Title: Search and Rescue, Indeed
Author: Sarae
Status: Complete
Rating: T
Category: Romance
Pairings: Sam/Jack
Spoilers: Minor ones for Atlantis' Search and Rescue
Warning: Character death (not one of the main…six?)
Season: I don't know…some time after Continuum?
Summary: Sam learns her skills set is needed elsewhere.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or settings, but occasionally, they provide a wonderful escape for me. So, thank you to those who have had a hand in creating them. No infringement is intended.
Author Note: The tree was bleeding for this one, i.e. this is pure Sap. There are a couple of lovely ladies who deserve so much more than just a few words of thanks here, but this is all I can offer now…Audrey and Rosemary…Thank you!

Search and Rescue, Indeed
© 2008 Sarae

The warm, familiar feeling she initially felt as she broke the terminal event horizon and viewed the cold concrete of the embarkation room was replaced rather abruptly when she saw Richard Woolsey standing at the end of the ramp. He was among the last people she expected to greet her upon her return.

"Colonel Carter," he said as she neared the end of the ramp.

"Mr. Woolsey," she replied. "How are you?"

"Very well. Thank you for asking."

And because she was suddenly feeling that something rather odd was happening, she went phishing. "So is this whole evaluation process gonna take very long? I mean, there's a lot of work to be done on Atlantis and I'm kind of anxious to get back."

Woolsey replied, "I'm sure you are. However, the I.O.A. has decided that perhaps someone with a different skills set would be more suited to lead the Atlantis expedition now."

Oddly enough, his tone sounded far less condescending than in many of their previous encounters. Still, she was stunned by his statement. "Excuse me?" she asked.

"I'm here to inform you that, effective immediately, you are being removed from command."

Stunned…way beyond stunned now. Effective immediately…

She wasn't sure how long it took for her brain to form the words. "Um, who-who's replacing me?"

"As a matter of fact, I am," he said. His tone was neutral and his gaze was steady.

"Wow!" she thought, "What has been happening while I've been away?"

Before she could gather her thoughts to respond to the news she'd just been slammed with, she heard a familiar voice calling her name from behind. Cam had entered the 'gate room and was rapidly closing the distance between the door and where Sam still stood in stunned silence.

"Sam! You're finally here," he said as he walked up took her hand to shake it. "We've been waiting for you. Come on, we don't have much time." He gestured for her to precede him through the door he'd just entered.

"What?" she said as she followed, slowly. Her brow furrowed in confusion and she squinted in an effort to bring her eyes back into focus. She glanced back over her shoulder and noticed that Woolsey was now staring toward the Stargate with his right hand grasping his chin. She thought he looked rather lonely standing there. She was seriously beginning to wander if she'd passed through a solar flare on her journey back, because this really felt like an alternate reality to her.

By the time they'd reached the elevator intersection, Sam had snapped out of her fog and wanted some answers. She stopped and twirled on Cam who had to stop rather abruptly to keep himself from slamming into her.

"What the hell is going on, Cam?" she said with a little more than irritation ringing through her tone.

"I've been waiting for you to arrive. We've got a plane to catch. You're pretty well booked up for today, so let's get going," he said as he continued around her to the elevator.

She watched him enter the elevator and turn to hold the door open, obviously waiting for her to join him. "So, there's no debriefing, no medical exam, no time to change? Seriously Cam…what the hell is going on?"

"I've said all I can for now, Carter. Let's go," he said and invited her in with his arm.

"I'm not going anywhere until I know what's going on," she said and crossed her arms in front of her.

"Don't make me come and drag you on this elevator," he said with a smile.

"Like you could," she responded.

"Oh, I could," he said. Then he rolled his eyes. "If I zatted you first." Before she could protest further, his expression softened and he spoke again. "Look, Sam. I know you've just had the shock of your life. We were all just as stunned as you when we heard the news. None of us could bear to be in there. We decided that duty was all Woolsey's. But as bad as that felt in there…"

He paused and gave her a mischievous grin. "Sam, if you don't get in this elevator with me right now, I promise you're going to regret it."

"That's it?" she asked. "That's all you're going to tell me?"

"For now," he said with a determined expression on his face. "Sam, do you trust me?"

She sighed. This day was so not turning out the way she'd expected.

"OK, ok..." She held up her hands in mock surrender and walked onto the elevator. She was still quite agitated and more than a little irritated, but she did trust Cameron Mitchell. Her irritation might have turned to curiosity if she had seen the self-satisfied grin that graced Mitchell's face when she finally walked onto the elevator and stood behind him.