I know, I know, this was too long in coming. Since the last few chapters have been kind of rough, I hesitated with this one. Entity had to happen and it was best for it to happen now rather than later. I don't imagine that anyone would have acted much differently than they did in the episode, so I did my best to skip through it as quickly as possible.

The Kerl~

CHAPTER 14 – A Synchronization of Entities

That morning, it wasn't an alarm that woke him but Sam's leg sliding between his. Half asleep, he reached for her and groaned when her hips swirled against his. A soft sigh in the dark – his name – and he forced his eyes open so he could get a good look at her. If everything went according to plan, they could spend the next few mornings lazing about in bed, memorizing the parts of her he hadn't already committed to memory. Even before he opened his eyes he could picture the way all but the hair on the right side of her head would be sticking out at crazy angles as she slept.

Sam was still asleep, to Jack's disappointment, but this seemed like as good a time as any to wake her up. The dim glow of the clock told him they would have to start getting ready soon anyway, and he was going to have to disentangle himself from her if they planned on leaving her bedroom at all today. The cabin. We're going to the cabin today. We'll go fishing later, O'Neill. Her heel grazed up his calf as she arched into him, weakening his resolve.

It wouldn't hurt to give in a little bit, he reasoned, and rolled so that Sam was pinned beneath him. Her breathing changed, indicating she was waking up. Proud of himself and too turned on to abandon his new plan, he inched her sweatshirt up to bare her stomach. The warmth of her skin against his was delicious, the feeling only intensifying as Sam stretched out of her sleep, pushing against him again. He dipped down and stole a kiss, grunting into her mouth as her nails ghosted down his sides. "If this is how you always move around in your sleep, I'm never gonna get any shut eye. We don't need to go in today, do we?"

"You're a bad influence. I hope you know that." She tilted her head away from him to allow him better access to her neck and did her best to still her hips. His weight on top of her was too much to ignore, though, and against her will her legs parted further to accommodate him, the heat from their bodies masking the chill of the morning.

"Are you just figuring this out now?"

Sam smiled and stroked his scarred eyebrow with her thumb. "No, but I'm having a harder time ignoring your, ah, influence."

"That's because you know I'm right," he murmured, placing an open-mouthed kiss against her palm.

"Mmmm, yes," she sighed, "but that doesn't change the fact that at least I need to go in today. We're dialing a new address, and – ."

He cut her off with a kiss. "Walter can handle it."

"I'm sure he can, but I want to be there. Actually, you'll probably want to be there too."

She sounded way too chipper to be talking about work so early in the morning. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, resigned to losing this argument. "A planet is a planet is a planet…"

"No it isn't," she argued, shifting from beneath him so that they lie side by side. "We're going to dial one of the addresses you added into our database when you – when you had the knowledge of the Ancients."

"Hence the special occasion. I see."

From the look on his face, Sam could see that he was anything but interested. "We'll go in long enough to look over the MALP data – briefly – and then you can whisk me away to the cabin until, what, Tuesday?"

"Thursday. We get a week at the least. And we're talking a very brief look at that data, Major."

"I did leave early yesterday…"

"No way. Three, four hours max. Promise?"

"Promise. Now, I believe I owe you breakfast for putting up with me so well last night. I've got Pop-Tarts or… Pop-Tarts."

Breakfast was rushed, as they were both eager to get in to the base so they could leave. Neither of them mentioned their talk from the previous day. Sam was a bit embarrassed, but it was obvious that they both felt better after getting all of that out in the open. She didn't shy away when Jack held her hand in the elevator and he didn't complain when she headed for the control room. The sooner she prepared the MALP, the sooner they could leave.

Fishing, he thought. A 17 hour drive didn't sound so miserable now that he finally had Sam to accompany him. If they drove through the night and ate in the car, they could get to the cabin early the next morning. The mini-mart wouldn't be open so they'd probably just crash and grab a few hours of shut-eye before making a supply run and settling in for the week. Jack had to bite the inside of his cheek at the thought of a week with Sam. At the cabin. Alone.

"Well that answers my first question. Morning, Jack."

"Daniel." Jack tipped his head in greeting and stepped around his friend, who was momentarily struck dumb at the shit-eating grin he was sure he was sporting. Not like we were going to be able to hide this from him anyway. "Any idea what to expect from this P2Y… number number number?"

Daniel shook his head and jogged the few steps needed to catch up with him. "P9C-372. Since the address was one that you added to the base computer after you had the Ancient repository downloaded into your mind, I'm hopeful that we'll find some clues that will lead us to any remnants of their race. At the very least, it should give us an opportunity to study a culture they helped to establish. Right?" Jack nodded, his attention already elsewhere, and Daniel launched into a monologue that required very little input from him. Sam packed a swimsuit, didn't she? Did he really want her to bother with one? He needed to pick up steak and potatoes to grill out, but cooking for the entire week wasn't necessarily something he wanted to do.

Jack followed Daniel back to his lab, mentally checking off what they could buy at the mini-mart near the cabin and what they'd need to pick up closer to town. Daniel was gesturing to some printouts of what he vaguely recalled being told were Ancient markings found, erm, somewhere, and then suddenly he was silent and was looking at him expectantly over the top rim of his glasses. "What?"

"I asked you if you recognized any of these glyphs, or if – ."

"Ahh! Teal'c! How're you doing?"

Teal'c inclined his head, suppressing a smile at their predictable antics. "I am well, O'Neill, now that I see you have become yourself again." Jack glanced between them in question. "It was clear to those who know you well."

Embarrassed, Jack rubbed the back of his neck and moved some papers around with his free hand. "Yeah, look, about that… Sam and I had some, uhh, personal stuff to work through."

"But everything's OK, now, right?"

He nodded, amused by Daniel's genuine concern. "We're good. Actually, there's something that I wanted to talk to you guys about. I don't know if now's exactly the best time, but, you know how it goes."

"It appears you are contemplating a further change in the team dynamic."

Jack rubbed his sweaty palms on his pants. Why was he so nervous all of the sudden? "We're gonna head up to the cabin for a few days. Hopefully a week. If we're lucky you guys won't do anything stupid to get us called in. Anyway, I'm – I'm gonna pop the question." He stepped forward to catch Daniel who, having succumbed to a sudden coughing fit put out an arm to support himself against his desk and missed, nearly toppled to the floor.

Unfazed, Teal'c waited patiently for an explanation. "What question do you mean, O'Neill?"

"I'm gonna ask Sam to marry me. For cryin' out loud, Daniel, what's the matter?"

Clutching his chest as the spasms subsided, Daniel looked and saw that his friend's face was once again contorted by the futile effort of masking his joy. "Sorry, really. I'm happy for you both, of course, I just wasn't expecting it."

"What? Too soon for you?" he asked wryly.

"On the contrary, O'Neill. This union is far overdue, though I remain unfamiliar with the Tau'ri matrimonial customs."

"Depends on who you are, but I'm still pretty old-fashioned. We've got Jacob's permission, more or less. I'll ask her and, if she says yes, we'll get married in a few months."

"Do you have a ring?" Daniel interjected. Jack nodded. "Really?"

"Yes, really. You're acting like you didn't see this coming, Daniel."

"No no no, that's not it. I guess I expected, I don't know, more warning?"

"Proposal are supposed to be a surprise."

"For the woman, yes, but not us!"

"Well if you don't keep your voice down, it won't be a surprise for her! I'm telling you now. Isn't that warning enough?"

Daniel made an attempt to clean his glasses with his shirt before donning them once more and fixing Jack with an even look. He pointed at Teal'c as he spoke. "You know that we've wanted this for you both all along, Jack. This is just, well, it's big! Yesterday you were hardly speaking to each other, and today you're getting engaged! I feel like we missed something."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Like I said, we had some personal stuff to work through. And I know, I get it – this is really big. That's why I wanted to check with you guys to make sure we're all still good. I mean, as far as we're all concerned, nothing is going to change as far as SG-1 and the fate of the planet goes."

There was that eyebrow talking again. "It is highly unlikely that your marriage to MajorCarter will lead to the destruction of the planet, O'Neill. Do you anticipate such a large change in your duties or your abilities to fulfill them?"

"Not immediately, no, but later on?"

"Jack? What aren't you saying?"

"SG-1, please report to the control room. Repeat, SG-1 report to the control room." echoed Davis' voice over the PA.

Jack was on his feet and out the door before the call ended, eager to end the conversation. There was no reason to discuss Sam taking maternity leave when… He pushed those thoughts aside, reminding himself not to dwell. On the peripheral of his mind he was aware that Daniel was quietly explaining to Teal'c the finer nuances of traditional weddings, and what they could expect in the upcoming months. Instead of chiming in, Jack set his mind to running through his proposal plan for the third time that morning. It was an easy distraction, one he'd perfected over the past few months. He had a few ideas, just in case one didn't feel right. While he and Sam were excellent strategists, life had a tendency to intervene and screw everything up.

General Hammond nodded in greeting as the male members of SG-1 gravitated toward the back wall of the control room, giving Sam and her crew plenty of room to work. With so many extra people in the room, Jack wondered if he was really underestimating the importance of the moment.

"Chevron six encoded."

"I don't understand how you talked her into leaving right after we dial this planet," Daniel whispered.

"We don't even know for sure that the Ancients did anything more than drive by this place on the way to the beach, Daniel. For all you know, it could be a pit stop, full of blown tires and old diapers."

"At least admit that you're curious about what's out there."

Jack quirked an eyebrow and stared straight ahead as the event horizon whooshed and the MALP headed up the ramp. "I'm only here because someone else happens to agree with you. Me? I'd prefer to stay as far away from mysterious Ancient tech as possible. Shame on them for sucking my head once, but you just wait and see if I do it a second time. I'm not a complete idiot."

"Receiving MALP telemetry," chimed Davis. Everyone turned to examine the monitors, but neither Daniel nor Teal'c recognized the architecture on the screens. As soon as Jack heard the words 'not Ancient' he lost interest in the proceedings and checked his watch for the twelfth time that morning, counting down the hours until they could blow this popsicle stand. Sam's bag was packed and loaded in his truck. They needed to run by his place for clothes, and closer to the cabin they'd have to stop for food and supplies. If they made good time, they might even be able to stop and have a nice dinner on the way.

"What's it doing?" Hammond asked, stepping closer to the screen. Jack blinked himself back into awareness and glanced around so see that no one else had noticed him daydreaming.

"Uh, flying, sir."

"MALPs can't fly." This wasn't good. Not at all. Flying MALPs meant something weird and something weird meant Sam needed more data and that meant not making it off the base before lunch like she promised. "Carter?"

"Run a systems diagnostic on the MALP," she barked out. Davis began typing furiously before the video cut out. About a minute later Sam started yelling about an EM spike and Jack took off for the gateroom with Teal'c hot on his tail. As soon as the lights went out, Jack figured they'd fixed everything.

Sometimes he really hated being wrong.

Somehow, miraculously, Sam was still alive. Moreover, Sam was still Sam. The words 'I AM HERE' had taken over every screen on the base, preventing Jack from doing something drastic to stop Janet from discontinuing Sam's life support. The words bounced around his skull until he couldn't think straight anymore. This whole day had been one giant cluster fuck and Jack wasn't sure he could take anymore. After following Sam's gurney back to the infirmary, only to be barred by some male nurses that Jack didn't recognize, he'd slumped to the floor just outside the door. "She'll need rest," Janet had told him, "but I'll let you come in to visit for a few minutes after I finish her exam." His head in his hands, propped against his knees, he was vaguely aware that Daniel had joined him on the floor and that Teal'c was nearby. He was grateful they kept their silence and left him to process what had just happened.

They should have just blown the nest up in the first place. Why hadn't he recognized it was a trap before it was too late? And Sam… It hurt to think about how close he'd come to losing her. Again.

"Fraiser was gonna pull the plug," he murmured after a while, his face still covered.

"What?" asked Daniel.

"Sam had a living will. No extraordinary means."

"Oh, I didn't… Did you know?" Teal'c asked Daniel for an explanation. "It basically means that if people are on life support for a long time without any hope of recovery, the doctors are supposed to cease treatment and let the body go on its own terms. Jack, did you know?"

"Yeah. She told me after she completed the paperwork back – ."

"Why then did DoctorFraiser not terminate MajorCarter's medical treatment after you shot her?"

Daniel waited for Jack to speak, but he thought the answer was rather obvious. "I asked her to wait," he whispered. A quick glance was all Daniel and Teal'c shared to confirm their thoughts. They both knew Jack to be stubborn and demanding when was dealing with base medical staff, especially when there was nothing he could do to help out his injured teammates. He hadn't shouted, or used force to stop Janet. He'd simply asked for more time, too broken to do anything else. If he hadn't…

"Sir, you can see her now."

Jack leapt to his feet, his knee protesting at his speed. He saw Daniel and Teal'c hesitate to follow him. "Oh, fer cryin' out loud," he muttered, grabbing his friends' shoulders and shoving them through the doorway in front of him. "Just because she likes me more doesn't mean she doesn't want to see you two." Truthfully, he wanted to hide behind them because he had no idea how he was supposed to act right now. In the past he'd hid his relief at her wellbeing in a bad joke and a smile, one he reserved for such occasions because he had no other way to comfort her without losing his composure. Like last night. He was still a little embarrassed she'd seen him so vulnerable. There was no way in hell he was going to let the entire base see just how much he depended on her. Hand holding seemed to be allowed, but anything more than kissing her on the top of the head per his usual would feel wrong. Then again, for all he knew she wouldn't want to see him since he had been the one to shoot her. At war with his emotions, he pushed Daniel into the white plastic chair on her left and hid behind Teal'c at the foot of the bed, trusting that his stoic friend would prevent him from doing something stupid.

"Sam needs rest, so five minutes. Alright?" The men nodded solemnly, but Janet caught Jack's attention before she retreated to her office. She hadn't given him one of her typical 'I know you think you can get away with staying because I don't want to upset Sam by chasing you out but I will anyway,' looks. This one was new to Jack and, dare he believe, granted him permission to hang around after the others left. Judging by the slight crinkle of Sam's eyes, she'd caught the brief exchange and approved. Jack took that as a good sign and took a few tentative steps closer to the bed so he could rest his hands on the rail.

Daniel was the first to break the awkward silence. "I take it everything's okay, then?"

Sam nodded slowly, her muscles still sensitive from the entire experience. "Considering you let Jack shoot me twice with a zat, I've just got a few singed fingers to complain about. Actually, most of that was from earlier in the gateroom."

"I only shot you when you went all evil emperor on the base, missy."

The guilt in his voice belied his humor and Sam felt that he wasn't holding up nearly as well as he appeared. "No, that's not the reason."

"It's not?"

"You shot me because you like to make me feel tingly," she deadpanned, choking back a laugh as Daniel flushed and pretended to clean his glasses. Jack followed the IV running from her wrist up to a clear bag holding what he assumed were the fluids she had been on for the past few days. Janet must have added some awesome painkillers or something else to make her this corny. "Sorry, that was a really bad joke. Daniel, were you able to talk to… it?"

"A bit, although it wasn't very cooperative. Do you remember any of it?"

Sam glanced at Jack's hands. His knuckles were white. "Only a few bits and pieces. It was different than with Jolinar, where it was like I was watching everything from the background. This time it was like I was being pushed away into the darkness. It didn't want to, but it just kept growing and there was no way to recode – and it, it shuffled through my memories for leverage, like I was some database for weakpoints or something."

"Well, your mind is probably the biggest database the SGC has, Carter."

Teal'c took that interjection as a cue to derail Sam's train of thought. "Sergeant Siler is currently searching for any remnants of the entity, but we believe it has been successfully eradicated."

"Good. Let me know if you find anything."

"Of course. Rest well, MajorCarter." He bowed and made his way from the room. Likewise, Daniel leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the forehead before following Teal'c.

Jack was left clutching the foot rail, staring at the ground while he bounced the toe of his boot against a wheel on the bed. Sam bit her lip and fought the tears back. "Janet told me what you did. When I was – was in the base computer, I saw her pull my file and…" She watched as recognition flooded his face, but he kept his emotions in check behind that carefree mask he wore so well. He took a few steps around the side of the bed, still keeping his distance. "As soon as I figured out what she was doing I gave up trying to find a way out myself. So I yelled. For you."

He slumped into the chair. "Couldn't let you go before we went fishing, could I?"

"Is it always going to be like this?"

His head snapped up at the strain in her voice. "What do you mean?"

"The past month has been absolutely miserable for both of us, and we finally got past it, and then this!" she croaked, weakly gesturing to their surroundings. "I don't know how much more of this I can handle, Jack."

"Shhh," He urged, his chest tightening as he leaned forward to snatch her hand from where it lay tangling the sheets. "I know that, well, yeah, things have been a little rough lately. But I thought, you know – in general – things were going okay."

"Okay, yes, but..."

"…But you want more." Sam nodded, a single tear breaking free from the others to run down her cheek. "Me too. I know this is going to sound selfish, but if something like this ever happens again I'd like to have a little more say before Janet – . I was ready to lock everyone out of the room until we figured out a way – ."

"Hey, I'm right here, I'm alright thanks to you, and I think I can safely say that our trip to the cabin can be extended for another week if we play our cards right."

"Are you really up to fishing right now?" he asked, worried that venturing outdoors wasn't in her best interest at the moment. Hell, he was still worried she'd nod off and not wake up again.

Losing the fight against her heavy eyelids, she still managed to find the energy to tease him. "Jack, we are going to fish this weekend whether you think I'm up to it or not."

"Ack!" He waved his free hand in the air, raising a chuckle from Sam. "We'll revisit that topic later. In the meantime you need to sleep so you can get out of here."

"But I – ."

"No 'buts,' Carter. Doc's orders. Mine too, if that means anything."

"It doesn't."

"I didn't think it would."

"Stay?" she yawned.

"Until the needle pusher kicks me out." They fell asleep holding hands and Janet didn't have the heart to wake them up. Once Sam woke up the following morning, however, the doctor was more than happy to throw Jack out of the infirmary. As soon as her check-up was over, Sam had a tech smuggle her a laptop, assuming that Jack would not complain if he knew that her research was not work-related for once.

Wanting to make the most of his exile, Jack made sure that he had everything in order for their trip before he made his way back to Sam's bedside. General Hammond didn't put up too much of a fight when he requested to extend their vacation to two weeks. For some reason, Sam wasn't surprised by the news and simply smiled into her Jell-O as he updated her on their new itinerary. Neither of them were thrilled with the idea of an eighteen hour drive at this point. "We've got two whole weeks, Carter. We can take our time."

They both knew he was lying through his teeth. "It's a shame we can't call Thor and ask him to teleport us straight from here."

"AH! No good comes from the Asgard showing up right before my vacations. We'd be better off flying to Minnesota the normal way, if you don't want to drive."

The second day of her 'internment,' Jack bounded into the infirmary with the intention of springing her to the cafeteria at the very least. It was 10:00 so there was little chance they'd run into anyone else if they went right away. To his surprise, she'd already been discharged and driven home. "Jack," said Janet as she flipped through another patient's chart, "Apart from ordering her to rest, there's nothing else I can do for her. There are no indications that any part of the alien entity was left behind in her brain, and physically there is nothing wrong with her. She practically skipped out of here."

"You could've at least notified me," he grumbled.

Janet quirked an eyebrow, a tight smile gracing her features. "I wasn't aware that if was my duty to notify a commanding officer of a subordinate's release. Or perhaps I misunderstood you. Sir?"

"I – well, you – oh, c'mon! You know what I mean."

"Yes, I do. Now get out of here and make sure she gets some sleep."

"Is that an order, Doc?"

"Does it need to be?"

As she smirked at him, Jack leaned down and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Nope. I'll take good care of her."

She laughed as he saluted and hurried out of sight. "I think you're gonna have your hands full, there, Colonel O'Neill."

Upon reaching the elevator, Jack flipped open his cell phone and called Sam's house. He started to lecture her about sneaking off base without him for the second time that week, only letting up when she mentioned that she was packing a second bag for their extended stay and was almost ready to go. He still needed to pack, but promised he'd be by to pick her up in an hour. "Great, we just need to leave here by noon."

"What's the rush? I thought our plane doesn't leave until 16:45."

"No rush, but I made reservations and we have to be there by 12:30. Make sure you wear something nice."

Jack frowned, glad she couldn't see him. Siler joined him in the elevator but was too absorbed in the file in his hands to do more than nod to him. "Just how nice is 'nice?'"

"Try a step below your dress blues."

He thought about what he probably had hanging in the back of his closet. "Alright… Yeah, I think I can do that."

"Looking forward to it, Colonel." The sultry voice on the other end of the line was gone so quickly he wasn't sure if he'd heard her correctly. Siler was staring at him, making Jack realize his jaw had dropped open at some point. He coughed, shoving his phone in his pocket. "So. Siler. Any plans this weekend?"

"Just clearing debris from the MALP room, sir."

"That sounds… exciting…"

"No sir, just routine. Enjoy your vacation, sir." There was a low noise as the elevator coasted to a halt. Siler exited as soon as the doors opened, leaving Jack alone to speculate what Carter had planned for lunch. Wasn't she supposed to be on bed rest or something?

That woman was going to be the death of him. And oh, what a death, he thought, clicking the button on his key fob to unlock his truck.