What Will It Take? by SG1fanfic at hotmail dot com
Category: Drama, Angst, Adventure, Sam/Jack UST leading to RST, written during the middle of season 8.
Summary: Jack and Sam are stranded on a deserted planet. The journey home will require the efforts of all members of SG-1. Sam/Jack UST leading to RST. Rating: PG-13 Season/spoilers: Seasons 1-8 and the Future Archive: Heliopolis, Gateworld, Fanfiction, Carterfic, SJD yes and whoever who wants it. Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: The first few scenes were clamoring around in my head for a few weeks, just begging to be written down. Unfortunately, I could see too many alternatives, too many possible branches and directions for the story to go after each paragraph or event. To get it into type, I had to pick one direction at the end of each major passage, and this is what I have so far... It's not what I'd originally envisioned, but it is where Muse took it. And Muse is a harsh taskmaster! A know-it-all too!
So, if you have a lazy Sunday afternoon or a late night where you'd like to stay up reading... here's a little Sam/Jack fic...
What Will It Take?
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P4X-650 – the new Alpha Site, some 640 light-years from Earth
A quiet shuffling noise... from the area around the doorway.
She stopped and looked up... waiting expectantly.
But no one appeared.
She waited a moment longer.
Watching to see movement.
Nothing.
Sighing, she turned back to the inner-workings and programming of what was to become the iris control systems for the new Alpha Site.
Again! She heard something and stopped her work.
Listening and watching.
But no one and no thing appeared.
No papers or tools appeared to have slipped or adjusted positions.
No small animals were scuttling around.
Or at least, none that she could see.
Shaking her head, she checked her watch.
02:17 local time.
The dead of night.
Or 'O-Dark-Thirty'.
When everyone else was in bed.
Where she should probably be.
She was alone in the new Alpha Site research lab... and she had been for several hours. She'd sent Sergeant Colters to bed just before midnight.
02:19 now, and she grinned ruefully as she stretched limbs cramped from hovering over the control board for hours on end. Where she'd still be if some odd noise hadn't broken her concentration.
02:20... if she were back at the SGC, the General would probably have threatened to bodily drag her away from her work. And she knew it wasn't just a threat... once he'd actually enlisted Teal'c to pick her up and carry her out... Only those who knew that large, generally impassive man would have been able to see the almost non-existent-smile playing on his face as he'd effortlessly scooped the surprised then-Major out of her chair.
Nope, she hadn't seen it coming. General (but back then a Colonel) O'Neill had threatened her with bodily removal over an hour previously. And she'd really meant to wrap it up for the evening... she was just tying up a few things... but she'd lost track of time.
And, then... without any further warning... the Jaffa had stealthily crept up behind her and then quickly scooped her out of her chair... with her hands still reaching for the keyboard.
Her protestations and requests to be put down were ignored. Teal'c silently carried her to her on-base quarters while her CO trailed behind and smugly informed her that she was done for the night.
She hadn't worked that late again... at least not when there wasn't a base-wide crisis... or... at least not when O'Neill was on base... or when he was making it clear that he was keeping tabs of when she knocked off for the day.
02:25. She smiled fondly at the memories.
No one was going to send her to bed tonight however.
No one but her own conscience.
She was the only SG-1 member currently at the Alpha Site. General O'Neill, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal'c were halfway across the galaxy... on Sandara ... previously known as P7X-093. Some sort of Grand Festival in honor of the new alliance and agreements between the SGC and the main Sandaran government. Daniel had worked for weeks on the specifics of the agreements.
This was General O'Neill's third official visit to Sandara as the major representative of the SGC, the Tauri and Earth. Sam had accompanied the rest of her team on each of their previous visits to Sandara, but this time the Alpha Site had requested her presence while they went through the final installation and activation of their new iris.
Her gaze drifted down to the alphanumeric characters on the screen before her.
02:28. It was late. She was tired. Time to call it a night. Shut it down and head to bed. She smiled again to herself... 'The General would be proud,' she thought self-mockingly.
There it was again!
That soft scraping noise.
She looked towards the doorway and stood up slowly... curious, but cautious.
Watching carefully for any movement.
Shadows danced and then he was standing in the doorway.
"Sir!!?" It came out as a statement, but her mind was immediately asking questions.
He didn't reply immediately. And she couldn't get a good look at his face because the main light in the room was mounted on the same wall as the doorway and most of his face was in shadows.
"Sir?" This time, a definite question.
She knew who it was, but she didn't know why he was here.
"Carter." A statement. In a deep, gravelly tone. 'His' voice... but... full of...what?
And then he stepped forward and turned slightly towards her and more of his face was illuminated.
Smoldering. That was the immediate, forceful impression.
His eyes were glittering.
Something was wrong. That much was obvious.
"Sir, Are y-," and pain hit her in the upper right chest and shoulder. What The-...??? She looked down and two darts were sticking out just below her collarbone.
Stunned, she looked back at the man in the doorway. The man who was now lowering a dart gun and watching her closely. He looked faintly pleased. Or was it satisfied? She tried to focus on his face again. It was him. Or a very, very good double. And they had seen those before...
Only seconds had passed since he'd originally stepped into the doorway.
"Sirrr-..," she started a question, but didn't know what she was going to ask.
Her thoughts wouldn't focus.
Dizziness washed over her as the sedative took hold.
Her vision blurred and she felt like she was falling.
And everything went black.
TBC