A/N - Thanks for your patience both with the technical difficulties with the last chapter and the cliff hanger. Consider this my slightly belated Valentine's Day gift to you - the conclusion! Enjoy...

Chapter 8

Jack watched, horrified, as the water covered Sam's head and she struggled helplessly against her restraints. He looked desperately over at the priests and could see one preparing to turn the dial that would change her forever. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a staff blast caught the priest in the chest and sent him flying backwards. Jack turned in the direction of the blast and let out a yelp of relief. There were Teal'c and Daniel and half the SGC, leading a group of the strange jungle creatures, who descended upon the priests and sent them scurrying in terror out of the pyramid.

The man restraining Jack, distracted by the commotion, unwittingly loosened his grip, providing Jack the perfect opportunity to elbow him in the stomach. As his captor doubled over, he was caught by zat fire, compliments of Daniel, who shouted Jack's name and pointed in the direction of the chambers.

Jack turned to follow his gaze, and what he saw made his blood run cold. There was Sam, completely submerged and unmoving. With a single-minded purpose, Jack strode toward the glass chambers, pausing only to catch a rifle that was tossed to him by one of the Marines. Keeping his eyes glued to Sam's still form, he switched the weapon to its single fire setting.

In his peripheral vision, he saw an enraged Sukumar step out of his chamber and move toward him as if to block his progress. Without even stopping to take aim, Jack brought the rifle up and shot the Beiminian leader in the middle of the forehead. So focused was he on Sam, though, he didn't notice the shocked look frozen on Sukumar's face, as he fell over into the water and was swept out of pyramid on the current of the river.

Wasting no time, Jack jumped into the water and, with a yell, brought the butt of the rifle down hard on Sam's chamber. The glass shattered into a million pieces, and water poured out into the spring. Jack tossed the weapon aside and immediately began unfastening the restraints that kept Sam pinned to the back of the chamber. Once free, her lifeless form fell into his arms, and he quickly began moving with her to the edge of the water.

As he laid her on the ground, he fought back the fear that threatened to paralyze him. Oblivious to those around him, including Teal'c, who watched with a stony faced resolve, and Daniel, who could barely watch at all, Jack bent over her and began an attempt to revive her, his attention fixed solely on the pattern of mouth to mouth resuscitation followed by multiple chest compressions. Each time his thoughts wandered toward the dark edge of despair, he concentrated solely on the mechanics of his actions, repeating the pattern over and over again and pushing everything else from his mind.

It as for that reason that several long minutes passed before he finally heard Daniel calling his name. He could hear the tears in the archeologist's voice, but he ignored him, focusing all of his attention on Sam, who remained lifeless. As he continued to try to resuscitate her, he heard Teal'c call to him as well, but still he didn't stop. "Come on, Sam," he mumbled, as he depressed her chest with his fists. "Breathe, damn it."

Suddenly, he felt the large hand of the Jaffa grasp his shoulder, but it was his quiet words that brought the military man up short. "She is gone, O'Neill."

Silence engulfed him. He knew there were several SG teams in the temple now standing vigil over his unsuccessful rescue attempt, but they didn't make a sound. Whether it was the shock of losing a fellow soldier or out of respect for him, Jack would never be sure.

He sat back on his heels and looked down at the still form of his Second. Even in death she was beautiful. Gently, he wiped a damp lock of hair off her forehead. Had it only been a few hours ago that he had done the same thing in the throes of passion? And hadn't he promised her that they would survive this, if for no other reason than to be together again?

"No!" he screamed suddenly. He had already lost everything that ever mattered to him once. He was not going to lose her. The universe owed him that much. With a renewed purpose, he bent over her once again. "Breathe, Carter," he grunted as he took up the pattern once more. "God damn it, Major, breathe!" he yelled. "That's an order!"

Without warning, Sam's body seized violently, and she began spitting up water and coughing as she desperately tried to take a breath. A cheer went up from the crowd, and Jack felt a wave of relief like none he'd ever known overwhelm him. Sam continued to cough and struggle to breathe for a moment, and Jack finally let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. Although she seemed understandably disoriented, her color was coming back and her eyes were clear.

She looked up at her commanding officer, who was kneeling over her. If she didn't know better she would've sworn he was about to cry. "Jack?" she asked, her voice rough.

"Sam," he replied simply. Smiling, he pulled her shivering form to him and held her tightly in his embrace.

She grasped his shirt and buried her face in his shoulder as the events of the past hour rapidly came back to her. Slowly she raised her head and looked around the temple. "Oh, god."

"Hey, it's okay," Jack whispered. "You're going to be okay."

Sam buried her head in his chest and shook her head. After a lengthy pause, she asked, "Are those Marines, sir?"

Jack furrowed his brow and tried to pull back to look at her, but she wouldn't let him go. He was confused by the apparent non sequitur. "Um...yeah?"

"Am I still naked?" She mumbled the question into his shirt.

"Ah," was his only reply, as realization suddenly dawned. He winced, then smiled into her hair. "Sorry, Carter."

oOoOoOo

The four members of SG-1 sat in their usual configuration around the conference room table, Jack and Sam on one side, with Daniel and Teal'c on the other. General Hammond sat at the head, paying close attention to what the archeologist was saying.

"As it turns out, most of the people in the village were terrified of Sukumar and the rest of the ruling council and were thrilled to see them ousted. And while the villagers are still uneasy around the victims of the Fountain, Sequene is working as a sort of liaison between the two groups and believes they are developing a reluctant acceptance of each other."

Hammond nodded once. "Does anyone know what happened to Sukumar?"

"His body has not been recovered," Teal'c responded. "The prevailing belief is that he was swept into the ocean."

"And what of the Fountain?" asked Hammond.

"SG-5 destroyed the other chamber, on my order, sir," said Jack. "I wanted to destroy the control panel, as well, but I was convinced otherwise." At that, he glanced sideways at his Second, who briefly met his gaze. Jack had wanted nothing more than to rid the universe of that awful machine and had been surprised when Sam, of all people, had argued in favor of keeping it for study.

"I thought it might be worth trying to figure out how it works." Sam shrugged. "Maybe there's some way we can help the victims. In any case, we dismantled it and brought it back through the 'gate. Our scientists already have some theories, sir."

"I'm all ears, Major."

Sam straightened in her chair. "They've theorized that the Fountain takes healthy DNA from the donor and uses it to replace any of the recipient's DNA that has been damaged through the natural aging process, in effect keeping the recipients youthful indefinitely. The transfer results in the mutation of the donor's DNA, which may explain the physical changes the victims experience. It also explains why the Beiminians were so interested in us. Being from Earth, we are probably their closest genetic match."

Hammond looked around the table. "But you think this machine is of Goa'uld design."

It was Daniel's turn to respond. "We know it was used by the Goa'uld, though I doubt they designed it. They are parasites in every sense of the word. It's more likely they simply stole it and adapted it for their purpose."

"Which was what exactly?"

"Based on past experience, we believe that Nirrti and Jocahu were attempting to create a perfect host, one that does not age," said Teal'c.

Hammond grunted. "Well, unfortunately, it sounds like their experiments had some tragic results." He looked throughful for a moment before continuing. "I do have one piece of good news. It turns out that the cave Teal'c and Dr. Jackson found contains significant strains of naquada. Sequene has indicated that he will let us mine it, and in return we have offered any assistance, medical or otherwise, his people may need. Dr. Jackson, I'd like you work on the details of the agreement."

Daniel nodded, as did Jack. "That is good news, sir."

Hammond spread his hands on the table and began to rise. "Unless any of you have anything to add, I'll expect your reports by the end of the day. Excellent work, SG-1." He paused and looked at them all, letting his gaze linger for a moment on Jack and Sam. "And let me just say how glad I am that you all made it back safe and sound." He stood up completely. "Dismissed."

oOoOoOo

Jack rounded the corner into the open doorway of Sam's lab to find his Second bent over a piece of the dissembled Fountain. "Carter!"

"Sir!" Sam jumped, startled by Jack's unexpected appearance. She recovered quickly, though, and felt herself flush a bit in response to his boyish grin. "What's up?""

He walked all the way into the lab and leaned over the large counter in the middle, hands clasped. "Just came by to see how you're doing."

"I'm fine, sir," she responded immediately. "Really," she added upon seeing the skeptical look on his face. She looked up at him through her eyelashes. "Thanks to you," she said quietly.

He squinted at her. "You sure?"

She sighed. "Well, I can't say I have a burning desire to go swimming anytime soon, but, yeah, I'm okay." She fiddled for a moment with the piece of equipment before finally setting it down. "Actually, I'm more embarrassed than anything."

"About what?" he asked, with a furrowed brow.

She couldn't help rolling her eyes. "Gee, I don't know. For starters, I was naked when Daniel and Teal'c and the three other SG teams found us. And then, of course, there's the whole mouth-to-mouth thing with you, and god only knows what kind of rumors are flying about us now. And did I mention that I was naked?"

"Carter, you almost died. I don't think a single person there was concerned about anything other than making sure you were okay." Jack paused and tapped the counter. "Plus, I might have issued a standing order or two to ensure you don't have any problems in that regard."

"What kind of orders?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously.

Jack cleared his throat. "Let's just say anyone caught discussing what transpired in that pyramid with anything less than the highest degree of professionalism will find themselves busted a rank and relegated to babysitting Felger and Coombs on P5X-112 for the next eighteen months."

At that, she laughed out loud. She had no idea why that made her feel so much better, but it did. "Effective. Thank you, sir."

"Don't mention it." He was grinning again, but his expression slowly turned serious, and he began picking lint off of the counter. "Look, Carter," he began, without looking up, "we probably need to talk about what happened, you know, before..."

"I've been thinking about that a lot, sir."

His head snapped up, and he raised his eyebrows hopefully. "Oh?"

Sam took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she was about to do. "It seems to me that we should probably just keep it in the room."

"Oh," he replied, his face betraying his extreme disappointment.

As pleased as she was with his reaction, Sam couldn't stand to see him like that for long. The corners of her mouth turned up in a mischeivous smile. "But...I can't see a reason why it has to be the same room."

"Oh?" he asked, perking up substantially.

"For example, I take it there's a room at your cabin?"

Another grin began to emerge. "As a matter of fact, there is, Carter."

"And," she continued, coyly, "I distinctly remember something about you inviting me up to your cabin when we got back."

"So I did."

"So does the offer still stand?"

"Oh yeah." Jack was now grinning from ear to ear.

"Well then, maybe we should go check out the room at your cabin this weekend."

He stared at her for a moment, his eyes twinkling. "You got your fishing gear?"

"Fishing, sir?" she asked, as her face fell a bit. He was kidding, right?

"Fishing, Carter," he replied with a knowing smile.

"Um..."

"I'll tell you what. Don't worry about the gear, Carter." He leaned across the counter toward her and whispered seductively, "You can use mine." Sam blushed. "So, pick you up at 0800 tomorrow?"

She beamed at him. "Yes, sir."

Jack gave her a nod before turning and walking out the door, still grinning wildly. From halfway down the hall, she heard him start to whistle. And when he met Daniel a little further down the hallway and he asked Jack what on Earth could be making him so happy, she heard his single word reply quite clearly: "Fishing."

The End

A/N - Thanks as always to my beta MidKnght Rider for her typical words of wisdom, and thanks to you all for reading and especially for the reviews, follows, and favorites. They truly make my day. For anyone who missed it and is interested, the M-rated supplement to this story is up. It's entitled A Room of a Different Sort and can be found under my profile. And please drop me a note and let me know what you thought of the story - good, bad, or indifferent!