The Way We Were
Summary: She looked at him as though she had never seen him before. How could she forget him? And how could he make her remember? (Sam/Jack)
Disclaimer: I don't own SG-1 or its characters.
for Valenship
"Incoming wormhole. It's SG1's IDC, General."
Jack's eyes flicked nervously to the gate before he gave Walter a brief nod.
"Open the iris," he said. Jack quickly made his way to the gateroom. SG-1 weren't due back for at least a day. He jogged into the gateroom just in time to see Daniel and Teal'c stumble onto the ramp. There was an unstable jolt of electricity and the wormhole disengaged.
Jack took a moment to survey the scene in front of him. Daniel was puffing like an old man and Teal'c was looking even more somber than usual. They were both covered in dirt and looked as though they hadn't rested in days. The other blindingly obvious thing to note was that they were alone.
"Where's Carter?" Jack asked calmly, but with a slight twitch of his head that none other than Teal'c or Daniel could have recognized as the familiar pang of concern Jack showed whenever something might be wrong with his second in command.
"About that, Jack," Daniel stalled with a look of grief on his face. He turned briefly to the idle gate.
"Colonel Carter is still on P7X 495," Teal'c said.
"Why?"
Daniel looked from Teal'c to Jack.
"We lost her."
"Let me get this straight, Daniel," Jack fumed. "You lost contact with Carter two days ago and you didn't think it was important to inform me?
Daniel cringed. He and Teal'c had sat in the briefing room for the last five minutes trying to explain, but it seemed the general would not listen to a word.
"We told you, Jack. She went with the Magorans last night."
"Two days ago," Jack corrected with a frustrated flourish of his arms.
"It was only last night on Magora," Daniel explained exasperatingly.
"Whatever," Jack dismissed. "You didn't feel it necessary to go with her?"
"She said she was fine, Jack," said Daniel, but he knew it was a weak argument.
"There wasn't a single other woman on that planet, Daniel," Jack slated. "Doesn't that tell you anything?"
"That's why she insisted, Jack," Daniel said. "You know she gets sometimes."
Jack scoffed. Why did women always have to do stupid things to prove they were as good as men? Carter was the smartest woman Jack knew, hell – the smartest person on Earth, probably; but clearly even that wasn't enough of an equalizer.
"Colonel Carter assured us she would remain in radio contact," Teal'c offered.
"And did she?"
"Yes," said Daniel. "Until this afternoon. She missed her scheduled transmission so we went looking for her."
"You didn't even know where she was?" Jack asked, getting more frustrated by the minute.
"The Magorans live in cave systems," Daniel reminded him. "It's not as simple as walking down the hall."
"During our search, we noticed several earth tremours," Teal'c interjected in an effort to break up the argument. "They began to increase in severity."
"Some of the poorly protected caves started to collapse," Daniel continued. "We had to get out while we still could."
"Daniel Jackson was concerned that the Stargate would be buried during the tremours," Teal'c said.
Jack clenched his teeth and breathed heavily.
"And Carter?" he asked.
"We can't be certain, Jack. We're not one hundred percent sure where they took her."
"Humour me, Daniel," Jack growled.
"Most of the caves in the system were protected by advanced force shields. If she was in one of those and if the gate wasn't damaged, she'll be fine," Daniel said.
"If not?"
"Then she'll be stranded. Or worse."
Sam sat up and looked around her, groggily. Her head was pounding. She could hear distant rumbling sounds. What in the world was going on?
"Daniel, Teal'c, come in," she called into her radio. There was no reply. "Daniel, Teal'c do you copy?" Still nothing.
She got out of the strange Magoran bed and looked for the rest of her gear. She frowned. She couldn't even remember falling asleep. The last thing she remembered was explaining the mating customs of Western Tau'ri culture. What had happened after that? There were vague images and phrases in her mind, but the rest was a blur. There was a bump and a huge bruise on her head. What had happened to her?
She checked her watch and swore under her breath. She had been here for hours. Over a day.
She found her gear in a cupboard next to the bed. She strapped her side arm in and clipped her vest on. She could hear panicked voices from outside the small room.
"What's going on?" she asked a man she recognized as Sa'men's assistant; Mattias.
"Tremours," the young man answered quickly. He was so rushed that for the first time since Sam had met him, he wasn't blushing with surprise at being spoken to by a real live woman.
"How bad?" Sam demanded.
"Bad," Mattias answered. "Sa'men believes they may rival the First Tremours."
This time Sam didn't bother to swear under her breath. The First Termours were a series of earthquakes that took place almost thirty years ago and destroyed every city on the planet's surface. Her curse was received by Mattias with a look of confusion. He was about to ask what she had meant when she stopped him.
"Where is my team?" she asked. "Daniel and Teal'c. Have you seen them?" she asked.
"I have not," Mattias replied. "Though if they knew what was best for them, they would have returned to their planet through the Orifice. Who knows how long it will remain standing?"
The young man took his leave and made his way through the neighbouring caves, raising the evacuation alert. Men in their hundreds swarmed through the passage ways, racing to get to the well protected caves at the heart of the system.
"Mattias!" Sam called after him. "What can I do?" she asked.
Mattias looked behind him as though searching for someone to reprimand him. "We don't need help," he said. "We have practiced for such an evacuation for years. You must go through the Orifice to join your friends before it is too late."
"Are you sure?" Sam asked.
"Look," said Mattias in a hushed voice. "I'm not sure what Sa'men has told you, but he has plans for you. It is best that you go home before he can enact them. Go!" he shouted.
Sam nodded and raced out of the cave system towards the Stargate.
"The MALP telemetry shows tremours no greater than 4.5 on the Richter Scale," Walter said over the loud speaker. Jack gave him a thumbs up from the gate room.
Several hours after Daniel and Teal'c's return, the gate was activated for their return to Magora. They were accompanied by SG-3 and a medical team.
"Ok, boys," Jack said to the ten men who were preparing to step through the gate. "I don't want you to take any chances out there. Find Carter, bring her home, then help out with the evacuation. The minute it starts getting too rough, I want you to bug out. Understood?"
SG-3 answered with an almost synchronized "Yes sir." The medical team followed suit.
"Your main objective is to retrieve Colonel Carter," Jack reminded. "You have a go."
The three teams filed up the ramp.
"Any time now, Sergeant," Jack called, waving his arm at the gate.
"Chevron seven will not lock," Walter's voice boomed over the speaker. "Repeat, chevron seven will not…" The gate sprung to life. "Incoming wormhole!" he yelled as the iris closed.
"What?" Jack huffed.
"It's SG-1's IDC, sir," Walter said.
"Sam," Daniel said, his face brightening with the prospect.
"In position," Jack ordered. The three teams in the gate room took defensive stances, their weapons at the ready. "Open the iris!"
The iris opened and after a few seconds a figure appeared from the shimmering blue of the event horizon.
"Sam," Daniel cried and made his way up the ramp to meet her.
"Daniel," she responded warmly and gave him an affectionate shoulder squeeze. Teal'c and Jack followed suit and approached the ramp to greet her. Sam gave Teal'c a short hug before her eyes met Jack's.
"Nice timing," Jack said with a smile. Sam furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and snapped to attention.
"Colonel Samantha Carter, sir," she greeted him curtly with a salute. She looked at him as though she had never seen him before.
Jack looked from Teal'c to Daniel. Both men looked as baffled as he felt.
"Looks like we'll need that medical team, after all."