A Life Less Ordinary - Chapter Six
Title: A Life Less Ordinary - Chapter Six
Author: spazmeister
Pairing: S/J
Season: Nine
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Uh... AU, S/J ship, RepliCarter revisiting
A/N: Spoilers for everything up until the latter half of Season Eight. Everything from there is extreme AU Season Nine. If it seems bizarre, that's the point.
After a looooong time of not writing or posting ANYTHING, here is Chapter Six. This story has gotten a lot bigger than I intended, even if it doesn't look like it. :) I hope to continue on, even if it's become a bit of a monster.
“Carter?” Mitchell whispered into his colleague’s quarters, his hand on the doorframe. “Carter? Sam?” He didn’t know where the heck she was now, but Siler AND Walter had said that she’d be here. “Sam?”
“Cameron?” Sam asked from behind Mitchell, causing him to jump. “What are you doing out of the infirmary?”
“Uh…” Cameron looked sheepish. “Sorry, I was just worried. I heard about General O’Neill. And I wanted to get all of the info from you guys. I can’t find Daniel or Teal’c, and Walter said that an ‘alternate version’ of you is on the base, saying she’s come through a quantum mirror, but I don’t know how that could be. I also wanted - ”
“Cameron,” Sam interrupted, one hand in the air, the other to her head. “Let me fill you in, and we can go from there.”
“You OK?” Cameron asked. “You don’t look so good.”
“It’s been a long day, Mitchell,” she responded airily, her tone brooking no argument as she walked around Mitchell and towards her bed. “You wouldn’t look much better, I assure you.”
Before he could respond however, Teal’c and Daniel came charging into Sam’s quarters unannounced. Cameron swerved on a dime at the intrusion. They didn’t even knock, rushing in there like bats outta Hell. Cameron frowned at the looks in their eyes. OK, he thought, so something is obviously wrong here.
“Colonel Mitchell,” Teal’c intoned.
“Cameron,” Daniel said simultaneously. “What are you doing here?”
“Uh, what’s up guys?” Cameron asked, his eyebrow raised. Was everyone going to act so damn pissed?
“Where is Colonel Carter?” Teal’c demanded, his tone urgent.
“Where is Colonel Carter?” Cameron asked incredulously. “She’s right he- ”
Wait…
Cameron did a double-take, not believing his eyes.
Sam was nowhere to be found.
And she definitely wasn’t in the room with them.
He turned back to his teammates in shock.
“She was right… here…”
*******
Stupid, meddling man!
Who in this galaxy was he? Why was he here? Colonel Cameron Mitchell…
Either way, if he had been but a few moments earlier, he would have, without a doubt, caught her…
Cameron Mitchell…
She felt like she should recognize the name, but nothing seemed to click. She didn’t have time to think, no time to do anything but to get back to her original’s lab.
Her original was unconscious, possibly permanently.
It had taken her a few moments to regain control over Jack’s mind, but once she had, it had been simple. Her original had been pliable, much more flexible and willing to conform than she had been several hours prior.
He would never wake.
She would never wake.
The SGC would hold on to hope that they would come back.
Daniel and Teal’c would deny, despair, and grieve appropriately, but they would never let go.
But these two would both be happy in this sugar-coated fantasy of what could have been…
She stopped in her tracks, feeling suddenly sick.
That hadn’t been the plan. Why had she spared her life? Why hadn’t she destroyed her? With one flick of her wrist, her original could have been nothing more than crushed bones. Why had she stopped herself?
Surely she wasn’t second-guessing herself…
Not so.
She had just decided to be more creative with her torture, that’s all.
Nothing more.
Eventually they would both realize they were living a lie, and would be powerless to end it. It’d be the dream that never ended, one they’d never escape. And in the back of their minds, they’d always know that it wasn’t real. That it wasn’t true. That they could never be happy like that in reality.
And they, too, would hold onto the hope of surviving, of coming back to reality, of seeing the real Daniel and Teal’c again. Until they finally withered away in both body and spirit. Until there was nothing left for them to fight.
After all, why destroy an individual physically, when you can destroy their soul?
Somehow the excuse did not ring true.
*******
Jack stared at Sam from across the bonfire in the backyard and frowned. She was still as beautiful as the day they’d met. She had been edgy then, a little combative, but not without good reason. He and Kawalsky had given her a hard time, after all.
Wait…
No… In the beginning, she had been quiet, reserved, ready to follow orders, but willing to stand up for what was right. Kawalsky had been smitten immediately, but that was before Jack realized that he, himself, was beyond smitten.
He had never known a better second in command than Carter…
No.
Kawalsky had always been his second, until two years after he and Sam had gotten married. Kawalsky had died soon after they brought Charlie home. It had been his last mission.
But something was wrong with that equation as well.
Jack looked up to glance at Sam again, but found that she was no longer a part of the circle. Daniel, Sarah, Ishta, and Teal’c were still talking animatedly about the current presidential administration.
Inside, the kids were watching a movie. Sam was gone.
He decided then to follow her, to see what had happened, what was wrong. Had he said something stupid? He couldn’t think of anything, but that was never a good sign or anything anyway.
He checked the whole house, but came up empty. She was good.
By the time Jack reached the kitchen, he was ready to give up, when he suddenly felt two hands snake around his middle and up his chest. He jumped away, but not fast enough.
As he turned around, Jack was both disturbed and confused to find that the two hands didn’t belong to Sam.
“Ishta?”
“Yes, Jack?”
Wow… she had definitely been packing the Buds this evening.
Jack blinked twice before he pried her arms off of his torso and stepped away.
“What are you doing?”
Ishta leered in a way that had never been directed at Jack before, and he gulped in fear. “I apologize… Is this too open for you?”
“What are you talking about?” Jack nearly bellowed before he remembered that the kids were in the other room.
“I’m sorry… Sometimes I forget that you like to feign ignorance…”
“What?”
“Jack?”
“What?”
“Don’t you want me, Jack?”
She was pouting, only Jack didn’t find it amusing at all. In fact, he was quite pissed on behalf of one of his best friends.
“No, Ishta. No. I know you’re… wasted… but you know that you only want Teal’c, just like I only want Sam…”
“But does Teal’c want me?” Ishta hissed angrily. “Does he want me?”
“What? I don’t know, Ishta. That’s something that you’re gonna have to talk to Teal’c about. Look, I’m sure he does…”
“You don’t know,” Ishta chided harshly, as she took a step away from him. “You don’t see what I see… The looks, the touches…”
“The what?”
“Teal’c is in love with Samantha,” Ishta explained, her eyes suddenly quite sober. “Yes, your wife. He has been for a long time. However, his sense of honor has kept him from acting upon his feelings.”
“Uh, Ishta,” Jack began, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Teal’c loves you.”
“Only because he must!”
“You’ve been together for nearly 20 years!”
“The very fact that burdens him everyday!” Ishta whispered heatedly.
“You can’t possibly think that - ”
“Oh, I do,” Ishta assured. “I know my husband more intimately than anyone else in this universe. I KNOW his heart.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Jack demanded, suddenly angry beyond comprehension. He saw nothing else but the eyes of his faithful, loyal friend, and he couldn’t possibly understand where Ishta was going with this. “Are you trying to get me to turn on Teal’c? Is that what you’re doing?”
“I only want you to be aware,” Ishta responded. “A Jaffa’s passion - especially one for another - can only be truncated for so long… It is in our blood to act upon such passion.”
“I can’t even believe you!” Jack cried. “You’re openly lying about your husband!”
“It’s only a matter of time, Jack,” she whispered as she ran a finger down Jack’s arm.
Jack only stepped farther away, feeling sick. “This is TEAL’C, Ishta. Not some crazy Jaffa from your home planet.”
“How do we know they haven’t acted upon it, already?”
“They?”
“Samantha… She has been behaving oddly this evening, has she not - like one would act if she were guilty?”
“I’m not having this discussion with you, Ishta,” Jack spat. “You talk to your husband.”
“Jack,” she murmured with a touch of her hand to his arm. “I have no husband.”
“Then tell that to our children,” Teal’c spoke softly from the doorway to the kitchen. The tone of his voice saddened Jack, and caused Ishta to let go of Jack as if she had been burned. As he stepped further into the kitchen, Jack could see that Teal’c had heard almost the entire conversation - enough to know that he had been the subject.
“I will not be made a fool,” Ishta warned quietly as she pushed past Teal’c. “I know betrayal when I see it.”
And then, just as quickly as she had come, she was gone.
Jack turned to Teal’c. The air was tense, and Jack had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what was about to be said.
“Ishta and I have recently been experiencing marital discourse, O’Neill,” Teal’c answered the silent question. “She is suspicious, she no longer trusts me, and we have not spoken without tension for many weeks now.”
“What’s going on, T?” Jack asked softly.
“Ishta is reaching the age of Sha’ronak,” Teal’c answered.
“Uh… And that would be?”
“The Jaffa equivalent to menopause, O’Neill,” Teal’c responded. “However, her hormonal imbalance is particularly severe because of the tretonin.”
“Oh…” Jack nodded. “How’d you know about the menopause, Teal’c?”
Suddenly, it dawned on him.
“Aahh… Sam.”
“Samantha explained the process to me in great detail, and has been helpful in offering ways to alleviate the stress at our home.”
“But her help only aggravated Ishta further,” Jack finished with a nod. “That makes sense, T.”
Teal’c’s response was non-verbal and unpleasant.
“I’m not saying she has a RIGHT to be mad at you, T,” Jack explained. “I’m just saying… she’s a woman. She gets testy. I mean, Sam isn’t going through the… change… yet. But I’d imagine that, when she does, it won’t be pretty.”
Again, Teal’c did not say a word.
Jack decided to just cut to the chase as the suspense was killing him. “So, everything she just said was basically an overreaction, eh, T?”
Third time, lucky.
“Teal’c?” Jack tried again. “Ishta was just overreacting, right?”
“O’Neill,” Teal’c whispered with a sigh. “I consider Samantha to be the sister I never had. I value our friendship and cherish my relationship with her.”
Jack didn’t say a word. He was too afraid of the impending ‘but.’
“However, I must admit O’Neill, that if our lives had been drastically different to that of today…”
“You could see yourself with Sam,” Jack said, his stomach sinking.
“As it were,” Teal’c offered as a response, “I see her as only a sister. I love my family, and I love you, Daniel Jackson, and Samantha as siblings. I cannot imagine anything occurring differently.”
“But if it had been?” Jack stressed.
“She is a warrior,” Teal’c responded with a wry grin. “And I admire her for her strength and courage, just as I admire Sarah for her own talents. That is all, O’Neill. My life is with my own beautiful wife and children, just as your life is with Samantha and the wonderful children you have raised together. This life is how it should be.”
Jack eyed his long-time friend for a moment before he saw the truth.
Teal’c hadn’t been lying. He truly believed that this life was how it should have ended.
That’s all that mattered. Right?
So why did Jack feel like he was missing something huge?
*******
“Colonel Carter?” Felger called from the doorway of the familiar lab. He frowned. Colonel Carter was always in her lab. Always! Like clockwork, she could be found in her lab at least 6 hours a day if her team wasn’t on a mission. Where was she?
Felger, on a whim of curiosity and bravery, stepped further into the lab and took a deep breath of air. The geeks on level 26 were right: Her lab did smell better than anyone else’s.
He ventured over to the table, and debated whether or not he should make himself comfortable. Before, when he had waited for her until she arrived on base, she would get a strange look in her eye - one he had seen many times during his high school days.
Normally Colonel Carter, like the compassionate, popular girl from adolescence, would control her look better than anyone else. Sometimes, however, if he caught her on a particularly bad day, the look would come in full force. And the message was clear: What the HELL are you doing in my personal space?
He half-expected Dr. Jackson or Teal’c - or BOTH - to come marching into her lab, unannounced and uncaring as to who was waiting for her valuable time. Sometimes they came with lunch for her, only to find that she was in a meeting. Sometimes they came with heavy, deep, and earth-shattering discussions that promptly made his head spin. Other times, they just came to talk. Their camaraderie was great! And, when one of them would turn to him just so, he felt like he was in on something big, something huge.
Suddenly the hairs on the back of Felger’s neck stood on end, and gooseflesh formed along his arm. He hadn’t felt this tense since the time SG-3 had thought it’d be a good idea to teach him a lesson in self-defense.
He turned around, expecting a burly Marine to grab him by the shoulders, but was greeted by a well-known smile. He couldn’t help but grin in return. “Oh, hello Colonel Carter!”
“Hi.” She was still smiling, but she looked off somehow and false in her enthusiasm. Felger smiled even broader, slightly afraid to move.
Well, at least she wasn’t disgusted by his presence this time!
“How are you?” he asked nervously.
“Oh, I’m great Felger, just have to find something I left here earlier,” she responded as she walked past him and towards a cabinet at the other end of the room. “How about you?”
“I’m… good! Yeah! Good!”
She unlocked her cabinet and opened the door with a slight grunt. Felger tried to get a glimpse of what she was grabbing, but couldn’t quite see past her uniform.
“Yeah,” he reiterated as he glanced nervous at the door. “Really good.”
“That’s great, Felger,” she said.
Felger turned back to her, ready to ask her his long-awaited question, but stopped in mid-thought, his eyes traveling to the “thing” she had been looking for. He blinked rapidly in disbelief, his heart stopped, and all he could do was move his mouth soundlessly.
Standing there in front of her cabinet stood Colonel Carter. In her arms was… Colonel Carter.
She grinned wickedly and her eyes widened in morbid anticipation.
“Now… How can I help you?”
Author: spazmeister
Pairing: S/J
Season: Nine
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Uh... AU, S/J ship, RepliCarter revisiting
A/N: Spoilers for everything up until the latter half of Season Eight. Everything from there is extreme AU Season Nine. If it seems bizarre, that's the point.
After a looooong time of not writing or posting ANYTHING, here is Chapter Six. This story has gotten a lot bigger than I intended, even if it doesn't look like it. :) I hope to continue on, even if it's become a bit of a monster.
“Carter?” Mitchell whispered into his colleague’s quarters, his hand on the doorframe. “Carter? Sam?” He didn’t know where the heck she was now, but Siler AND Walter had said that she’d be here. “Sam?”
“Cameron?” Sam asked from behind Mitchell, causing him to jump. “What are you doing out of the infirmary?”
“Uh…” Cameron looked sheepish. “Sorry, I was just worried. I heard about General O’Neill. And I wanted to get all of the info from you guys. I can’t find Daniel or Teal’c, and Walter said that an ‘alternate version’ of you is on the base, saying she’s come through a quantum mirror, but I don’t know how that could be. I also wanted - ”
“Cameron,” Sam interrupted, one hand in the air, the other to her head. “Let me fill you in, and we can go from there.”
“You OK?” Cameron asked. “You don’t look so good.”
“It’s been a long day, Mitchell,” she responded airily, her tone brooking no argument as she walked around Mitchell and towards her bed. “You wouldn’t look much better, I assure you.”
Before he could respond however, Teal’c and Daniel came charging into Sam’s quarters unannounced. Cameron swerved on a dime at the intrusion. They didn’t even knock, rushing in there like bats outta Hell. Cameron frowned at the looks in their eyes. OK, he thought, so something is obviously wrong here.
“Colonel Mitchell,” Teal’c intoned.
“Cameron,” Daniel said simultaneously. “What are you doing here?”
“Uh, what’s up guys?” Cameron asked, his eyebrow raised. Was everyone going to act so damn pissed?
“Where is Colonel Carter?” Teal’c demanded, his tone urgent.
“Where is Colonel Carter?” Cameron asked incredulously. “She’s right he- ”
Wait…
Cameron did a double-take, not believing his eyes.
Sam was nowhere to be found.
And she definitely wasn’t in the room with them.
He turned back to his teammates in shock.
“She was right… here…”
*******
Stupid, meddling man!
Who in this galaxy was he? Why was he here? Colonel Cameron Mitchell…
Either way, if he had been but a few moments earlier, he would have, without a doubt, caught her…
Cameron Mitchell…
She felt like she should recognize the name, but nothing seemed to click. She didn’t have time to think, no time to do anything but to get back to her original’s lab.
Her original was unconscious, possibly permanently.
It had taken her a few moments to regain control over Jack’s mind, but once she had, it had been simple. Her original had been pliable, much more flexible and willing to conform than she had been several hours prior.
He would never wake.
She would never wake.
The SGC would hold on to hope that they would come back.
Daniel and Teal’c would deny, despair, and grieve appropriately, but they would never let go.
But these two would both be happy in this sugar-coated fantasy of what could have been…
She stopped in her tracks, feeling suddenly sick.
That hadn’t been the plan. Why had she spared her life? Why hadn’t she destroyed her? With one flick of her wrist, her original could have been nothing more than crushed bones. Why had she stopped herself?
Surely she wasn’t second-guessing herself…
Not so.
She had just decided to be more creative with her torture, that’s all.
Nothing more.
Eventually they would both realize they were living a lie, and would be powerless to end it. It’d be the dream that never ended, one they’d never escape. And in the back of their minds, they’d always know that it wasn’t real. That it wasn’t true. That they could never be happy like that in reality.
And they, too, would hold onto the hope of surviving, of coming back to reality, of seeing the real Daniel and Teal’c again. Until they finally withered away in both body and spirit. Until there was nothing left for them to fight.
After all, why destroy an individual physically, when you can destroy their soul?
Somehow the excuse did not ring true.
*******
Jack stared at Sam from across the bonfire in the backyard and frowned. She was still as beautiful as the day they’d met. She had been edgy then, a little combative, but not without good reason. He and Kawalsky had given her a hard time, after all.
Wait…
No… In the beginning, she had been quiet, reserved, ready to follow orders, but willing to stand up for what was right. Kawalsky had been smitten immediately, but that was before Jack realized that he, himself, was beyond smitten.
He had never known a better second in command than Carter…
No.
Kawalsky had always been his second, until two years after he and Sam had gotten married. Kawalsky had died soon after they brought Charlie home. It had been his last mission.
But something was wrong with that equation as well.
Jack looked up to glance at Sam again, but found that she was no longer a part of the circle. Daniel, Sarah, Ishta, and Teal’c were still talking animatedly about the current presidential administration.
Inside, the kids were watching a movie. Sam was gone.
He decided then to follow her, to see what had happened, what was wrong. Had he said something stupid? He couldn’t think of anything, but that was never a good sign or anything anyway.
He checked the whole house, but came up empty. She was good.
By the time Jack reached the kitchen, he was ready to give up, when he suddenly felt two hands snake around his middle and up his chest. He jumped away, but not fast enough.
As he turned around, Jack was both disturbed and confused to find that the two hands didn’t belong to Sam.
“Ishta?”
“Yes, Jack?”
Wow… she had definitely been packing the Buds this evening.
Jack blinked twice before he pried her arms off of his torso and stepped away.
“What are you doing?”
Ishta leered in a way that had never been directed at Jack before, and he gulped in fear. “I apologize… Is this too open for you?”
“What are you talking about?” Jack nearly bellowed before he remembered that the kids were in the other room.
“I’m sorry… Sometimes I forget that you like to feign ignorance…”
“What?”
“Jack?”
“What?”
“Don’t you want me, Jack?”
She was pouting, only Jack didn’t find it amusing at all. In fact, he was quite pissed on behalf of one of his best friends.
“No, Ishta. No. I know you’re… wasted… but you know that you only want Teal’c, just like I only want Sam…”
“But does Teal’c want me?” Ishta hissed angrily. “Does he want me?”
“What? I don’t know, Ishta. That’s something that you’re gonna have to talk to Teal’c about. Look, I’m sure he does…”
“You don’t know,” Ishta chided harshly, as she took a step away from him. “You don’t see what I see… The looks, the touches…”
“The what?”
“Teal’c is in love with Samantha,” Ishta explained, her eyes suddenly quite sober. “Yes, your wife. He has been for a long time. However, his sense of honor has kept him from acting upon his feelings.”
“Uh, Ishta,” Jack began, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Teal’c loves you.”
“Only because he must!”
“You’ve been together for nearly 20 years!”
“The very fact that burdens him everyday!” Ishta whispered heatedly.
“You can’t possibly think that - ”
“Oh, I do,” Ishta assured. “I know my husband more intimately than anyone else in this universe. I KNOW his heart.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Jack demanded, suddenly angry beyond comprehension. He saw nothing else but the eyes of his faithful, loyal friend, and he couldn’t possibly understand where Ishta was going with this. “Are you trying to get me to turn on Teal’c? Is that what you’re doing?”
“I only want you to be aware,” Ishta responded. “A Jaffa’s passion - especially one for another - can only be truncated for so long… It is in our blood to act upon such passion.”
“I can’t even believe you!” Jack cried. “You’re openly lying about your husband!”
“It’s only a matter of time, Jack,” she whispered as she ran a finger down Jack’s arm.
Jack only stepped farther away, feeling sick. “This is TEAL’C, Ishta. Not some crazy Jaffa from your home planet.”
“How do we know they haven’t acted upon it, already?”
“They?”
“Samantha… She has been behaving oddly this evening, has she not - like one would act if she were guilty?”
“I’m not having this discussion with you, Ishta,” Jack spat. “You talk to your husband.”
“Jack,” she murmured with a touch of her hand to his arm. “I have no husband.”
“Then tell that to our children,” Teal’c spoke softly from the doorway to the kitchen. The tone of his voice saddened Jack, and caused Ishta to let go of Jack as if she had been burned. As he stepped further into the kitchen, Jack could see that Teal’c had heard almost the entire conversation - enough to know that he had been the subject.
“I will not be made a fool,” Ishta warned quietly as she pushed past Teal’c. “I know betrayal when I see it.”
And then, just as quickly as she had come, she was gone.
Jack turned to Teal’c. The air was tense, and Jack had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what was about to be said.
“Ishta and I have recently been experiencing marital discourse, O’Neill,” Teal’c answered the silent question. “She is suspicious, she no longer trusts me, and we have not spoken without tension for many weeks now.”
“What’s going on, T?” Jack asked softly.
“Ishta is reaching the age of Sha’ronak,” Teal’c answered.
“Uh… And that would be?”
“The Jaffa equivalent to menopause, O’Neill,” Teal’c responded. “However, her hormonal imbalance is particularly severe because of the tretonin.”
“Oh…” Jack nodded. “How’d you know about the menopause, Teal’c?”
Suddenly, it dawned on him.
“Aahh… Sam.”
“Samantha explained the process to me in great detail, and has been helpful in offering ways to alleviate the stress at our home.”
“But her help only aggravated Ishta further,” Jack finished with a nod. “That makes sense, T.”
Teal’c’s response was non-verbal and unpleasant.
“I’m not saying she has a RIGHT to be mad at you, T,” Jack explained. “I’m just saying… she’s a woman. She gets testy. I mean, Sam isn’t going through the… change… yet. But I’d imagine that, when she does, it won’t be pretty.”
Again, Teal’c did not say a word.
Jack decided to just cut to the chase as the suspense was killing him. “So, everything she just said was basically an overreaction, eh, T?”
Third time, lucky.
“Teal’c?” Jack tried again. “Ishta was just overreacting, right?”
“O’Neill,” Teal’c whispered with a sigh. “I consider Samantha to be the sister I never had. I value our friendship and cherish my relationship with her.”
Jack didn’t say a word. He was too afraid of the impending ‘but.’
“However, I must admit O’Neill, that if our lives had been drastically different to that of today…”
“You could see yourself with Sam,” Jack said, his stomach sinking.
“As it were,” Teal’c offered as a response, “I see her as only a sister. I love my family, and I love you, Daniel Jackson, and Samantha as siblings. I cannot imagine anything occurring differently.”
“But if it had been?” Jack stressed.
“She is a warrior,” Teal’c responded with a wry grin. “And I admire her for her strength and courage, just as I admire Sarah for her own talents. That is all, O’Neill. My life is with my own beautiful wife and children, just as your life is with Samantha and the wonderful children you have raised together. This life is how it should be.”
Jack eyed his long-time friend for a moment before he saw the truth.
Teal’c hadn’t been lying. He truly believed that this life was how it should have ended.
That’s all that mattered. Right?
So why did Jack feel like he was missing something huge?
*******
“Colonel Carter?” Felger called from the doorway of the familiar lab. He frowned. Colonel Carter was always in her lab. Always! Like clockwork, she could be found in her lab at least 6 hours a day if her team wasn’t on a mission. Where was she?
Felger, on a whim of curiosity and bravery, stepped further into the lab and took a deep breath of air. The geeks on level 26 were right: Her lab did smell better than anyone else’s.
He ventured over to the table, and debated whether or not he should make himself comfortable. Before, when he had waited for her until she arrived on base, she would get a strange look in her eye - one he had seen many times during his high school days.
Normally Colonel Carter, like the compassionate, popular girl from adolescence, would control her look better than anyone else. Sometimes, however, if he caught her on a particularly bad day, the look would come in full force. And the message was clear: What the HELL are you doing in my personal space?
He half-expected Dr. Jackson or Teal’c - or BOTH - to come marching into her lab, unannounced and uncaring as to who was waiting for her valuable time. Sometimes they came with lunch for her, only to find that she was in a meeting. Sometimes they came with heavy, deep, and earth-shattering discussions that promptly made his head spin. Other times, they just came to talk. Their camaraderie was great! And, when one of them would turn to him just so, he felt like he was in on something big, something huge.
Suddenly the hairs on the back of Felger’s neck stood on end, and gooseflesh formed along his arm. He hadn’t felt this tense since the time SG-3 had thought it’d be a good idea to teach him a lesson in self-defense.
He turned around, expecting a burly Marine to grab him by the shoulders, but was greeted by a well-known smile. He couldn’t help but grin in return. “Oh, hello Colonel Carter!”
“Hi.” She was still smiling, but she looked off somehow and false in her enthusiasm. Felger smiled even broader, slightly afraid to move.
Well, at least she wasn’t disgusted by his presence this time!
“How are you?” he asked nervously.
“Oh, I’m great Felger, just have to find something I left here earlier,” she responded as she walked past him and towards a cabinet at the other end of the room. “How about you?”
“I’m… good! Yeah! Good!”
She unlocked her cabinet and opened the door with a slight grunt. Felger tried to get a glimpse of what she was grabbing, but couldn’t quite see past her uniform.
“Yeah,” he reiterated as he glanced nervous at the door. “Really good.”
“That’s great, Felger,” she said.
Felger turned back to her, ready to ask her his long-awaited question, but stopped in mid-thought, his eyes traveling to the “thing” she had been looking for. He blinked rapidly in disbelief, his heart stopped, and all he could do was move his mouth soundlessly.
Standing there in front of her cabinet stood Colonel Carter. In her arms was… Colonel Carter.
She grinned wickedly and her eyes widened in morbid anticipation.
“Now… How can I help you?”