’s what counts. Wanna hear what I’m working on?”
“Sure, why not,” he said.
***
Jack bolted awake at the sound of Veronica screaming. He grabbed his gun and ran down the hall to her room, flinging the door open and then stopping in surprise when he realized no one was hurting her. He put his gun on her night stand and sat carefully on the edge of her bed.
“Veronica,” he said softly, reaching out and putting a hand on her shoulder. “Wake up. You’re having a bad dream.”
She sat straight up, her breath coming hard and finally focused her eyes on Jack. “Sorry,” she apologized immediately. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“It’s okay,” he assured her, keeping his hand on her shoulder as a measure of comfort. “Have you been having nightmares a lot?”
“I guess,” she replied. “Is two or three a night a lot?”
Jack frowned. “Yeah, it is. What are they about?”
“Cameron not coming home,” Veronica whispered.
“He’ll be home,” Jack said, pulling her into his arms. “He and Sam both. I promise. They wouldn’t leave us.”
She leaned against him and sighed. “I hope you’re right. I have a bad feeling.”
He stroked her hair. “Everything’s going to be fine. Want me to stay with you until you fall back to sleep?”
“If you don’t mind,” Veronica confessed.
“Not one bit,” Jack said, shifting he was fully on the bed and letting her get comfortable against him. He wasn’t sure how long they stayed that way, both quietly lost in their own thoughts, before they both fell asleep.
***
“What the hell is he doing in my bed with my girlfriend!” Cameron demanded when he and Sam entered the bedroom.
Sam frowned. “I don’t know, but I’m sure there’s a good explanation.”
“I can’t think of one!” he insisted. “They must have decided that we’re not coming back and so they’re going to be together.”
“Cam, they’re both fully clothed,” Sam pointed out as she watched Veronica stirring on the bed.
Cameron was still scowling. “But still.”
Veronica sat up then and shook Jack’s shoulder gently. “Hey, we fell asleep,” she said.
Jack stretched and sat up, rubbing his forehead. “No more dreams?” he asked.
“No. I actually got some rest. Thanks for staying with me,” Veronica said.
Sam gave Cameron a puzzled look.
“Veronica has nightmares sometimes,” he explained. “But it’s been a long time since she’s had them.” He sighed. “I guess me disappearing triggered them again.”
“You want some breakfast?” Jack asked Veronica.
She made a face. “No, thanks.”
“Come on, V. You barely ate anything yesterday. Is it because of the nightmares?”
“She’s not eating?” Cameron frowned. “That’s not good. Sam, we need to fix this.”
“I know, Cam. I’m doing my best.”
Veronica shook her head. “No. It’s…” she paused and bit her lip.
“What?” Jack and Cameron asked simultaneously.
“Morning sickness,” she whispered.
Sam couldn’t help but laugh at the expressions on both men’s faces. “Congratulations,” she said to Cameron.
Cameron couldn’t do anything except stare at Veronica.
“Does Cameron know?” Jack asked, slipping her arm around Veronica’s shoulders.
She shook her head. “No, I just found out for sure on Wednesday. I suspected I might be, but I didn’t want to say anything until I knew for sure.”
Sam patted Cameron’s shoulder. “You realize you’re going to have to act surprised when she tells you, right?”
He nodded blankly.
“No wonder you’re having nightmares and not feeling well,” Jack said. “But I promise, it’s going to be okay.”
Veronica nodded and leaned against him. “I’m scared,” she confessed.
Cameron’s face fell. “Dammit, Sam. I want to be able to hold her and tell her everything is going to be okay.”
“I know,” Sam said quietly, squeezing his shoulder. “We’ll fix it. I promise.”
***
Jack could handle a lot of things, but dealing with an emotional, pregnant woman wasn’t high on the list. He was pretty freaked out by the whole situation and he wasn’t even the daddy-to-be.
“Are you sure I can’t get you anything?” he asked, hovering around Veronica as she lounged on the couch. “Tea? Crackers? Ginger Ale? A pillow for your back?”
Veronica chuckled. “I’m fine, Jack. Honest. I’m only eight weeks pregnant. The doctor said my morning sickness was normal and should go away in another month or so. Would you please just sit down?”
“Okay,” he said, sitting in the nearby arm chair. “We need to do something to find Cam and Sam,” he declared.
“Like what?” Veronica asked. “Believe me, I’ve searched every database on Earth that I could get my hands on and didn’t find mention of either of them.”
Jack stood back up and started pacing. “So they’re probably not on Earth.”
“Well, yeah,” she said, watching him walk back and forth. “That’s usually the only time they go out of contact, so that’s what I figured.”
“Do we know how to reach anyone that’s either not on Earth or has the capability to travel to other planets?” he asked.
Veronica tilted her head in consideration. “Bel can shimmer between dimensions,” she said. “But I don’t know if he can do other planets.”
“Call him and find out?” Jack suggested.
“Good idea,” she agreed, reaching for her cell phone. Jack went outside to give her privacy for her call and to clear his head.
He paced along the front porch, wondering what could have possibly happened that would keep Cam and Sam out of touch for so long. He was fairly confident that wherever they were, they were still alive, because he knew that if something really bad had happened, he would have gotten a phone call since he was listed as Sam’s next of kin. Unless, a little voice piped up in the back of his head, the SGC doesn’t know where they are. But that didn’t really make sense either, since he knew that they were both chipped in case they went missing.
Remembering that bit of information was enough to get him to stop pacing and go back inside to wait for Veronica to get off the phone. She was just hanging up when he walked in.
“I talked to Piper,” Veronica told him. “She said Bel can’t shimmer to other planets, so that doesn’t help. But she did suggest pulling out my Ouija board. In case…”
Jack shook his head and went to sit next to her. “Don’t think like that,” he said firmly. “If it was something like that, we would have been notified by now.”
She sighed . “I guess you’re right. But I still want to try it.”
“Okay, but I don’t think it will work,” he said. “I did have an idea that might, though.”
“What’s that?” she asked and he knew he had caught her attention.
“You know how the SGC chipped them both in case they ever went missing?” Jack asked. After she nodded, he continued. “I'm sure they activated the chips as soon as they realized Cam and Sam were missing. What if you hacked into the system and somehow tracked them?”
Veronica looked thoughtful. “Hmm. I don’t have the skills to do something like that. Mac probably could, but she’s out of the country right now.”
Jack smirked. “Parker could probably help us.”
“Oooh, you’re right,” Veronica’s eyes lit up. “Why don’t you give her a call?”
***
“I don’t understand why we had to come back here,” Sam said as she and Cameron entered Cameron and Veronica’s house. “We can’t communicate with them and I can work better at the SGC.”
“I know, I know. But I need to be here,” Cameron replied. “Even if Veronica doesn’t know I’m here, I need to know I was. Besides, didn’t you say you hit a dead end and we’re back to square one?”
Sam sighed and ran her hand through her hair. “Yeah. I really need Daniel to translate for me. Because I’m positive that would have worked if I got the translation right.”
“Well, at least he finally remembered the time he went out of phase and suggested it as a possibility for our whereabouts. Maybe he’ll figure it out from his end,” Cameron said reassuringly.
“I hope so,” she sighed. “Otherwise, I just don’t know what to do.”
“We’re not giving up,” he said firmly. “We will get back.”
His encouragement made Sam smile a little. “Well, you certainly have a good reason to get back.”
“That’s right, I do,” he replied, his eyes becoming sad.
Sam was surprised that they didn’t find Veronica and Jack in the living room. “It’s kind of early, but do you think they went to bed already?” she asked Cameron.
He frowned. “No, it looks like there’s light in the dining room, which is weird because we almost never use it.”
They headed in that direction and found Veronica and Jack sitting at the table, surrounded by lit candles. Sam’s heart stopped for a brief moment as it initially looked like they were having a romantic dinner, but she sighed with relief when she realized that there was a Ouija board between them.
“They think we’re…” Cameron flailed when he realized what was going on.
Sam frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense. Jack knows that he’s listed as my next of kin and would be notified if something happened.”
Veronica stood up then and turned the light on in the room. “I guess the fact that it didn’t work should make me feel better,” she said to Jack.
“I understand why you had to try,” he assured her. “Why don’t we watch something light and fun to get you in a better frame of mind before bed?”
“That’s probably a good idea. Let me just clean this up first.”
Cameron walked over to the table and looked down at the Ouija board while Sam watched Veronica blow out all the candles in the room.
“I don’t know why she tried something like this,” Cameron said to Sam. “They’re just kid games.” He reached out and ran his fingers over the planchette and his eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he actually made contact and it moved. “Sam?”
She walked over and looked at the board, reaching down and making the planchette move for herself. “It must have something to do with us being caught between dimensions,” she said. “Somehow this board allows communication between us and them.”
Cameron nodded. “Now we just need to get them to look at it.”
“Want me to go make some popcorn?” Jack offered.
“Yeah, okay,” Veronica said. “I’m going to put this away.” She gestured to the board.
Sam gave Cameron a look. “We’re going to scare her,” she said. “But we need to make contact. We can tell her right away that we’re alive, but it’s going to freak her out.”
Cameron nodded in resignation. Sam could tell he didn’t want to hurt Veronica at all, but it really was the only way.
As soon as she walked back over to the table, Sam started pushing the planchette.
“Jack!” Veronica yelled. “It’s moving!”
He hurried back in from the kitchen and grabbed Veronica’s hand while they watched the planchette move.
“W - E - A - R - E - O - K,” Veronica spelled out breathlessly. “We are okay. Cam? Sam? Is that you guys?”
Sam quickly moved the pointer to yes and saw a mixture of relief and fear on Jack and Veronica’s faces.
“Tell them we’re not dead,” Cameron insisted.
“Are you guys… um… dead?” Jack asked.
Sam moved the pointer to no.
“Then where are you? And how are you using the board to communicate with us?” Veronica asked, clearly confused.
Sam spelled out ‘stuck between dimensions’. It took a couple of tries before Veronica and Jack got it.
“I’m going to grab a notebook,” Veronica said. “That might make this easier.”
It was a long process, but Sam managed to explain to them that she had been working on a device that somehow transported herself and Cameron into another plane of existence and that they couldn’t figure out how to get back. She told them that they needed to call the SGC and get in touch with Daniel so he could help translate the instructions.
After they got that out of the way, Sam spelled out ‘I miss you’ to Jack.
“I miss you, too, bunny,” he said.
“Bunny?” Cameron and Veronica asked at the same time.
Sam realized it was probably a good thing she was mostly intangible and couldn’t headdesk.
Jack shrugged and smirked a little. “Pet name.”
Veronica chuckled. “Is Cameron here right now, too?” she asked.
Sam stepped aside and let Cameron push the planchette to yes.
“I miss you,” Veronica said, her eyes wet.
He spelled out ‘I know, baby, I love you.’
“I love you, too,” she whispered. “Come home soon.”
Sam could see that it was breaking Cameron not to be able to hug Veronica as he spelled out ‘I will.’
“Are we going to get you guys in trouble?” Jack asked, grabbing the phone and getting ready to call the SGC.
Cameron wasn’t sure of the answer to that question and he let Sam take over again. She moved the planchette to ‘I don’t know’ first and then spelled out ‘does not matter as long as we get back where we belong.’
All four of them smiled at that and Jack dialed the number Sam had provided.
“General Landry,” he said. “This is Jack Harkness, Colonel Samantha Carter’s boyfriend. I have some information for you on the whereabouts of Sam and Colonel Cameron Mitchell.”
***
It went against every protocol the SGC had, but Jack had managed to convince General Landry that he and Veronica should be there when Dr. Jackson finished the translation to bring Cameron and Sam back to the right plane of existence. General Landry had not been pleased that a couple of civilians figured out where two of his best team members where. Nor had he been pleased when he realized that said two civilians knew more about the operations of the SGC than any civilian should. Jack tried to smooth that over as well, explaining some of the uniqueness of Fandom High. He decided against mentioning he was from the 51st Century though because he was fairly certain that wouldn’t do anything but cause more headaches.
He watched Veronica sitting quietly as Daniel worked and went over to stand next to her. He wanted to offer her encouragement, but there was an air of expectation in the room and he didn’t want to break the silence, so he merely squeezed her shoulder gently.
She smiled up at him just as Daniel said, “I think that should do it.”
General Landry glanced over at Jack and Veronica. “What exactly is going to happen here, Dr. Jackson? Is there any danger that everyone in this room could end up stuck there instead of Colonel Mitchell and Colonel Carter coming back?”
Daniel adjusted his glasses and shook his head. “No. All the translations are complete and it’s actually pretty simple.” He launched into a rambling explanation of what the translation said and what he and Sam had deduced that meant, but General Landry cut him off.
“Get to the point.”
“Sorry,” Daniel apologized. “Basically, now that the data is entered, when I hit this button, they should come back.”
Jack felt Veronica grab his hand and he squeezed hers gently as they watched.
“Then let’s do it,” Landry instructed.
A few moments later, Cameron and Sam were standing in the middle of the room, looking rather bewildered.
Before Jack realized what was happening, Veronica had let go of his hand and was across the room, wrapping her arms around Cameron. Sam caught Jack’s eye and raised an eyebrow at him, so he got up and walked over to greet her.
“Good work, Dr. Jackson,” Landry said. “Good to see you again, Colonels.”
Cameron and Sam let go of their respective significant others and saluted the General. “Good to be seen, sir,” Cameron remarked. “Thanks, Jackson.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t figure out what was going on sooner,” Daniel apologized.
Sam smiled. “It’s okay, Daniel. All that matters is you got us back.”
General Landry stood up. “Colonel Mitchell, Colonel Carter, we will need to debrief you both about everything that’s occurred in the last week and a half.” His glance fell on Jack and Veronica. “But take the rest of the day off. I expect you both in my office at 0800 sharp tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, sir,” they replied in unison as Landry left the room. Daniel followed, leaving the two couples alone.
“I’m starving,” Cameron declared. “Let’s go eat.”
Everyone nodded their agreement. Jack was holding tight to Sam’s hand and didn’t appear to be planning on letting her go anytime soon. As they walked out, he noticed that Veronica and Cameron were walking as close as he and Sam.
“We can grab breakfast at that diner near your place,” Sam suggested.
“Oh, that place has great coffee,” Veronica agreed.
“No coffee for you,” Cameron said. “It’s bad for the baby.”
Veronica and Jack both stopped and stared at him. Sam facepalmed.
“Let’s discuss this over breakfast,” Jack suggested, starting to walk again and tugging Sam’s hand. He knew that breakfast was going to be very interesting but he didn't care since he had Sam back and apparently they were going to be an honorary aunt and uncle in seven months.
###
And then a Playlist - Zip File
Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer
Here I Go Again - Whitesnake
Soldier of Love - Donny Osmond
Life Less Ordinary - Carbon Leaf
London Rain - Heather Nova (Jack/Sam)
I'd Love You - Sonya Kitchell (Sam or Cedric POV for Jack)
Momentary Thing - Something Happens
Minuet - Idina Menzel
I'll Cover You - RENT (Jack/Cedric)
Come Get Some - Rooster
That's Amore - Dean Martin
Just a Gigolo - David Lee Roth
Let me know if you have any problems with any of the MP3s :) Hope you enjoy!!
Title: Shifting Perspectives
Author: Jen (aka marsheadtilt)
Rating: PG13
Fandom: FH
Characters: Jack Harkness/Sam Carter, Veronica Mars/Cameron Mitchell
Spoilers: Vague for 9x18 - Arthur's Mantle, Stargate: SG1
Author's Notes: This is my attempt to re-write the episode giving it an FH background. Many, many thanks to cameronmitchell and sam_i_am for their feedback and Extra Special Thanks to janetfraiser for her very thorough beta.
Jack was pacing. Well, attempting to pace. It was hard to pace effectively when you lived in a small apartment. But when your girlfriend hadn’t come home or answered her phone for a week, there wasn’t much else to do besides pace.
Well, he supposed that if his girlfriend was a normal woman, he would be able to notify the authorities, and they would be able to look for her. But when your girlfriend was a highly decorated Air Force officer, the rules were a little bit different.
He grabbed his phone to check his voicemail for what was probably the six hundredth time, and wondered why he was even bothering. It wasn’t like Sam had never had to be out of touch for her job before, but she always tried to call and leave a message. He was so caught up in his thoughts, that he didn’t even realize he hadn’t hit the button for his voicemail. Jack blinked at his phone when he heard a familiar female voice.
“Mars.”
“Veronica,” he said, after his moment of surprise wore off. “It’s Jack. I was trying to check my voicemail, and I wasn’t paying attention.”
“That’s okay,” she assured him and he noticed a note of disappointment in her tone. He barely resisted the urge to facepalm when he realized that she was probably going through the same thing he was.
“I’ve been going nuts worrying about Sam for the last week,” he confided. “Have you heard from Cam at all?”
Veronica sighed. “No, I haven’t,” she admitted. “And I’ve been worried, too. Cameron usually calls me before they go off-world for any length of time but I haven’t heard from him since he left for work last Monday morning.”
“Same here,” Jack said, running his hand through his hair. “And it sucks because it’s not like we can call up the SGC and ask for an update without getting them in trouble. The last thing I want to happen is them to get kicked out because they told us the truth.”
“I know,” she replied and Jack realized that she sounded as dejected as he felt.
“Hey, you want me to come over?” he asked. “We can wait together. Maybe it’ll be a little less lonely.”
He noticed the slight hesitation before she responded. “Yeah, that’s a good idea,” she said. “If you want, you can stay in our guest room.”
“Okay. Give me an hour or so to pack a bag and leave Sam a note and messages on her office and cell phones and I’ll be there.”
***
Cameron was flailing. “He better keep his hands off of her!” he exclaimed, glaring at Sam.
“Cam, they’re worried about us. Do you really think either of them would do anything like that?” Sam asked.
“I know how Harkness is. He’s always had a thing for Veronica,” Cameron accused. “Why can’t you fix this and get us back in the right dimension? It’s been a week!”
“I’m doing everything I can!” she retorted. “Besides, Jack is with me and has been for years. Aside from his twice a year trips to England to visit Cedric, he’s been completely faithful. And you know Veronica would never cheat on you. So relax.”
Cameron rolled his eyes. “I want to go with him to keep an eye on things.”
“Jesus, Cam! We’ve got more important things to worry about than babysitting our significant others! If we want to get back to them, we need to get back to our plane of existence.”
“Fine, so what are we doing here again?” Cameron asked, tapping his foot.
Sam took a deep breath to calm herself. “I have a book here that should help me figure out what’s going on.”
“Sam, we can’t touch anything in that dimension. How is this book going to help?” Cameron asked.
“I have some ideas on that,” Sam said, giving Cameron a reassuring smile. “Trust me. You’re the one who badgered me to join the Air Force again with you, remember?”
That elicited a smile. “Yeah, and you’ve been nothing but a pain in my ass ever since,” Cameron teased.
Sam snapped off a perfect mock salute. “I live to serve, Colonel. Now, help me find this book, please?”
Cameron didn’t answer her right away and Sam realized that he was following Jack around to see what he was packing. She walked over and poked him. “If you want to get back to your girlfriend, you’ll help me,” she said.
He turned and poked her back. “Fine. But he better take clothes.”
***
It took a few minutes for Veronica to answer the door when Jack arrived, and when she did, he was stunned by her appearance. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, she was wearing sweats and what was obviously one of Cameron’s Air Force tee-shirts and there were dark circles under her eyes. Jack wondered if she had slept at all over the last week.
She didn’t say anything, just opened the door and let him in. He waited until she shut the door, then put his bag down and pulled her into his arms. She immediately buried her face in his chest and he could tell by the way her shoulders were shaking that she was crying quietly. He murmured soothing words and held her close, letting her get it out of her system.
When she finally stepped back, she gave him a weak smile. “Sorry,” she apologized, rubbing at her still wet eyes.
Jack gave her a look. “You don’t have to apologize, V. I know what you’re going through.”
Veronica let out a short, harsh laugh. “Not quite,” she said cryptically. “But I’m glad you’re here. Come in, get settled. You know where the guest room is. I made lunch.”
Even though he was confused by her attitude, he followed her instructions, taking his bag upstairs to the guest room that doubled as Veronica’s home office and then going back down to meet her in the kitchen.
“You didn’t have to go to any trouble,” he said when he saw the tray of sandwiches and vegetables she had put together.
“It kept me busy,” she shrugged. “There’s a pitcher of iced tea in the fridge. If you could grab that and a couple glasses, we can take this in the living room where we’ll be more comfortable.”
They settled in with a movie for background noise while they ate. Well, while Jack ate. He noticed that Veronica picked at her sandwich and nibbled at a few carrots, but didn’t really eat anything. He frowned. “Have you been eating?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Not so much. Haven’t been hungry.”
He sighed. “You need to eat, V,” he said gently. “Not eating isn’t going to help anything.”
“Just haven’t been feeling that great,” she said.
Eyeing her carefully, Jack put his glass down and took her hand. “What’s going on?” he asked.
Veronica hesitated before replying. “My boyfriend has been missing for a week,” she said. “Isn’t that enough?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “It just feels like there’s something you’re not telling me.”
He saw a flicker of fear in her eyes and knew for certain that she wasn’t being completely honest with him. He couldn’t ever remember seeing her scared. But he knew better than to push if she wasn’t ready to talk. She was a lot like Sam in that respect.
“It’s not important,” she said. “Let’s just watch the movie.”
***
Cameron kept roaming around the SGC and it was driving Sam up the wall. He was the only person she could talk to and every time she turned around to ask him a question, he was gone.
She was making progress. It was going slow, but it was a step in the right direction. It would be a lot easier if she could communicate with someone on the other side, but so far, nothing they had tried was working.
“How’s it going?” Cameron asked, coming back in to her office. “Landry’s about to blow a gasket trying to find us. He’s got every SG team trying every possible planet they can come up with that we might have visited. Walter keeps telling him that there weren’t any unaccounted for gate activations, but he’s convinced we got a lead on how to defeat the Ori and ran off to check it out without telling anyone.”
Sam rolled her eyes. “You’d think he would know us better than that,” she said. “And it’s going. Slow, but its going. I think I figured out what I need to do, I just need to translate this text. I wish Daniel was here.”
He nodded. “Anything I can do to help?”
“I don’t think so,” she said. “But you can keep me company and not run off every five seconds.”
Cameron gave her a sheepish smile. “Sorry, Sam. I’m just trying to keep track of what’s going on and see if anyone clues in to what’s really going on with us.”
“I know,” Sam smiled back. “But it’s kind of lonely when there’s no one to talk to.”
“Not like I understand half of what you say,” Cameron teased.
She laughed. “Yeah, but you listen and that’s what counts. Wanna hear what I’m working on?”
“Sure, why not,” he said.
***
Jack bolted awake at the sound of Veronica screaming. He grabbed his gun and ran down the hall to her room, flinging the door open and then stopping in surprise when he realized no one was hurting her. He put his gun on her night stand and sat carefully on the edge of her bed.
“Veronica,” he said softly, reaching out and putting a hand on her shoulder. “Wake up. You’re having a bad dream.”
She sat straight up, her breath coming hard and finally focused her eyes on Jack. “Sorry,” she apologized immediately. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“It’s okay,” he assured her, keeping his hand on her shoulder as a measure of comfort. “Have you been having nightmares a lot?”
“I guess,” she replied. “Is two or three a night a lot?”
Jack frowned. “Yeah, it is. What are they about?”
“Cameron not coming home,” Veronica whispered.
“He’ll be home,” Jack said, pulling her into his arms. “He and Sam both. I promise. They wouldn’t leave us.”
She leaned against him and sighed. “I hope you’re right. I have a bad feeling.”
He stroked her hair. “Everything’s going to be fine. Want me to stay with you until you fall back to sleep?”
“If you don’t mind,” Veronica confessed.
“Not one bit,” Jack said, shifting he was fully on the bed and letting her get comfortable against him. He wasn’t sure how long they stayed that way, both quietly lost in their own thoughts, before they both fell asleep.
***
“What the hell is he doing in my bed with my girlfriend!” Cameron demanded when he and Sam entered the bedroom.
Sam frowned. “I don’t know, but I’m sure there’s a good explanation.”
“I can’t think of one!” he insisted. “They must have decided that we’re not coming back and so they’re going to be together.”
“Cam, they’re both fully clothed,” Sam pointed out as she watched Veronica stirring on the bed.
Cameron was still scowling. “But still.”
Veronica sat up then and shook Jack’s shoulder gently. “Hey, we fell asleep,” she said.
Jack stretched and sat up, rubbing his forehead. “No more dreams?” he asked.
“No. I actually got some rest. Thanks for staying with me,” Veronica said.
Sam gave Cameron a puzzled look.
“Veronica has nightmares sometimes,” he explained. “But it’s been a long time since she’s had them.” He sighed. “I guess me disappearing triggered them again.”
“You want some breakfast?” Jack asked Veronica.
She made a face. “No, thanks.”
“Come on, V. You barely ate anything yesterday. Is it because of the nightmares?”
“She’s not eating?” Cameron frowned. “That’s not good. Sam, we need to fix this.”
“I know, Cam. I’m doing my best.”
Veronica shook her head. “No. It’s…” she paused and bit her lip.
“What?” Jack and Cameron asked simultaneously.
“Morning sickness,” she whispered.
Sam couldn’t help but laugh at the expressions on both men’s faces. “Congratulations,” she said to Cameron.
Cameron couldn’t do anything except stare at Veronica.
“Does Cameron know?” Jack asked, slipping her arm around Veronica’s shoulders.
She shook her head. “No, I just found out for sure on Wednesday. I suspected I might be, but I didn’t want to say anything until I knew for sure.”
Sam patted Cameron’s shoulder. “You realize you’re going to have to act surprised when she tells you, right?”
He nodded blankly.
“No wonder you’re having nightmares and not feeling well,” Jack said. “But I promise, it’s going to be okay.”
Veronica nodded and leaned against him. “I’m scared,” she confessed.
Cameron’s face fell. “Dammit, Sam. I want to be able to hold her and tell her everything is going to be okay.”
“I know,” Sam said quietly, squeezing his shoulder. “We’ll fix it. I promise.”
***
Jack could handle a lot of things, but dealing with an emotional, pregnant woman wasn’t high on the list. He was pretty freaked out by the whole situation and he wasn’t even the daddy-to-be.
“Are you sure I can’t get you anything?” he asked, hovering around Veronica as she lounged on the couch. “Tea? Crackers? Ginger Ale? A pillow for your back?”
Veronica chuckled. “I’m fine, Jack. Honest. I’m only eight weeks pregnant. The doctor said my morning sickness was normal and should go away in another month or so. Would you please just sit down?”
“Okay,” he said, sitting in the nearby arm chair. “We need to do something to find Cam and Sam,” he declared.
“Like what?” Veronica asked. “Believe me, I’ve searched every database on Earth that I could get my hands on and didn’t find mention of either of them.”
Jack stood back up and started pacing. “So they’re probably not on Earth.”
“Well, yeah,” she said, watching him walk back and forth. “That’s usually the only time they go out of contact, so that’s what I figured.”
“Do we know how to reach anyone that’s either not on Earth or has the capability to travel to other planets?” he asked.
Veronica tilted her head in consideration. “Bel can shimmer between dimensions,” she said. “But I don’t know if he can do other planets.”
“Call him and find out?” Jack suggested.
“Good idea,” she agreed, reaching for her cell phone. Jack went outside to give her privacy for her call and to clear his head.
He paced along the front porch, wondering what could have possibly happened that would keep Cam and Sam out of touch for so long. He was fairly confident that wherever they were, they were still alive, because he knew that if something really bad had happened, he would have gotten a phone call since he was listed as Sam’s next of kin. Unless, a little voice piped up in the back of his head, the SGC doesn’t know where they are. But that didn’t really make sense either, since he knew that they were both chipped in case they went missing.
Remembering that bit of information was enough to get him to stop pacing and go back inside to wait for Veronica to get off the phone. She was just hanging up when he walked in.
“I talked to Piper,” Veronica told him. “She said Bel can’t shimmer to other planets, so that doesn’t help. But she did suggest pulling out my Ouija board. In case…”
Jack shook his head and went to sit next to her. “Don’t think like that,” he said firmly. “If it was something like that, we would have been notified by now.”
She sighed . “I guess you’re right. But I still want to try it.”
“Okay, but I don’t think it will work,” he said. “I did have an idea that might, though.”
“What’s that?” she asked and he knew he had caught her attention.
“You know how the SGC chipped them both in case they ever went missing?” Jack asked. After she nodded, he continued. “I'm sure they activated the chips as soon as they realized Cam and Sam were missing. What if you hacked into the system and somehow tracked them?”
Veronica looked thoughtful. “Hmm. I don’t have the skills to do something like that. Mac probably could, but she’s out of the country right now.”
Jack smirked. “Parker could probably help us.”
“Oooh, you’re right,” Veronica’s eyes lit up. “Why don’t you give her a call?”
***
“I don’t understand why we had to come back here,” Sam said as she and Cameron entered Cameron and Veronica’s house. “We can’t communicate with them and I can work better at the SGC.”
“I know, I know. But I need to be here,” Cameron replied. “Even if Veronica doesn’t know I’m here, I need to know I was. Besides, didn’t you say you hit a dead end and we’re back to square one?”
Sam sighed and ran her hand through her hair. “Yeah. I really need Daniel to translate for me. Because I’m positive that would have worked if I got the translation right.”
“Well, at least he finally remembered the time he went out of phase and suggested it as a possibility for our whereabouts. Maybe he’ll figure it out from his end,” Cameron said reassuringly.
“I hope so,” she sighed. “Otherwise, I just don’t know what to do.”
“We’re not giving up,” he said firmly. “We will get back.”
His encouragement made Sam smile a little. “Well, you certainly have a good reason to get back.”
“That’s right, I do,” he replied, his eyes becoming sad.
Sam was surprised that they didn’t find Veronica and Jack in the living room. “It’s kind of early, but do you think they went to bed already?” she asked Cameron.
He frowned. “No, it looks like there’s light in the dining room, which is weird because we almost never use it.”
They headed in that direction and found Veronica and Jack sitting at the table, surrounded by lit candles. Sam’s heart stopped for a brief moment as it initially looked like they were having a romantic dinner, but she sighed with relief when she realized that there was a Ouija board between them.
“They think we’re…” Cameron flailed when he realized what was going on.
Sam frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense. Jack knows that he’s listed as my next of kin and would be notified if something happened.”
Veronica stood up then and turned the light on in the room. “I guess the fact that it didn’t work should make me feel better,” she said to Jack.
“I understand why you had to try,” he assured her. “Why don’t we watch something light and fun to get you in a better frame of mind before bed?”
“That’s probably a good idea. Let me just clean this up first.”
Cameron walked over to the table and looked down at the Ouija board while Sam watched Veronica blow out all the candles in the room.
“I don’t know why she tried something like this,” Cameron said to Sam. “They’re just kid games.” He reached out and ran his fingers over the planchette and his eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he actually made contact and it moved. “Sam?”
She walked over and looked at the board, reaching down and making the planchette move for herself. “It must have something to do with us being caught between dimensions,” she said. “Somehow this board allows communication between us and them.”
Cameron nodded. “Now we just need to get them to look at it.”
“Want me to go make some popcorn?” Jack offered.
“Yeah, okay,” Veronica said. “I’m going to put this away.” She gestured to the board.
Sam gave Cameron a look. “We’re going to scare her,” she said. “But we need to make contact. We can tell her right away that we’re alive, but it’s going to freak her out.”
Cameron nodded in resignation. Sam could tell he didn’t want to hurt Veronica at all, but it really was the only way.
As soon as she walked back over to the table, Sam started pushing the planchette.
“Jack!” Veronica yelled. “It’s moving!”
He hurried back in from the kitchen and grabbed Veronica’s hand while they watched the planchette move.
“W - E - A - R - E - O - K,” Veronica spelled out breathlessly. “We are okay. Cam? Sam? Is that you guys?”
Sam quickly moved the pointer to yes and saw a mixture of relief and fear on Jack and Veronica’s faces.
“Tell them we’re not dead,” Cameron insisted.
“Are you guys… um… dead?” Jack asked.
Sam moved the pointer to no.
“Then where are you? And how are you using the board to communicate with us?” Veronica asked, clearly confused.
Sam spelled out ‘stuck between dimensions’. It took a couple of tries before Veronica and Jack got it.
“I’m going to grab a notebook,” Veronica said. “That might make this easier.”
It was a long process, but Sam managed to explain to them that she had been working on a device that somehow transported herself and Cameron into another plane of existence and that they couldn’t figure out how to get back. She told them that they needed to call the SGC and get in touch with Daniel so he could help translate the instructions.
After they got that out of the way, Sam spelled out ‘I miss you’ to Jack.
“I miss you, too, bunny,” he said.
“Bunny?” Cameron and Veronica asked at the same time.
Sam realized it was probably a good thing she was mostly intangible and couldn’t headdesk.
Jack shrugged and smirked a little. “Pet name.”
Veronica chuckled. “Is Cameron here right now, too?” she asked.
Sam stepped aside and let Cameron push the planchette to yes.
“I miss you,” Veronica said, her eyes wet.
He spelled out ‘I know, baby, I love you.’
“I love you, too,” she whispered. “Come home soon.”
Sam could see that it was breaking Cameron not to be able to hug Veronica as he spelled out ‘I will.’
“Are we going to get you guys in trouble?” Jack asked, grabbing the phone and getting ready to call the SGC.
Cameron wasn’t sure of the answer to that question and he let Sam take over again. She moved the planchette to ‘I don’t know’ first and then spelled out ‘does not matter as long as we get back where we belong.’
All four of them smiled at that and Jack dialed the number Sam had provided.
“General Landry,” he said. “This is Jack Harkness, Colonel Samantha Carter’s boyfriend. I have some information for you on the whereabouts of Sam and Colonel Cameron Mitchell.”
***
It went against every protocol the SGC had, but Jack had managed to convince General Landry that he and Veronica should be there when Dr. Jackson finished the translation to bring Cameron and Sam back to the right plane of existence. General Landry had not been pleased that a couple of civilians figured out where two of his best team members where. Nor had he been pleased when he realized that said two civilians knew more about the operations of the SGC than any civilian should. Jack tried to smooth that over as well, explaining some of the uniqueness of Fandom High. He decided against mentioning he was from the 51st Century though because he was fairly certain that wouldn’t do anything but cause more headaches.
He watched Veronica sitting quietly as Daniel worked and went over to stand next to her. He wanted to offer her encouragement, but there was an air of expectation in the room and he didn’t want to break the silence, so he merely squeezed her shoulder gently.
She smiled up at him just as Daniel said, “I think that should do it.”
General Landry glanced over at Jack and Veronica. “What exactly is going to happen here, Dr. Jackson? Is there any danger that everyone in this room could end up stuck there instead of Colonel Mitchell and Colonel Carter coming back?”
Daniel adjusted his glasses and shook his head. “No. All the translations are complete and it’s actually pretty simple.” He launched into a rambling explanation of what the translation said and what he and Sam had deduced that meant, but General Landry cut him off.
“Get to the point.”
“Sorry,” Daniel apologized. “Basically, now that the data is entered, when I hit this button, they should come back.”
Jack felt Veronica grab his hand and he squeezed hers gently as they watched.
“Then let’s do it,” Landry instructed.
A few moments later, Cameron and Sam were standing in the middle of the room, looking rather bewildered.
Before Jack realized what was happening, Veronica had let go of his hand and was across the room, wrapping her arms around Cameron. Sam caught Jack’s eye and raised an eyebrow at him, so he got up and walked over to greet her.
“Good work, Dr. Jackson,” Landry said. “Good to see you again, Colonels.”
Cameron and Sam let go of their respective significant others and saluted the General. “Good to be seen, sir,” Cameron remarked. “Thanks, Jackson.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t figure out what was going on sooner,” Daniel apologized.
Sam smiled. “It’s okay, Daniel. All that matters is you got us back.”
General Landry stood up. “Colonel Mitchell, Colonel Carter, we will need to debrief you both about everything that’s occurred in the last week and a half.” His glance fell on Jack and Veronica. “But take the rest of the day off. I expect you both in my office at 0800 sharp tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, sir,” they replied in unison as Landry left the room. Daniel followed, leaving the two couples alone.
“I’m starving,” Cameron declared. “Let’s go eat.”
Everyone nodded their agreement. Jack was holding tight to Sam’s hand and didn’t appear to be planning on letting her go anytime soon. As they walked out, he noticed that Veronica and Cameron were walking as close as he and Sam.
“We can grab breakfast at that diner near your place,” Sam suggested.
“Oh, that place has great coffee,” Veronica agreed.
“No coffee for you,” Cameron said. “It’s bad for the baby.”
Veronica and Jack both stopped and stared at him. Sam facepalmed.
“Let’s discuss this over breakfast,” Jack suggested, starting to walk again and tugging Sam’s hand. He knew that breakfast was going to be very interesting but he didn't care since he had Sam back and apparently they were going to be an honorary aunt and uncle in seven months.
###
And then a Playlist - Zip File
Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer
Here I Go Again - Whitesnake
Soldier of Love - Donny Osmond
Life Less Ordinary - Carbon Leaf
London Rain - Heather Nova (Jack/Sam)
I'd Love You - Sonya Kitchell (Sam or Cedric POV for Jack)
Momentary Thing - Something Happens
Minuet - Idina Menzel
I'll Cover You - RENT (Jack/Cedric)
Come Get Some - Rooster
That's Amore - Dean Martin
Just a Gigolo - David Lee Roth
Let me know if you have any problems with any of the MP3s :) Hope you enjoy!!