NeverEnding 5/?
So I said I would have this up by Halloween, but between being sick, tests, and friends coming down for the weekend that deadline got trashed.
But here it is and after two rewrites (sorry, for any mistakes that still exist!), it is now officially the longest part of any story I have ever written. Nine full pages of the last bit of action before they get stuck in time.
Enjoy!
NeverEnding 5/?
Title: A World Falling
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 Production, and Gekko Films. I just took the characters out for a spin.
Previous chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4
THE ORI ATTACK
Claxons were sounding as he turned the corner, “Come on people! EVAC!” He grabbed at a few of the scientists who were trying to bring whatever Asgard technology they had been studying. “Now!”
Throwing them out of the lab, Jack started running for the stairwell on this level, the lab nerds following him.
When he had volunteered, more like ‘forced into’ by a guilty conscious brought on by a certain blond Lieutenant Colonel, to help in clearing some of the debris on the lower levels, Jack had not expected that he would have to evacuate. Thirty seconds ago, he had been helping a technician with a wall panel when the Odyssey had shuddered under the weight of her third attack by the Ori in as many hours causing the hull to buckle.
The universe obviously hated him today.
Right as the group reached the stairwell entrance, they were thrown off their feet as the ship thrashed in response to another hit from the Ori. Jack tried to brace himself as he fell against the bulkhead but another explosion rocked the ship causing his head to smash into the wall instead.
He heard rather than felt the crack that resounded as he slid to the ground.
As his vision slowly cleared, he was aware of a stinging sensation over his left eye and then wetness as blood started to drip onto his cheek. He held up a hand to his forehead and hissed when it came away bloodier than he had expected to find. “Fuck,” he whispered as he blinked back the blood that was threatening to obscure his vision, when suddenly he was hauled up by a crew member.
“General, are you all right?” He didn’t give Jack enough time to answer as he pushed the battered man in the direction of the stairwell. “Come on, we have to get off this level before the hull breaches!”
They once again started down the hall; Jack struggling to stay upright even with the help of the man next to him. When they reached the stairwell, the man pushed his superior into the hatch and closed it behind them as Jack started his journey up the ladder. They only had a few moments and they need to get to the designated safe zone which was still three levels above them.
Fighting against the nausea that was building its way up his throat, he finally reached the open hatch; immediately, two crewmembers grabbed him and hauled him out. After helping the man that had been behind Jack out as well they quickly closed the hatch.
Bolting the door, the group moved away from it and felt another Ori blast hit the ship. The ship shuddered violently and the area around them exploded into sparks and debris as the Odyssey literally tore apart underneath their feet.
Suddenly, Jack was thrown against the opposite wall as a piece of debris imbedded itself into his side and shards of glass slice his face to ribbons. The last thing he registered, before he gave into the searing pain coursing through him, were hands pressing hard against his abdomen and a desperate, “General!”
*****
Landry entered the control room flanked by Mitchell, Teal’c, and Daniel; all of them immediately noticing that Jack was missing when only Vala and Sam were present.
Sam looked up from her console as they enter and wondered slightly as she saw that O’Neill wasn’t with them. She knew he didn’t have to attend the meeting since he was only acting as a diplomat on this mission, but she still thought he would have wanted to be there. He and the clean-up crews were probably still trying to sort out the damage caused by the last Ori attack.
Checking the information that was presented on her screen once more, Sam stood and addressed the group of men in front of her, “We're gonna need at least half an hour to get the hyper drive systems separated from the core.”
Raising an eyebrow in confusion, Teal’c said, “We must assume that the Ori ships will continue to engage us when ever we stop.”
Landry felt a headache start to come on as he thought about how to give Sam the time she needed and how to evade the Ori at the same time. The Odyssey couldn’t take much more of this abuse, and had actually done far better than he had ever hoped for, but there also an entire crew to account for; how could he ask them to take this chance when it most likely wouldn’t work. “Is there a planet with a Stargate nearby?”
Vala rolled her chair out of the way as Sam came over to her console and began sifting through the address database. “Yes Sir, P3X-474. It's uninhabited; we should get there in just under an hour.” Turning back around to face the General, she added, “We might make it before the hyper drive fails.”
Daniel, suddenly confused, asked, “And what?”
“Beam to the surface and gate home.”
Sam looked at Mitchell, and said, “We can't let this ship fall into enemy hands.”
“That's what the self destruct is for.” Everyone, except Mitchell, turned to Landry in shock.
“Whoa, whoa!” Outraged by Landry’s suggestion, Daniel continued, “Wait a minute, Sir; if you're talking about destroying the ship...” He looked to Sam for help before turning back to the General. “We can't sacrifice the knowledge base of the Asgard. They trusted us with their legacy.”
A moment passed before Landry responded, “Dr. Jackson, this is not something I'm considering lightly. I'm assuming we can't take any of it with us.”
“No Sir, the core is too big to fit through the gate.”
Ignoring the regret in Sam’s voice, Daniel once again tried to get them to see reason. “Well, I for one am willing to stay and put up a fight; I think it's worth it.”
“Get us to 474. We'll beam the crew down to the surface; hopefully they'll be enough time for them to gate home before the Ori attack.” Daniel stared at him, not really understanding if Landry was still planning on destroying the Odyssey or if they were going to stay and fight.
Confused by Landry’s order as well, Cam asked, “And then what?” They all turned to the man as he elaborated. “I've said it before: I am for fighting to the death. But we need a plan; preferably one that avoids the ‘to the death part’.”
“We have an hour to come up with one.” The room filled with an awkward silence as they looked around, not really knowing where to start. Rolling his eyes, Landry finally said, “Alright people, let’s start prepping the ship to run on a skeleton crew.”
At that, Daniel, Teal’c, and Mitchell filtered out of the room leaving Landry to walk over to where Vala and Sam were still standing. “Colonel, is there any way for you to buy us a little bit of time? The Ori seem pretty insistent to tear this ship apart.”
Carter was about to answer the General’s question when an Ensign suddenly ran into the room, “Sorry Sir, Ma’am, but the communication network is out in some parts of the ship and it’s urgent.”
Sam’s stomach suddenly tightened as she saw Landry motion for the man to carry on. “General O’Neill was injured in the last attack; he was still in surgery the last I heard.” He paused as he shook his head and added, “It didn’t look good, Sir.”
Both Landry and Vala looked to Sam, who was suddenly white, and then traded worried glances. Hank wasn’t stupid when it came to the unorthodox relationship his second in command had with his friend, a higher ranked officer, and even though he did not condone it, he still felt sorry for the woman in front of him. Laying a hand on her arm, he said, “Go.”
She looked at him and said, “No, it’s - ”
“Carter, stop.” Her retort stopped mid-sentence, as he continued, “You need a break anyways.”
Smiling weakly, she tilted her head and started towards the infirmary.
*****
Sam tried not to run the last few feet to the infirmary as she dodged the personnel that were going about their work to make sure that the ship held together. She had a little over fifty minutes till they reached P3X-474 and she still had to find a way to dislodge the Asgard core from the ship, but before she could even think about working on that, she needed to see him.
The wide set doors that lead into the infirmary were already open as Sam hurried through them but she came to a complete stop when she saw the wounded; there were so many. She knew that most of them were probably scrapes and burns, but she could see that some were in far worse condition.
A frazzled looking nurse came up to her, worry clear in the woman’s voice. “Colonel? Can I help you?”
“Wh - ,” Sam stopped and closed her eyes. Her voice had broken when she had tried to answer, showing far too much emotion than she had meant to. “Where is General O’Neill?”
She almost breathed a sigh of relief as she heard her words hold steady.
“Sorry Ma’am,” Sam felt her world start spin as the nurse paused. “He’s been released.”
“What?” She looked around frantically, “What do you mean he’s been released? I heard he was in critical condition; surgery!”
“He was, Ma’am, but he was healed using one of the medical devices the Asgard gave us.” Another nurse brushed past them and the woman moved them both nearer to the doors so they wouldn’t be in the way. “We have a lot of scrapes and burns, not to mention broken bones, but anyone suffering from a serious injury we are healing with the new technology.”
Sam nodded slowly, “Was he well enough to be released?”
“Under normal conditions, no Ma’am,” she shrugged. “He was well enough to be sent to his quarters to rest, but his condition would be the same as if he had surgery a few days ago. We were only able to heal the internal damage, and we would have kept him longer but as you can see,” she gestured to the area around them, “we don’t have much choice, what with supplies and space running low.” Suddenly a smile spread over the nurse’s face, “He also requested to leave.”
Sam couldn’t help the smile that spread over her face; knowing Jack, he had probably just gotten up and left. “Is he in his quarters?”
“No Ma’am, he had to go to one of the crew cabins on deck 5; his quarters are in a section of the ship that is off limits at the moment.”
Nodding her thanks, Sam left and made her way to the elevators.
*****
Even as she pushed the chime on the side of the door, Sam knew she should probably leave him to rest but she couldn’t force herself to do it. She had to see him; had to make sure he was still alive and well with her own eyes before she could even hope to be able to concentrate on her work.
The door slid open and she quickly stepped over the threshold only to stop when she saw him.
He was lying on the bed up against the wall, head back and looking at her from beneath heavy lids. “Hey Carter.”
She stared at him for, barely aware he had spoken as her eyes roamed over him. He was shirtless giving her a good look his torso, which was wrapped tightly in white gauze, and his face wasn’t much better. A large bandage covered the left side of his forhead and upper cheek, with a section that had been cut away to reveal a slightly swollen eye and a bruised that extended down to his jaw. Moving her gaze to the right side of his face, she noticed jagged cuts running along his cheek. She grimaced as she realized that some of those cuts would leave scars.
“This is what they meant by fixing you up?”
He smiled slightly, “Actually, they fixed me up a lot.” He shifted his legs on the bed, and gestured to the now clear area. The invitation to sit was obvious in Sam’s mind as she felt her eyes shift to the chair across the room and felt herself hesitate. After a moment, she rolled her eyes and threw caution to the wind as she sat down on the edge of his bed. When she met his eyes, she found that a genuine grin had spread over his face injured face.
“What happened, Sir?”
“Oh, you know, the usual.”
“Being a hero again, Sir?”
“Always.”
There was a moment of silence between them till Sam said, “They said they had to use an Asgard device on you.”
He nodded, the smile in his eyes dying as he explained, “Yeah, they did. Looks like Thor saved my ass again.” Jack closed his eyes and swallowed roughly.
Not really knowing what to do, Sam reached over and laid a hand on his leg near the ankle. Her eyes met his when he reopened them, “Sir, how bad was it?”
“Crack orbital bone and concussion, mixed with flying glass and a piece of debris that pierced a kidney and intestines. Not to mention it nicked an artery when it went through causing an insane amount of blood to be lost.”
Sam felt the blood drain from her face; she really had almost lost him. “Thor would have been happy that his technology was used to save you.” She shrugged and added, “Again.”
This drew a laugh from him, which immediately turned into a coughing fit that had Sam moving to slide her arms around him as his body rocked forward. She felt helpless as he tried to fight the tremors now coursing through his body; his head coming to rest against her shoulder.
Sam’s mind was suddenly filled with the ramifications of their current position and the fact that she had a hand on the base of his neck wasn’t helping ease her mind either. Nor could she help herself when she felt her lips caress the tan skin along his shoulder; his body still shuddering against her.
Definitely not the brightest idea she had ever had.
He slowly regained control over his body and Sam felt him start to relax; her hand moving up the back of his neck to caress the soft hair she found there.
They sat there for a few moments till Sam felt him shift and she looked at him. Jack was now facing her, head still on her shoulder, their lips unbearably close to each other, as he smiled lightly, “Okay... So, not going to do that again.”
“Sorry,” Sam focused her eyes on his shoulder, not being able to look at his eyes, or worse, his lips, “I just wanted to make you smile.”
She felt a hand lift up and suddenly his fingers were caressing her cheek, “You did, don’t worry about.”
Finally gathering up enough courage to meet his gaze, Sam swore she stopped breathing as she saw his eyes lower to watch his thumb ran itself across her bottom lip.
A small grin settled over his face as he closed his eyes and then he gently pulled back to settle against the wall in what appeared to be a much comfortable position given his injured torso.
A soon as it registered that he was longer in her arms, Sam quickly moved off the bed to a standing position and brought a shaking hand up to her lips. She felt as though she could still feel him touching her there; oh God, what had she gotten herself into?
Suddenly feeling awkward around him, she desperately searched for something to say, especially since he seemed to be content to just sit there with that stupid all-knowing grin plastered on his face. “Have you been briefed on our current position, Sir?”
She blinked, not exactly what she had been thinking about saying but it certainly brought back a sense of familiarity to her; they had always been about the job.
He nodded. “Landry contacted me right before you got here. All personal except SG-1 evacuate once we reach 474.”
“Yes, Sir. And then we try to extract the core before the Ori get here.”
“And if you don’t?”
Blue met worried brown. “Then we fight.”
Nothing else needed to be said. They both knew the ramifications of what another fight with the Ori would bring in the Odyssey’s current condition. “Then you’d better get ready.”
“Yes, sir.” And with that, she looked him over once more, committing everything to detail even the white gauze and bruises. When she finished, Sam turned and started out the room.
“Sam.” His voice stopped her as she was about to hit the panel to close his door. Looking back to meet his eyes, Sam stood there as they stared at each other; both afraid to really acknowledge what they knew they wanted to say to the other.
After a moment, Sam nodded toward her superior, the man that had her heart for the last nine years, before once again starting her journey towards the control room.
She had thirty minutes left.
*****
General Landry hit the button to patch him through to the control room, “Colonel? Are we ready to go?”
“Yes, sir,” Sam looked up from the console and met Vala’s gaze; both women hoping for this plan to work.
The Odyssey fell out of hyperspace and before and Sam motioned for Vala to start transporting the crew down to the surface of the planet they were now orbiting.
Vala reading over the information now up on her screen she said, “All members of the crew have been evacuated.” Suddenly, her dark eyes widen and she yelled, “These numbers are off; there’s still someone on the ship!”
Landry joined Sam in their chorused, “WHAT?!”
Any reply from the alien woman was cut off by Daniel saying, “Here they come.”
Landry pushed the forgotten crewmember to the back of his mind as he turned to Mitchell, “Shields at maximum; evasive maneuvers! Concentrate fire on only one target; one at a time.” He was hoping for a repeat performance of their earlier success with shooting down a ship and then retreating only to take on another one at latter time.
Besides, it was their only chance if Carter couldn’t disengage the core.
The bridge was suddenly filled with smoke and sparks as the ship started taking on damage. “Ok, that was not good!”
Daniel threw a look at Cam before yelling, “Shields are down to 23%!”
“We’re hitting them with everything we’ve got!” Cam shouted as their screens showed one of the Ori ships suddenly exploding into a ball of fire. The feeling of accomplishment at finally leveling the playing field to one-on-one was short-lived as the Odyssey took on another hit; the violent shaking of the ship causing SG-1 to be thrown out of their chairs.
A broken piped was now spewing steam into the bridge as Teal’c regained his footing, a fire breaking out behind him as the consoles continued to spit sparks. Grabbing an extinguisher, he tried to quell the flames now spreading through the back of the bridge.
Daniel, climbing back into his chair, yelled over the den of noise now filling the bridge, “Shields are offline!”
“One more hit will take us out!”
Hearing Cam’s warning, Landry called out, “Colonel Carter!”
Sam was still crawling back towards her console from she had been thrown to when she heard Landry’s command.
She had failed. They were not going to make it through this because she hadn’t been able to dislodge the core before the attack; they were out of time.
She reached the console and pulled herself up, not knowing what it was she was about to do or if there was anything she should or could do. By her count, the Ori had already pushed the button and they were as good as dead.
Until she saw him.
Jack was standing on the other side of the console, clutching at his side, looking at her with pleading eyes and an ashen face. As their eyes met, she had only one thought: ‘If we only had more time...’ Her eyes widen and she quickly took a control crystal and slid it into the right position.
Their time wasn’t up just yet.
________________________________________
Hope y'all enjoy it! Comments are love!
Continue to Chapter 6
But here it is and after two rewrites (sorry, for any mistakes that still exist!), it is now officially the longest part of any story I have ever written. Nine full pages of the last bit of action before they get stuck in time.
Enjoy!
NeverEnding 5/?
Title: A World Falling
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 Production, and Gekko Films. I just took the characters out for a spin.
Previous chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4
THE ORI ATTACK
Claxons were sounding as he turned the corner, “Come on people! EVAC!” He grabbed at a few of the scientists who were trying to bring whatever Asgard technology they had been studying. “Now!”
Throwing them out of the lab, Jack started running for the stairwell on this level, the lab nerds following him.
When he had volunteered, more like ‘forced into’ by a guilty conscious brought on by a certain blond Lieutenant Colonel, to help in clearing some of the debris on the lower levels, Jack had not expected that he would have to evacuate. Thirty seconds ago, he had been helping a technician with a wall panel when the Odyssey had shuddered under the weight of her third attack by the Ori in as many hours causing the hull to buckle.
The universe obviously hated him today.
Right as the group reached the stairwell entrance, they were thrown off their feet as the ship thrashed in response to another hit from the Ori. Jack tried to brace himself as he fell against the bulkhead but another explosion rocked the ship causing his head to smash into the wall instead.
He heard rather than felt the crack that resounded as he slid to the ground.
As his vision slowly cleared, he was aware of a stinging sensation over his left eye and then wetness as blood started to drip onto his cheek. He held up a hand to his forehead and hissed when it came away bloodier than he had expected to find. “Fuck,” he whispered as he blinked back the blood that was threatening to obscure his vision, when suddenly he was hauled up by a crew member.
“General, are you all right?” He didn’t give Jack enough time to answer as he pushed the battered man in the direction of the stairwell. “Come on, we have to get off this level before the hull breaches!”
They once again started down the hall; Jack struggling to stay upright even with the help of the man next to him. When they reached the stairwell, the man pushed his superior into the hatch and closed it behind them as Jack started his journey up the ladder. They only had a few moments and they need to get to the designated safe zone which was still three levels above them.
Fighting against the nausea that was building its way up his throat, he finally reached the open hatch; immediately, two crewmembers grabbed him and hauled him out. After helping the man that had been behind Jack out as well they quickly closed the hatch.
Bolting the door, the group moved away from it and felt another Ori blast hit the ship. The ship shuddered violently and the area around them exploded into sparks and debris as the Odyssey literally tore apart underneath their feet.
Suddenly, Jack was thrown against the opposite wall as a piece of debris imbedded itself into his side and shards of glass slice his face to ribbons. The last thing he registered, before he gave into the searing pain coursing through him, were hands pressing hard against his abdomen and a desperate, “General!”
*****
Landry entered the control room flanked by Mitchell, Teal’c, and Daniel; all of them immediately noticing that Jack was missing when only Vala and Sam were present.
Sam looked up from her console as they enter and wondered slightly as she saw that O’Neill wasn’t with them. She knew he didn’t have to attend the meeting since he was only acting as a diplomat on this mission, but she still thought he would have wanted to be there. He and the clean-up crews were probably still trying to sort out the damage caused by the last Ori attack.
Checking the information that was presented on her screen once more, Sam stood and addressed the group of men in front of her, “We're gonna need at least half an hour to get the hyper drive systems separated from the core.”
Raising an eyebrow in confusion, Teal’c said, “We must assume that the Ori ships will continue to engage us when ever we stop.”
Landry felt a headache start to come on as he thought about how to give Sam the time she needed and how to evade the Ori at the same time. The Odyssey couldn’t take much more of this abuse, and had actually done far better than he had ever hoped for, but there also an entire crew to account for; how could he ask them to take this chance when it most likely wouldn’t work. “Is there a planet with a Stargate nearby?”
Vala rolled her chair out of the way as Sam came over to her console and began sifting through the address database. “Yes Sir, P3X-474. It's uninhabited; we should get there in just under an hour.” Turning back around to face the General, she added, “We might make it before the hyper drive fails.”
Daniel, suddenly confused, asked, “And what?”
“Beam to the surface and gate home.”
Sam looked at Mitchell, and said, “We can't let this ship fall into enemy hands.”
“That's what the self destruct is for.” Everyone, except Mitchell, turned to Landry in shock.
“Whoa, whoa!” Outraged by Landry’s suggestion, Daniel continued, “Wait a minute, Sir; if you're talking about destroying the ship...” He looked to Sam for help before turning back to the General. “We can't sacrifice the knowledge base of the Asgard. They trusted us with their legacy.”
A moment passed before Landry responded, “Dr. Jackson, this is not something I'm considering lightly. I'm assuming we can't take any of it with us.”
“No Sir, the core is too big to fit through the gate.”
Ignoring the regret in Sam’s voice, Daniel once again tried to get them to see reason. “Well, I for one am willing to stay and put up a fight; I think it's worth it.”
“Get us to 474. We'll beam the crew down to the surface; hopefully they'll be enough time for them to gate home before the Ori attack.” Daniel stared at him, not really understanding if Landry was still planning on destroying the Odyssey or if they were going to stay and fight.
Confused by Landry’s order as well, Cam asked, “And then what?” They all turned to the man as he elaborated. “I've said it before: I am for fighting to the death. But we need a plan; preferably one that avoids the ‘to the death part’.”
“We have an hour to come up with one.” The room filled with an awkward silence as they looked around, not really knowing where to start. Rolling his eyes, Landry finally said, “Alright people, let’s start prepping the ship to run on a skeleton crew.”
At that, Daniel, Teal’c, and Mitchell filtered out of the room leaving Landry to walk over to where Vala and Sam were still standing. “Colonel, is there any way for you to buy us a little bit of time? The Ori seem pretty insistent to tear this ship apart.”
Carter was about to answer the General’s question when an Ensign suddenly ran into the room, “Sorry Sir, Ma’am, but the communication network is out in some parts of the ship and it’s urgent.”
Sam’s stomach suddenly tightened as she saw Landry motion for the man to carry on. “General O’Neill was injured in the last attack; he was still in surgery the last I heard.” He paused as he shook his head and added, “It didn’t look good, Sir.”
Both Landry and Vala looked to Sam, who was suddenly white, and then traded worried glances. Hank wasn’t stupid when it came to the unorthodox relationship his second in command had with his friend, a higher ranked officer, and even though he did not condone it, he still felt sorry for the woman in front of him. Laying a hand on her arm, he said, “Go.”
She looked at him and said, “No, it’s - ”
“Carter, stop.” Her retort stopped mid-sentence, as he continued, “You need a break anyways.”
Smiling weakly, she tilted her head and started towards the infirmary.
*****
Sam tried not to run the last few feet to the infirmary as she dodged the personnel that were going about their work to make sure that the ship held together. She had a little over fifty minutes till they reached P3X-474 and she still had to find a way to dislodge the Asgard core from the ship, but before she could even think about working on that, she needed to see him.
The wide set doors that lead into the infirmary were already open as Sam hurried through them but she came to a complete stop when she saw the wounded; there were so many. She knew that most of them were probably scrapes and burns, but she could see that some were in far worse condition.
A frazzled looking nurse came up to her, worry clear in the woman’s voice. “Colonel? Can I help you?”
“Wh - ,” Sam stopped and closed her eyes. Her voice had broken when she had tried to answer, showing far too much emotion than she had meant to. “Where is General O’Neill?”
She almost breathed a sigh of relief as she heard her words hold steady.
“Sorry Ma’am,” Sam felt her world start spin as the nurse paused. “He’s been released.”
“What?” She looked around frantically, “What do you mean he’s been released? I heard he was in critical condition; surgery!”
“He was, Ma’am, but he was healed using one of the medical devices the Asgard gave us.” Another nurse brushed past them and the woman moved them both nearer to the doors so they wouldn’t be in the way. “We have a lot of scrapes and burns, not to mention broken bones, but anyone suffering from a serious injury we are healing with the new technology.”
Sam nodded slowly, “Was he well enough to be released?”
“Under normal conditions, no Ma’am,” she shrugged. “He was well enough to be sent to his quarters to rest, but his condition would be the same as if he had surgery a few days ago. We were only able to heal the internal damage, and we would have kept him longer but as you can see,” she gestured to the area around them, “we don’t have much choice, what with supplies and space running low.” Suddenly a smile spread over the nurse’s face, “He also requested to leave.”
Sam couldn’t help the smile that spread over her face; knowing Jack, he had probably just gotten up and left. “Is he in his quarters?”
“No Ma’am, he had to go to one of the crew cabins on deck 5; his quarters are in a section of the ship that is off limits at the moment.”
Nodding her thanks, Sam left and made her way to the elevators.
*****
Even as she pushed the chime on the side of the door, Sam knew she should probably leave him to rest but she couldn’t force herself to do it. She had to see him; had to make sure he was still alive and well with her own eyes before she could even hope to be able to concentrate on her work.
The door slid open and she quickly stepped over the threshold only to stop when she saw him.
He was lying on the bed up against the wall, head back and looking at her from beneath heavy lids. “Hey Carter.”
She stared at him for, barely aware he had spoken as her eyes roamed over him. He was shirtless giving her a good look his torso, which was wrapped tightly in white gauze, and his face wasn’t much better. A large bandage covered the left side of his forhead and upper cheek, with a section that had been cut away to reveal a slightly swollen eye and a bruised that extended down to his jaw. Moving her gaze to the right side of his face, she noticed jagged cuts running along his cheek. She grimaced as she realized that some of those cuts would leave scars.
“This is what they meant by fixing you up?”
He smiled slightly, “Actually, they fixed me up a lot.” He shifted his legs on the bed, and gestured to the now clear area. The invitation to sit was obvious in Sam’s mind as she felt her eyes shift to the chair across the room and felt herself hesitate. After a moment, she rolled her eyes and threw caution to the wind as she sat down on the edge of his bed. When she met his eyes, she found that a genuine grin had spread over his face injured face.
“What happened, Sir?”
“Oh, you know, the usual.”
“Being a hero again, Sir?”
“Always.”
There was a moment of silence between them till Sam said, “They said they had to use an Asgard device on you.”
He nodded, the smile in his eyes dying as he explained, “Yeah, they did. Looks like Thor saved my ass again.” Jack closed his eyes and swallowed roughly.
Not really knowing what to do, Sam reached over and laid a hand on his leg near the ankle. Her eyes met his when he reopened them, “Sir, how bad was it?”
“Crack orbital bone and concussion, mixed with flying glass and a piece of debris that pierced a kidney and intestines. Not to mention it nicked an artery when it went through causing an insane amount of blood to be lost.”
Sam felt the blood drain from her face; she really had almost lost him. “Thor would have been happy that his technology was used to save you.” She shrugged and added, “Again.”
This drew a laugh from him, which immediately turned into a coughing fit that had Sam moving to slide her arms around him as his body rocked forward. She felt helpless as he tried to fight the tremors now coursing through his body; his head coming to rest against her shoulder.
Sam’s mind was suddenly filled with the ramifications of their current position and the fact that she had a hand on the base of his neck wasn’t helping ease her mind either. Nor could she help herself when she felt her lips caress the tan skin along his shoulder; his body still shuddering against her.
Definitely not the brightest idea she had ever had.
He slowly regained control over his body and Sam felt him start to relax; her hand moving up the back of his neck to caress the soft hair she found there.
They sat there for a few moments till Sam felt him shift and she looked at him. Jack was now facing her, head still on her shoulder, their lips unbearably close to each other, as he smiled lightly, “Okay... So, not going to do that again.”
“Sorry,” Sam focused her eyes on his shoulder, not being able to look at his eyes, or worse, his lips, “I just wanted to make you smile.”
She felt a hand lift up and suddenly his fingers were caressing her cheek, “You did, don’t worry about.”
Finally gathering up enough courage to meet his gaze, Sam swore she stopped breathing as she saw his eyes lower to watch his thumb ran itself across her bottom lip.
A small grin settled over his face as he closed his eyes and then he gently pulled back to settle against the wall in what appeared to be a much comfortable position given his injured torso.
A soon as it registered that he was longer in her arms, Sam quickly moved off the bed to a standing position and brought a shaking hand up to her lips. She felt as though she could still feel him touching her there; oh God, what had she gotten herself into?
Suddenly feeling awkward around him, she desperately searched for something to say, especially since he seemed to be content to just sit there with that stupid all-knowing grin plastered on his face. “Have you been briefed on our current position, Sir?”
She blinked, not exactly what she had been thinking about saying but it certainly brought back a sense of familiarity to her; they had always been about the job.
He nodded. “Landry contacted me right before you got here. All personal except SG-1 evacuate once we reach 474.”
“Yes, Sir. And then we try to extract the core before the Ori get here.”
“And if you don’t?”
Blue met worried brown. “Then we fight.”
Nothing else needed to be said. They both knew the ramifications of what another fight with the Ori would bring in the Odyssey’s current condition. “Then you’d better get ready.”
“Yes, sir.” And with that, she looked him over once more, committing everything to detail even the white gauze and bruises. When she finished, Sam turned and started out the room.
“Sam.” His voice stopped her as she was about to hit the panel to close his door. Looking back to meet his eyes, Sam stood there as they stared at each other; both afraid to really acknowledge what they knew they wanted to say to the other.
After a moment, Sam nodded toward her superior, the man that had her heart for the last nine years, before once again starting her journey towards the control room.
She had thirty minutes left.
*****
General Landry hit the button to patch him through to the control room, “Colonel? Are we ready to go?”
“Yes, sir,” Sam looked up from the console and met Vala’s gaze; both women hoping for this plan to work.
The Odyssey fell out of hyperspace and before and Sam motioned for Vala to start transporting the crew down to the surface of the planet they were now orbiting.
Vala reading over the information now up on her screen she said, “All members of the crew have been evacuated.” Suddenly, her dark eyes widen and she yelled, “These numbers are off; there’s still someone on the ship!”
Landry joined Sam in their chorused, “WHAT?!”
Any reply from the alien woman was cut off by Daniel saying, “Here they come.”
Landry pushed the forgotten crewmember to the back of his mind as he turned to Mitchell, “Shields at maximum; evasive maneuvers! Concentrate fire on only one target; one at a time.” He was hoping for a repeat performance of their earlier success with shooting down a ship and then retreating only to take on another one at latter time.
Besides, it was their only chance if Carter couldn’t disengage the core.
The bridge was suddenly filled with smoke and sparks as the ship started taking on damage. “Ok, that was not good!”
Daniel threw a look at Cam before yelling, “Shields are down to 23%!”
“We’re hitting them with everything we’ve got!” Cam shouted as their screens showed one of the Ori ships suddenly exploding into a ball of fire. The feeling of accomplishment at finally leveling the playing field to one-on-one was short-lived as the Odyssey took on another hit; the violent shaking of the ship causing SG-1 to be thrown out of their chairs.
A broken piped was now spewing steam into the bridge as Teal’c regained his footing, a fire breaking out behind him as the consoles continued to spit sparks. Grabbing an extinguisher, he tried to quell the flames now spreading through the back of the bridge.
Daniel, climbing back into his chair, yelled over the den of noise now filling the bridge, “Shields are offline!”
“One more hit will take us out!”
Hearing Cam’s warning, Landry called out, “Colonel Carter!”
Sam was still crawling back towards her console from she had been thrown to when she heard Landry’s command.
She had failed. They were not going to make it through this because she hadn’t been able to dislodge the core before the attack; they were out of time.
She reached the console and pulled herself up, not knowing what it was she was about to do or if there was anything she should or could do. By her count, the Ori had already pushed the button and they were as good as dead.
Until she saw him.
Jack was standing on the other side of the console, clutching at his side, looking at her with pleading eyes and an ashen face. As their eyes met, she had only one thought: ‘If we only had more time...’ Her eyes widen and she quickly took a control crystal and slid it into the right position.
Their time wasn’t up just yet.
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Continue to Chapter 6