Samantha Carter had hardly believed her eyes when she saw it. One second Colonel Jack O’Neill had leapt at Colonel Maybourne, the next they froze in some kind of force field, and them they vanished. When Jonas and Teal’c had found her and asked what had happened, she thought at first that maybe she had been a little out of it from being hit with a zat blast, but the more she thought about it, the less likely that was. For one thing, she’d never experienced delusions from being zatted before; and more importantly, Colonels Jack O’Neill and Harry Maybourne had disappeared.
The scientists worked for over a week trying to figure out how the portal worked before packing up to head back through the Stargate. She tried ordering Dr Lee to stay and work on it some more, but he didn’t; perhaps sensing that she was working more out of guilt and emotion than logic. Maybe she was—she did feel as though it was partially her fault as Maybourne had managed to get her zat, and her feelings for her CO sometimes seemed like the worst-kept secret on the base—but that did not change the fact that she felt Dr Lee gave up too soon. The UAV did not turn up Jack’s tracking signal within the area it was able to cover, and the Tok’ra found no life signs on the planet. General Hammond had no choice but to declare Colonel Jack O’Neill MIA.
It hurt. It was too soon after Daniel’s ‘death’ to be losing another member of the team, especially their CO. she only barely held it together when Daniel died, and she loved Jack O’Neill a lot more than she had Daniel. No not ‘more’ just different, deeper. Daniel was like a brother to her, she was in love with Jack.
She refused to give up. She didn’t give up when he was stuck on Edora for three months, she never gave up when Kanan had abused the ‘blending’ and took off, getting him captured and killed repeatedly by Baal, she would not give up now. She loved him too deeply to do that; besides which, Teal’c and Jonas wouldn’t give up either. So after giving into tears in the locker room (crying on Teal’c’s shoulder was quite cathartic), she went back to work.
"I hear you figured out where we were," Jack commented to Sam after Dr Janet Fraiser threatened to tie him to the bed if he didn't stay and get some rest. He had been back in the SGC for all of an hour after the Tok'ra had dropped him off; the rest of SG-1 had crowded the infirmary while Janet checked him out and tended to the shrapnel wound to his leg. Jonas and Teal'c had bid their good wishes and left, only Sam lingered.
"Yes sir."
"Took you long enough."
Somewhat annoyed, Sam launched into an explanation about testing the gateway and not realising the significance of the moon before taking note of the look on the colonel's face. His brown eyes were dancing with mirth, a sure sign that he was only joking.
She gave him an exasperated look. "You're lucky I figured it out. I was one of the ones considered for the new leader of SG-1." But there was no bite to her tone, and Jack knew it.
"I knew that you would figure out where we were," he said in a quieter, almost gentle, tone. "It was what kept me going, knowing that you wouldn't rest until I was found. That and not wanting to give Maybourne the satisfaction of seeing me give up."
Sam shook her head at him. "I'll see you later, sir." Only the Colonel could finish off a semi-romantic sentiment with something like that. It was one of the reasons she loved him so much.
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