I Am My Beloved's 12

Angels And Ministers Of Grace

by Ten9

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/ast/ten9/lrandul12.php
Summary: A standalone prequel
Info: This installment makes obvious reference to 'Grace'; here, both Sam and Janet are Majors and, of course, they are married.

This is what happened in their reality…

"Fire all missiles at will."

"Wait..." Sam swung around, "try diverting auxiliary power back to the sub-light engines."

"Major?" Col. Ronson's eyebrows met in the center of his forehead.

"The gas cloud," she explained, "if we can get inside it, it might make it harder for them to track us."

"Even with sub-light engines on full strength, we'll never make it."

"It might be possible to make a small hyperspace jump into the cloud," she pleaded, "just give me a few minutes to override the safeguards."

"You have two." The older man replied and she ran for the engine room.

~

Janet stepped into the dark heels as she called over her shoulder, "Cassie, honey, are you ready? You don't want to be late for school."

"I can't find my other shoe."

"Is it under your bed?" she asked as she walked down the hall.

"No... oh, wait..."

Janet smiled and stopped briefly in her daughter's bedroom doorway, "Oh, duh..." she teased her affectionately.

"Yah," her daughter harrumphed as she struggled into her tennis shoe, "funny, mom."

Janet snorted and continued down the hallway, "Sam'll be home in a couple of days..."

"I know," Cassie hurried after her, "Can she help me with my science project this weekend? It's due next week."

"I don't see why not," she said as she grabbed her purse and navy blue sweater from the kitchen table, silently calculating how many school days Sam would have to rest before Cassie pounced on her.

"Great." Cassie grabbed her backpack and bag lunch and blew past her, making for the door to the garage.

~

The massive bogey had appeared suddenly on their sensors, their weapons at full power and began immediately firing on the Prometheus, knocking out their hyperdrive. Another blast rocked the ship and Sam nearly lost her feet. She was furiously entering commands when a panel exploded behind her and Sam ducked instinctively, feeling hot sparks sizzle through her uniform and on her back as the ship rocked violently again, "Godammit," she hissed painfully, "come on... one jump!" The computer had rejected her request for override and she ran to the shielded room that held the racks of control crystals, intending to create her own manual override, shedding her smoking flight jacket as she ran. Once inside, she quickly yanked opened one of the drawers when one of the crystals flashed and a sudden surge of energy blew her back into the far wall. The side of her head impacted the metal surface hard, and she slid unconscious to the floor.

~

Janet snuggled under the covers, her face buried in Sam's pillow. She smiled into the soft mass, her wife's scent filling her nostrils; It's pathetic that I can't wash anything in this bed until she gets back. she thought, smiling impishly as she remembered the lovemaking session they had the morning Sam left for her mission; she had gated to a world that was near a nebula she had been monitoring for months, once there she was picked up by the Prometheus so she could finally collect data and study the interstellar gas cloud up close. It's incredible she can go all that way to do that and still be home in just two more days. Janet's head shook slightly in wonderment. But that morning she left...she grinned again; that morning she had feasted between Sam's legs; the fingers of one hand buried deep inside and the others tangled in soft, neatly trimmed blond curls while lips and tongue nibbled, licked and suckled engorged flesh.

Sam had whimpered softly as her body bucked and trembled in an exquisitely long climax, and after she had pulled silently at Janet's hand and arm, insistently pulling her into a sitting position over her face, that's why her pillow still smells like her, Janet thought, the corner of her mouth still quirked in an unrepentant grin. She held onto the headboard as long as she could but when Sam's mouth and tongue sent her over the edge she had grabbed Sam's pillow and screamed into it, her rocking hips grinding onto her wife's face as she ejaculated in Sam's mouth.

It was only after she had dropped the pillow and collapsed onto the bed that it happily occurred to her that she had just wiped what remained of Sam's cum onto the pillow and she sighed in utter contentment.

Sam wrapped her arms and legs around her and whispered against her hair, "the alarm's gonna' go off any second..."

"The both of us have already gotten off... so let it." she had mumbled, and smiled when she felt Sam's throaty chuckle against her neck. Later Sam had offered to change the linen, her eyebrows raised in innocent inquiry, and Janet had frowned at her in mock exasperation,

"Thank you, Major, honey, but that won't be necessary." having confessed long ago that she preferred having their sexual scent left on the sheets when Sam was away on a mission.

Anything so I can still feel her... she thought lazily, sliding her hand under the waistband of her pajama bottoms and squeezed her mound, anything... she made a quiet keening sound when she felt her stiffened clit, straining within the folds. A soft sigh escaped her as she slid her fingers into unsurprisingly slick and rigid folds, anything...she began to pant quietly, everything....

She pulled her fingers from inside and rolled toward her nightstand, withdrawing a soft jelly vibrator from the drawer. She rolled onto her back again and pushed her pajama bottoms and the covers past her knees. Her head propped on the pillows, she slid the vibrator deep inside and sighed aloud when she turned the toy on a low setting. Her eyes drifted shut as she thrust the vibe with increasing speed and strength. Images of Sam with the strap on... on top of her, between her legs... grinding and humping inside me, remembering the characteristic grunting noise Sam made with each thrust made Janet pump the vibrator ever faster until she finally clicked the vibe on high and rammed it in her depths with one hand while the fingers of the other furiously rubbed and squeezed and twisted her clit, remembering how she begged Sam, "fuck me harder, baby, harderharderharderharder, oh goooodnughhh...." Her hips bucked and her body trembled, finally rolling onto one side and she buried her face in Sam's pillow, raggedly inhaling in her scent while she came, jerking and squirting cum as she convulsed in the bed. She grunted and whimpered quietly into the soft mass, wishing with her soul that her face was buried in her wife's folds.

When her body finally sagged into the mattress beneath she clicked the vibe's setting back to low and lay quietly for a long time before drawing some of the drying wetness into her mouth; if I keep this up I'm gonna' have to change these sheets before she gets back. She suckled thoughtfully on her fingers; but I'm leaving her pillow till she does....

~

Hours had passed when she woke with a gasp; she sat bolt upright in bed, her eyes wide in the dark, something's wrong with Sam.... She fought to slow her breath and ran a hand through short hair; no... you just had a bad dream... She fell back onto the mattress and lay with her hands covering her eyes, it's just the usual anxiety crap you do when she's away.... Her hands dropped from her eyes and fell with matching thuds on the bed. She stayed like that for several minutes until she finally slipped from the bed and went into the bathroom to relieve herself, the thumb on her left hand unconsciously turning the slightly larger wedding band tucked behind her own.

~

Sam blinked blearily and groaned, her hand weakly swatting the air in front of her face, "Jughnugh..." the word was unintelligible and she fought the sudden urge to vomit. She held herself very still until the wave subsided before she dared open her eyes again, and it took a few moments for her vision to clear and another long minute passed before she realized it was only the harsh, florescent lighting and not Janet's penlight that was hurting her eyes. She moaned aloud as she struggled slowly to her feet, using the wall for support.

"Nugh..." she groaned miserably before collapsing heavily on her knees and depositing the contents of her stomach on the floor. Panting, she crawled for the door and pulled herself to her feet once again but once she stepped through the portal she stumbled over her shoes and fell onto all fours before sliding to the floor and into a black void.

Hours passed before she regained consciousness and made her way to the nearest intercom phone,

"This is Major Carter, calling the bridge." She groaned softly, trying to steady her breathing. Her eyes tightly closed, she drew a careful breath and tried again, "Bridge, please respond..." after a moment she hung up the receiver. Holding securely onto the frame of the intercom for support, she carefully looked around and squinted painfully at the vision of the little girl that suddenly filled her vision; she had long blond ringlets and she wore a white sleeveless dress, white ankle socks and white shoes. The child gave her a beatific smile and when Sam blinked, she disappeared.

She carefully pushed herself from the phone and staggered down the hallway. Her vision swam, the dizziness forcing her to brace herself against the wall as she slowly made her way to the bridge, pausing at one point to carefully lower herself to the deck so she could dry heave onto it.

She tried calling for help as she moved along the empty corridors but eventually gave up in an effort to conserve her strength. When she entered the bridge she found it deserted too and eased herself into the commander's chair. She cleared her throat and clicked on the com, "This is the bridge, calling all decks..." she blinked and drew a deep breath as she looked out at the nebula that surrounded the ship and cautiously moved to the navigator's seat. Once there she called up the security cameras throughout the ship, methodically checking each deck for signs of life... or death. She entered some more commands and after checking to make sure the automatic fire suppression system had done its job ship-wide she discovered all the escape pods had been ejected. Sensors indicated the massive alien vessel was inside the nebula as well, I wonder if that's where the crew went... It mystified her why they would have evacuated in the first place but accepted what the screen indicated and opened a channel set for broadcast,

"This is Major Samantha Carter of the United States Air Force vessel Prometheus; after being attacked by a hostile alien ship, I sustained an injury and lost consciousness... when I awoke, I found the ship devoid of all crew. An initial systems review indicates the hyper-drive to be operational, but the sublight engines remain offline, possibly due to damage from the attack...." She paused in her narration, her eyes slamming shut against a sudden wave of nausea, uncertain whether she could resist the urge to vomit. She breathed carefully in through her nose and out her mouth for a long minute before continuing, "I am hopeful further investigation will provide more answers..." She looked down at the screen in front of her and squinted painfully, trying to focus her blurry vision so she could read the flashing message:

SUB-LIGHT ENGINES OFFLINE

She wearily entered her coordinates and sent the encrypted transmission attached to a distress beacon, it could be hundreds of years before anyone hears this. she thought distantly and next tried to restart the engines but was greeted with the message,

ERROR: RESTART COMMAND NOT AVAILABLE

Great, she closed her eyes against the slowly spinning room and gripped the arm of the chair, just fucking great.

~

"Hey, doc..."

Janet turned from the x-ray she was looking at, "Colonel O'Neill, what can I do for you?"

Jack licked his upper lip; he had a lousy poker face and he knew it so he blurted it out before she could assume the worst, "The Prometheus is now eighteen hours overdue for her last check in.... I just wanted to come down and let you know..." he watched life and color drain from her features,

"What happened?" she asked in a tight voice.

"I wish I could tell you, doc... I really do," he jammed his hands in his pockets and shrugged helplessly, "we have no idea... they just missed their last check in and aren't responding to our hails..." his voice trailed away for a moment, overcome by the fear in her eyes, "We called the Tok'ra," he hurried, "they can't send a send a ship right now... but they promised to check out the area around the nebula's coordinates... you know... as soon as they can."

"And when will that be?" Janet asked, surprised she was able to form words at all.

Jack looked away, unable to look her in the eye, "They haven't told us that yet." He breathed in noisily though his nose, "We're just hoping, if something did go wrong that they'll go back to the gate where they picked her up..."

"Which they haven't done..."

"Yet..." he added, finally looking her in the eye, "Teal'c and Daniel and I are gonna' gate there now... but we need your clearance to go."

~

Keeping close to the wall for support Sam made her way to the head to get a drink and splash some water on her face. When she got there she blearily beheld her ghastly appearance in the mirror; there was dried blood that had poured down one side of her face and into her hairline from the swollen gash high on her forehead,

"I guess it wasn't enough to give myself a giant fuckin' goose egg." she muttered aloud and after drinking from the faucet and using soap to wash off the blood she pulled the first aid kit from its bracket on the wall, knowing the anti-inflammatory properties in ibuprofen would help with the swelling in her brain. But bending over the sink brought the nausea back and she knelt by the toilet and vomited the water she just drank. Her insides were sore from retching and she groped for the sink again, "Gotta'... stop doin' that..." she panted and rinsed her mouth. Need to stay hydrated... and... gotta' eat too.... she thought groggily and sank to the floor, once again surrendering to unconsciousness.

~

Janet's iron will kept her hands steady as she quickly performed mission physicals on SG1, but failed miserably when she attempted a confident smile when she finished. She nearly broke down completely when Daniel stepped forward and took her hand in his,

"We'll find her, Janet." He gave the hand a squeeze and Teal'c bowed formally but Col. O'Neill again seemed unable to meet her desperate gaze.

She set her trembling lips in a thin line of determination, "I know."

~

Sam felt soft hands cupping her face and forcing her eyes open, found herself looking into a deeply concerned shade of brown, "Janet?" she rasped. Janet's here, she thought, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth,

Dressed in her uniform and labcoat, Janet was speaking to her but Sam couldn't hear the words,

"Janet?" she blinked and her wife was gone.

~

Sam sat slumped at the engine controls and wearily pushed one final key to restart the engines... again. She could hear a distant whine but when her monitor flooded with error messages she shut them down and sighed heavily, probably has something to with the gas properties in this nebula.... Out of ideas and backdoor programs to restart the sub-light engines she entered a new set of commands in an effort to open a hyperspace window,

"Here goes nothin'..." she muttered under her breath as she completed the keystrokes. She watched as the window of energy began to form around the ship for several seconds before appearing to collapse. Her eyes shifted to the warning on the monitor,

HYPER-DRIVE WINDOW FAILURE – OVERLOAD IMMINENT

"Fuck." she mumbled and shut the program down.

Her breathing was shallow in the ongoing effort to keep the nausea at bay, and she carefully propped her elbow on the console, her head on her hand. She sat like that for several minutes and had begun to drift off behind her closed eyes when she felt soft fingers wrap around her wrist,

"Janet?" Sam blinked groggily; relief flooding her features when she looked at her, "Janet, I..." but when she blinked again her wife was suddenly replaced by Teal'c,

"Major Carter."

Sam groaned aloud in disappointment, "Teal'c?" she turned begging eyes to him, "Teal'c, where's Janet?"

"Hear me; you must remain conscious at all cost."

Defeated, Sam turned to lean her head on her hand again, "I just need to rest for a minute." she mumbled and let her eyes drift closed.

"You cannot!" he spoke harshly and Sam started, if slightly,

Janet's not here, she thought, miserable, fuck it.

"Listen to me!" he commanded, and gave her arm another small shake, "Your spouse desires you to know; you are injured, if you sleep, you will die. Do you understand?

"Where's Janet?" she mumbled, her speech was starting to slur despite the desolate tone.

"If you sleep, you will die!"

But Sam's eyes closed and her head slid from her hand down her forearm and onto the console.

Time passed and Sam slept while her body struggled to balance the complex of chemicals in her brain. She hadn't absorbed that much of the ibuprofen she had managed to keep down for only thirty minutes and her back and abdomen were tired and sore when she finally awoke. She sat up slowly in the chair and held her arching head in hands that shook slightly. She breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth; each breath a meditation, a prayer for the nausea to stop when she gradually became aware of the singing.

What the hell? She slowly turned and looked towards the corridor. She could clearly hear a child's voice singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", and her eyebrows arched slightly, I hear footsteps... someone must be here...." she thought and dragged herself from the chair. Once in the corridor she paused, both hands holding onto the wall for support,

"Someone there?"

The singing stopped abruptly and Sam walked down to the next corridor junction,

"Hello?"

The singing resumed briefly then faded until Sam could hear it no longer. She sagged against the wall, her eyes closing against the harsh light, Please, jesus, no more puking, she begged, and still keeping one hand on the wall for support, made her way down the corridor, swaying on unsteady feet.

~

"Okay, so..." Daniel's eyebrows arched so high they disappeared beneath his hat, "no answer on the giant radio... what do we do now?"

"We wait then try again." Jack replied dryly, not looking at him.

"Jack, it's been hours..."

Teal'c stood stoically by the M.A.L.P. that brought the powerful transmitter through the gate, "Should we not check in with General Hammond?"

Jack continued to scan the horizon of the planet that held two moons in its orbit, "Not until we have to."

The gate suddenly came to life and the trio watched silently as the chevrons lit, one at a time, until the event horizon blew open,

Jack sighed and checked his watch, "And that would be now..."

~

Sam had crawled into the commander's ready room just off the bridge, stretching out on the wide, glorified cot fully clothed. She left the door open and the lights off, grateful for some relief from the glare of the harsh florescent lighting. She was better able to keep down the electrolyte-infused sport drinks after cutting the too-sweet beverages with water, but she was still unable to keep food down and had little appetite. She slept deeply for hours; low moans and keening whimpers escaping her when bad dreams filtered through the haze of exhaustion,

She was frantically working on an alien device in her lab when a sudden flash blinded her, and when she was able to see again she realized the device was emitting a pinkish gas and she staggered from her lab, shutting the door and hitting the security alarm. Her world turned black and when she opened her eyes again she was again blinded by a painful, piercingly bright light,

"Nugh..." she moaned aloud, writhing weakly on the couch,

"Sorry..."

she heard and cautiously opened her eyes again.

Janet clicked off the penlight and smiled down at her, "As usual, Major, honey, you're working too hard and not taking very good care of yourself."

"Janet..." Sam came awake with a jerk and looked around the empty room, Janet... she covered her eyes and stifled a sob. She was so tired... so tired... she sniffed and cleared her throat. She concentrated on steadying her breath, her expression turning from loss to confusion as she felt a growing heaviness on her legs. Her hands dropped away from her eyes and she gasped,

"Janet?"

Her wife sat astride her thighs, completely naked; Sam's olive drab BDU slacks were pushed down past her crotch and Janet's hand was squeezing Sam's mound as questing fingers stroked through ever thickening folds,

A small smile touched Sam's lips and she pulled the small form to her chest, wrapping her arms securely around her. She rolled onto her side, her scarred hands caressing smooth skin and the took the nearest nipple into her mouth, suckling while her wife slipped first one, then two, then three fingers inside her depths and pumped them rhythmically,

"Janet...Janet..." Sam cried softly, her face pressed into Janet's soft flesh as the wave slowly built and crashed over her. She sobbed and trembled for long minutes in divine release and when she felt for the invading hand and opened her eyes she found herself staring at the wall and discovered it was her own hand gripping her mound, her own fingers nestled inside soaking depths.

She wiped the tears from her face with her free hand and pulled the other from her pants, I must not be getting any better if I'm masturbating and don't even know it.

She sighed and rose stiffly from the thin mattress, zipping and buttoning her slacks and buckling the belt, Back to work...

~

Janet turned off the lights as she checked the doors and windows on her way to bed, You know, Sam, this is your job...she sighed inwardly and looked in on Cassie, her smile wistful as she bent to straighten the covers over their daughter's small form.

General Hammond called after Cassie went to bed and Janet was grateful for the man's sympathetic yet confident tone, "We'll find her, Doctor...." In their bedroom, Janet stepped out of her clothes and dropped them in the now empty hamper, having decided to occupy herself after dinner by stripping the beds and doing the laundry. She distractedly dressed in pajamas, brushed her teeth and checked the monitor connected to Cassie's room before turning out the light and sliding beneath the covers. She immediately pulled Sam's pillow to her and buried her face in the still unwashed pillowcase, and when she deeply inhaled her wife's scent, she burst into tears.

~

Sam sat slumped at the navigator's station; she had been working for hours and had still made no progress. I should make some record of this... she thought and quickly created a file to be stored on the desktops of all the monitors on the bridge for obvious and easy access. She gave the file a date and time stamp then hit the enter key to begin recording,

"As the sole remaining crew member of this ship I feel compelled to keep a log of my efforts to free the Prometheus from this nebula: I've been trying to understand why the ship has been unable to jump into hyperspace; during my last jump attempt the hyperspace window seemed unable to stabilize enough for the ship to enter it. So far sensors have been unable to identify the actual content of the cloud itself; it's more likely made up of a denser group of gases than that of a typical nebula or gas giant. Bottom line is; it's preventing the hyper-drive emitters from transferring power at an even rate and until that changes; the Prometheus will remain trapped here, indefinitely."

She hit the enter key again to stop recording and flinched slightly when she heard the voice behind her,

"Yep, I'd say you're stuck alright."

She turned painfully to look at Daniel where he was seated behind her for a moment then back to the console.

"Oh come on, Sam, you've been running the same diagnostic program for four hours now, what makes you think the results are suddenly going to change?"

Sam closed her eyes briefly, convinced that would make the hallucination go away, and opened the program again.

"Sa-am," he snapped his fingers at her, "hello-o!"

She turned back to him, "No offense, but I really don't have time for this."

Daniel just stared at her, his eyebrows arched high on his forehead.

"This is ridiculous," she muttered, turning back to the console, "you aren't even real."

"Well, I'm not so much me, as I am...you, really, part of your subconscious mind. So... am I real? That's up to you, I guess... although the Socratic implications are quite fascinating..."

She wearily closed her eyes, "Daniel..."

"Look, you just need some help, that's all. Can't you just try to go along with this?

For chrissakes why doesn't he go away? she lamented silently. She stared at him for a long beat then turned back to the console again, "Fine... you're me... talking... to me."

"Yeah, basically..."

She sighed heavily, "Alright, you have a point. I could use some help."

"Thank you." He practically leapt from the chair and clapped his hands, rubbing them together with enthusiasm.

She watched him as he sat in the seat next to her, "Okay, what do you...I want?

"Well, I think you're going about this all wrong."

"This is helping?"

"Come on, Sam, you've been looking forward to studying this cloud for weeks now. I mean, that's the real reason you volunteered for this job in the first place. Now you're here," he gestured grandly at the window, "you're finally here... and... and you're wasting your time running endless hyper-drive simulations." he finished, exasperated.

My god he's annoying, "In case you haven't noticed, I've got a small problem on my hands, Daniel; mainly that I'm stranded."

"Inside the very thing you've been looking at through a telescope for years.... Come on," he encouraged her, becoming animated again, "it's a chance to see something rare and exciting up close! Seize the moment!"

"Seize the moment?" She would have rolled her eyes at him if it didn't hurt so much.

"I'm just saying it's... it's... it's new, something we've never encountered before... and you're ignoring it." He added, almost pleading, "Does that sound like you?"

Sam sagged in the chair, "Daniel, I can't even think straight, let alone stay awake..." she muttered as she eyes drifted closed.

"Sam, you have to check this out, trust me; it's important."

She drew a deep breath and when she opened her eyes he was gone,

"Well, that has to be a good sign." she muttered quietly and leaned back in the chair, closing her eyes again. Several minutes had passed when she became aware of some odd, creaking sounds. She sat up in the chair and ran another diagnostic program; she watched the monitor as files rapidly flashed on the screen and felt bile rise in her throat when the results indicated that four sections of the outer hull had suffered structural damage and their integrity was now compromised. The computer's estimated time until inner hull breach steadily counted down from eight hours, three minutes and twenty-six seconds,

"Shit."

~

Sam staggered down the corridor and swiped her keycard to seal the door shut. She had been wandering the corridors for more than an hour, sealing off sections of the ship affected by the corrosion. She made her way back down the hall and swiped her card to open the doors when a wave of dizziness and nausea made her grab at the control box for support,

"When the blazing sun is gone, when he nothing shines upon..."

She turned to see the girl in the white dress, "Who are you?" she rasped, "What do you want?"

"Then you show your little light; twinkle, twinkle all the night." The child smiled at her, "Come on, this way." She walked away and Sam called after her, letting go of the wall,

"Wait!"

But the little girl hurried around the next bend in the corridor and Sam blearily stumbled after her, nearly colliding with Teal'c's solid frame,

"Samantha." he smiled warmly.

"Teal'c, did you see..."

"I am here to warn you."

"Yah, I know, you did that already."

He lowered his voice, "Everything may not be as it seems." he looked around them with half-lidded eyes.

"Well, thank you, but the fact that I'm talking to someone who's not really here kinda' speaks to that."

"On the contrary, I think it is you that is not here."

"Excuse me?"

"I believe that you and the other crew members are being held prisoners aboard the alien vessel that attacked you."

Sam stared at him blankly, "Huh?"

"It is possible they are probing your mind. If so, any information obtained may be used to attack Earth."

"Okay, hold on... even if you're right, and I'm not really here, what am I supposed to do with that?" she shrugged, I mean... she thought tiredly, fuck already.

"Nothing."

"Teal'c..."

"Very well, as you attempt to repair the ship's engines, you may inadvertently be divulging to your captors vital information concerning Prometheus technology... I do believe it would be prudent to do nothing."

"I can't do that..."

Teal'c nodded, bowing formally, "Be careful, Samantha..." and walked away from her.

"Wait... where are you going?" She took a step after him and stopped as overwhelming weakness swept over her, as though every bit of energy she had was rapidly draining away, "You're wrong... Teal'c," her voice faded and she struggled to find and form the words, "I'm not on... an alien ship... I'm right here..."

~

The sound of a door hissing open woke her and she groaned in pain, "This is real..." she gasped quietly, her eyes squeezing shut against the painful glare of the overhead lights. She rolled onto her stomach and tried to get up but the pain stopped her and she held a hand against the throbbing in her head, "Oh fuck..." she gasped, "this is definitely real."

She finally struggled from her place on the deck and leaning heavily on the wall for support, made her way back to the bridge. When she got there she fumbled into the commander's chair and clicked open the log file she had created,

"The effects of my head injury are getting worse; I'm not sure how much longer I can last. My only hope is to somehow get the Prometheus free of this gas cloud without using either the sub-light or hyper-drive engines. I think I've come up with a way; by venting several levels worth of pressurized atmosphere I'm hoping to generate enough propulsion to move the ship. Although doing this has its risks..." her voice trailed away; she had forgotten what else she was going to say so she saved and closed the file then activated the program she had constructed earlier. Alarms and klaxons sounded as doors sealed closed all over the ship and Sam watched their progress as she strapped herself in the chair. The monitors on the bridge began flashing,

VENTING SEQUENCE INITIATED: AIRLOCK THREE OPEN

Sam watched the monitors as interior and exterior cameras showed detritus and other matter being vented into space. She could hear the hull creaking under the strain and squinted, watching carefully for signs of ship movement within the gas cloud.

"Come on, goddammit..."

She looked back to the interior cameras and saw the little girl holding on to one of the support struts in a corridor being vented. There was no audio, but the little girl appeared to be screaming.

"NO!" Sam yelled and shut down the program, frantically entering commands to shut exterior hatches. She fumbled with the buckles on the safety harness and bolted from the room.

She ran down the corridor but quickly faltered and slowed, staggering to the wall and leaning against it for support. She slowed her breathing enough to call out,

"Hello? Are you here?"

There was no response and she made her way more slowly down the corridor, now completely dependent on the wall to keep her upright.

"Hey!" Daniel called to her, "Have I... uh, told you my latest theory yet? It's really cool."

Sam looked at him in bewilderment then turned back down the corridor.

"Lose something?" he asked.

"Did you see a..."

"Little girl?"

"Yeah..."

"No."

Sam sighed and continued down the corridor, "How about Janet?" she panted softly, "I'd really rather talk to Janet right now."

"You know..." Daniel trailed after her, "you don't look so good."

"You know..." she muttered without looking back at him, "since you're not real, Daniel, fuck off..."

"Now," he continued, ignoring her, "my theory; what if this cloud isn't so much a collection of corrosive gases, so much as it's a sentient being." He paused dramatically, "I'm saying the cloud is alive, Sam."

She stopped and turned to him, incredulous, "The cloud is alive?"

"Yeah, it's a sentient being, like... uh, feelings, memories... space born alien entity if you will." he beamed at her, gesturing grandly for emphasis.

"That's stupid."

"Well, why else would it be corroding the ship?"

"Because the gases are corrosive?" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Or, maybe we somehow offended it when we flew inside it.... The point is; if we talk to it, maybe it'll let us go."

Sam's vision had started to blur and she could taste bile in the back of her throat, a bout of vomiting was surely on its way, "You want me to talk to the cloud." she said carefully, feeling the room begin to tilt sickeningly to one side.

"Would it kill you to try?"

"And... how would I do that?" she asked, her face contorting in pain.

"Well, you said there was this little girl running around the ship. Maybe that little girl is the physical personification of the cloud."

"Oh, my god..." Sam gasped and fell back against the wall, grabbing feebly at the struts as she slid to the deck.

"No, no, just go with me on this; maybe that's its way of trying to communicate with us."

"Daniel," she whispered, "this isn't helping."

"Talk to her, Sam." Daniel pleaded, but she only heard him distantly as her conscious mind slid into blackness.

~

It was the singing that woke her,

Oh god, it's that song again....

Unable to stand, Sam crawled to the strut and pulled herself into a sitting position, her back against the wall. She breathed in carefully though her nose and out her mouth, listening as the footfalls of small patent leather shoes approached,

"My mother used to sing that to me..."

"How obscure." the girl replied.

"I'm so tired..." Sam blurted, suddenly on the verge of tears.

"You can't sleep, not yet."

"Why?"

"Because she needs you to stay awake... because we need to talk..."

~

Sam sat at the table in the messhall with her splitting head cradled in both hands. The girl placed a bowl of fruit on the table in front of her,

"Eat... she says you need to keep your strength up."

"Do you have a name?" Sam asked.

"I'm Grace." The girl beamed at her.

"Who are you?"

"You know."

Sam blinked slowly, enjoying the momentary respite from the harsh light, "No, I don't know."

"I'm your father."

Her eyes flew open, "Dad?" Sam looked for the girl, but she was gone.

He was in full dress uniform, and he self-consciously smoothed his hands down the front of his buttoned uniform jacket as he walked to the chair next to her and sat down, "I know it sounds corny, but you get to an age where you think about everything you did wrong as a parent."

Sam looked at the hallucination and sighed heavily, leaning on her hands again,

"Don't take this the wrong way..."

"I know," Sam emitted a soft half-hearted snort of amusement, "I don't look so good."

He gave her a wry smile and shook his head, "You know if you don't get out of here I'll never get to be a grandfather again."

This time it was Sam who smiled in wry amusement, "We already made you a grandfather." She carefully raised her head and lowered her hands to the table.

"I know," he nodded and covered one of her hands with one of his own, "I meant, make me a grandfather again."

Sam frowned, "What?"

He gave the hand a squeeze, "You have to listen to her, kiddo; you already know what to do." He cocked his head to one side, still smiling, "You know, I loved your mother so much... and I'm so grateful I had the years with her that I did... but if you don't get yourself out of this you're not going to have even that much with your wife... do you understand?"

Sam's brow creased in a frown, "I'm not..."

"For as long as she was alive, your mother showed me a world beyond just ambition and career; she gave my life meaning and balance, and it was my honor to love her for the short time she was with me."

Understanding finally flooded Sam's awareness, and her eyes slowly brimmed with tears that spilled down her cheeks.

"And if I were young again," the older man smiled wistfully, "and I met her for the first time... even knowing her fate, I would do it all over again... that is love." He looked down at the scarred hand he held in his own, "Janet loves you so much.... You know the way back, kiddo, don't let them lose you now...."

She could only nod, a sob escaping her as tears spilled from her eyes.

"They love you so much, Sam...." He gave her hand another squeeze, "Don't give up yet..."

~

"It's only been three days, General; I think we can hang in for a while longer."

Gen. Hammond stood behind Walter in the control room, staring down at the shimmering pool of light as if his eyes could pierce the depths and discover what happened to the Prometheus. Distractedly, he shook out his hands at the wrist, his lips pressed together in a thin line as he considered his options; SG1 was the first string team, he needed them on point for other missions but.... He knew if he chose to recall them he faced more than just a mountain of arguments from Jack and Dr. Jackson; he knew full well he'd never sleep well again if he had to tell Dr. Fraiser he was suspending recovery efforts and was just going to wait for the Tok'ra to get around to searching the area....

"Very well, SG1, we'll check-in in another twenty-four hours." He turned and headed for his office, not waiting for a reply; at least this phone call to the infirmary was easier to make, although he knew the tough diminutive woman as a consummate professional, it was still a call he dreaded making.

~

Sam smiled in wan resignation at the bubbles the girl blew from the small wand. She sat on the deck where she had collapsed after entering the bridge, her back against the wall.

"Wanna try?" Grace asked.

But Sam tiredly shook her head no.

"It's fun."

Sam propped her head on a hand braced on her knee, "I remember when I was a little girl I used to wonder how a bubble could exist.... There's this thing called surface tension, when molecules bind together in a certain way..."

The little girl rolled her eyes, "Boring!" She dipped the bubble wand in the bottle and walked over to Sam, holding it out to her, "Here, just try it."

Sam's mouth quirked at the corners and she dutifully took the wand from her and blew a stream of bubbles from it.

"See?" Grace smiled in triumph, "Fun..."

"Yeah..." Sam smiled and returned the wand to her.

"For heaven's sake, sweetheart..."

Sam's eyes snapped to the silhouette of her wife's petite frame in the center of the doorway, "Janet..." Sam's voice broke, but she was unable to get up from her place on the floor.

Janet was dressed in jeans and a soft blue pullover sweater, the sleeves pushed up past her elbows. She padded across the deck in bare feet and sat down next to Sam, hip to hip, and wrapped her arm around Sam's bent knees,

"You should listen to her," she took Sam's hand and placed it over her heart, "your father too, for that matter; you really do know what to do..."

"I'm sorry," tears spilled down Sam's face and her eyes closed in both joy and utter sadness as she felt her wife's heartbeat beneath her hand, "I'm so tired... I don't know what to do anymore."

"Yes you do, love," Janet leaned close, her lips brushing lightly against Sam's, "you know..." she breathed and kissed her.

Sam gulped and kissed her back, the desperate strangled noise coming from her throat transforming into a moan as Janet slipped her tongue inside and moved Sam's hand to her breast. Sam squeezed and massaged the flesh as the kiss changed from desolation to hunger to passion,

When Sam finally pulled her lips from Janet's she begged her, her voice breaking, "Please... please don't go."

"I'm not going anywhere... I'm waiting for you, sweetheart," Janet stroked her face with soft, strong hands, "You have to come back to me... you have to get up and come back to us." She stood, pulling Sam to her feet, "Please, love..."

The ship rocked violently to one side and Sam flung out her hands to brace them both,

"Janet!"

But Janet was gone. The ship continued to shudder and Sam made her way to the navigator's seat, though all the monitors flashed the same message,

HULL BREACH IMMINENT

Grace suddenly reappeared, still blowing bubbles,

"What do you want?" Sam asked, exasperated.

"What do you mean?"

"Whoever you are, I know why everyone else keeps showing up, why are you here? What do you want from me?"

"I don't want anything," the little girl shrugged, "but you do, 'Then the traveller in the dark, thanks you for your tiny spark. He could not see which way to go, if you did not twinkle so.'" She held the wand to her lips and blew again.

Sam watched the steam of bubbles fly from the wand and her eyes suddenly widened in surprise, "Oh, my god." she whispered and began to frantically type a new set of commands.

"What'cha doin'?" Grace asked.

"It's complicated." Sam muttered distractedly.

"Try me." The girl blithely replied.

"I'm going to try and save myself with a bubble."

"How?"

"The hyper-drive won't fully engage because of the cloud," Sam's eyes never left the monitor, "but maybe it doesn't have to; if I can dial down the power flow from the hyper-drive emitter, I should theoretically be able to create a partial shift into hyperspace, essentially taking the ship out of the cloud's space-time... hopefully just enough to eliminate its effects on the sub-light engines."

"Neat."

"Yeah..." She activated the hyper-drive and watched as a blue bubble surrounded the ship. She entered the command to engage the sub-light engines and watched; her concentration total as the Prometheus started to move, turning toward the alien vessel.

"Sam," Daniel suddenly appeared behind her, "what are you doing?"

"I believe she is attempting to rescue her fellow crew members." Teal'c answered, standing next to him.

"What? What... from them? That's crazy," he turned back to her, "get back to Earth and then bring in the cavalry."

"There's no time." Sam hissed.

"I agree;" Teal'c concurred, "the alien vessel is too formidable."

"Will you guys shut up," Col. O'Neill spoke behind her, "just let her work."

Sam positioned the Prometheus so it faced the enormous alien vessel; she switched to the commander's chair and opened a channel for transmission,

"This is Major Samantha Carter of the US Air Force vessel Prometheus. Can you hear me?" She waited a few moments for a response but heard only static, "I'm thinking you've been stuck in here just as long as I have. The only difference is; I've found a way out." Again, static was her only response and she licked her lips, "So here's the deal; return my crew, everyone intact... let us go... and I'll help you get out of here.... Do we have a deal?"

She gripped the arms of the chair and her palms began to sweat when the bridge was suddenly engulfed in a flash of bright light that momentarily blinded her.

"What the hell just happened?"

She heard Col. Ronson's incredulous tone and squinted painfully at the older man and quickly checked the security monitors, making sure they filled with crew members being beamed back as well. She switched back to the navigator's chair, "It's a long story, Sir," she entered another flurry of commands on the keyboard, "just bear with me, I'm extending a hyperspace bubble to include the alien vessel... we're going to bring it with us, out of the cloud."

"Major?"

"I'll explain everything in just a moment, Sir."

She and the rest of the bridge crew watched as both ships slowly exited the nebula.

"Now what?" Ronson whispered to her.

"We see if they keep their end of the bargain." she answered, not taking her eyes from the alien ship.

Slowly the gigantic vessel moved past the Prometheus, dwarfing it as it passed over them and away.

Sam nearly blacked out from relief and the colonel finally turned back to her,

"Well done, Major."

But Sam's vision had begun to darken at the edges, "Uh... Sir... wi... with your permission I'd like to relieve myself of duty..."

"Easy," the older man finally noted the large bruise on her forehead, "get her to the infirmary." He motioned to the crew and three stepped forward to help Sam from the chair,

"Thanks..." she tried to smile at the young lieutenant, oh, please don't let me puke on her, she begged silently. Her vision narrowed to a pinpoint and she lost consciousness, sliding from helping hands to the floor.

~

Janet got the call from Gen. Hammond on Saturday morning and spent the day helping their daughter with her science project, explaining to her that Sam hit her head while on the mission and would be a few more days getting home. That evening she got the call that SG1 would be returning with her wife through the stargate and had no doubt that Gen. Hammond was smiling broadly when he ordered her to report for duty within the hour. She then called Col. O'Neill's wife, Sara, and asked if Cassie could stay the night.

~

She wanted to wait in the gateroom, but Col. O'Neill had forwarded data packets via the stargate containing the CT scan and medical reports from the Prometheus medical officer as well as Sam's audio log entries and security video of her wife while she was alone on the ship that the commander and ship's doctor thought Janet should see. She only had time to review the CT scan and written medical reports when she received word that SG1 had returned through the gate and her medical team was bringing Sam to the infirmary,

"and Doctor Warner is standing by to perform post mission physicals on SG1."

Janet nodded, "Great." she acknowledged her head nurse, knowing her staff was prepared to receive their patient. She closed the program with Sam's CT and grabbing the printout of her medical report, left her office in long strides; the CT scan showed Sam suffered what should have been classified as a major traumatic brain injury and given the severity of her symptoms, Janet was amazed her wife hadn't expired from a brain hemorrhage, let alone survive four days and still manage to find a way to move two ships out of a nebula and rescue the entire crew.... She entered the ICU and brought up Sam's CT scans on the computer monitor,

"Okay," she addressed the waiting staff, "you know the drill; dim the lights and monitor fluids... I'll perform a neurological exam first then decide when to schedule the next CT..." as she spoke she caught a glimpse of the second hospital bed left discretely in the corner of the room, knowing full well her staff knew she would be spending the night next to her wife her throat suddenly closed. She let out a breath that was almost a sob and awkwardly cleared her throat, 'Thanks... for that..." she gestured at the second bed and continued with her treatment plan.

~

The Prometheus medical officer had ordered the dark towel be left over Sam's eyes to provide relief from harsh light and she had apparently endured the transfer process well, although Col. O'Neill believed Sam only weathered the trip through the stargate as well as she did because the ship's doctor had deemed her condition stable enough to sedate her for the journey home.

Janet watched silently as the team wheeled her wife in to the ICU and it was only after she helped transfer her to the hospital bed that she gently pulled the dark covering from Sam's eyes,

"Hey..." Sam croaked, and graced her with a crooked smile, "am I glad to see you."

"Hi there," Janet beamed down at her, noting the too pale complexion and nasty bruise near Sam's hairline, "I missed you." The EKG contacts had been left attached to Sam's chest and Janet made herself busy connecting them to the unit on standby in the room while her staff helped settle her in,

"How are you feeling now?" she asked after reading the brief medical update that accompanied Sam through the gate. "It says here you got a nice syringe full of painkillers before you left the Prometheus."

"Better now... I'm here." she slurred.

Janet pressed her lips together in mild exasperation, knowing that her wife's unique physiology usually created problems with the efficacy of painkillers, "Alright," she relented for the moment, "let's see how you check out then get you some dinner... how does that sound?"

"Not... as shappealing... as it should..." she blinked unfocused eyes.

"Okay..." Janet quickly withdrew her penlight, "stay with me and we'll do something about the nausea and then let you rest for a while, okay?"

"'Kay..." Sam sighed.

Janet passed the penlight over Sam's left eye, making her cry out; "Sorry..." she apologized and quickly shut off the light.

"Hate that... fuggin' light..." Sam whispered painfully.

Janet bent low over the bed and placed her lips close to Sam's ear, "I'm sorry, baby... I promise not to use the light in your eyes again for a long time after this exam, okay?" she placed a quick kiss on her temple and straightened.

"Promise?" Sam asked weakly.

"Promise..." Janet gave her hand a squeeze.

~

Janet heaved a sigh and pushed the hospital bed she spent the night in back against the far wall of the ICU. She stretched, a small smile crossing her lips as she approached her wife's bed. Janet had been careful to load Sam's IV with anti-nausea medication the night before and managed to coax her into eating some soup and crackers before kissing her goodnight,

"Rest now, love," she had whispered, "rest now and I'll be right here in the bed next to you, alright?"

"Not in my bed." Sam had mumbled somewhat grumpily.

"No," Janet soothed, "in the bed next to yours."

Sam's eyelids drooped but she managed, "Go home..."

"In a couple of days..." Janet soothed, smoothing the hair from Sam's face, careful not to touch the swollen gash and bruise.

"Love you...." Sam breathed, finally drifting off.

Janet's eyes brimmed, "And I love you, sweetheart." she whispered and placed a soft kiss on her brow.

Before retiring to the bed her staff had left for her Janet spent the remainder of the evening quietly reviewing Sam's audio log and the visual record Col. Ronson had forwarded in several data stream packets from the Prometheus. She kept the volume low as she listened to Sam's log entries, her eyes brimming again as her wife's condition clearly worsened with each successive entry.

When she finally did retire she slept fitfully, waking each time a nurse entered the unit to check on Sam, checking her watch each time she woke, waiting restlessly for morning to come. She finally rose at five and standing at Sam's bedside, pulled first her own then Sam's wedding band from her ring finger. She quickly slipped her ring back on then slid Sam's ring back on her ring finger, waking her,

"Thanks." Sam smiled at her and pulled Janet's hand to her lips.

"Anytime..." Janet smiled back and leaned to place a quick kiss on her wife's lips, "how about some breakfast?"

"Okay," Sam said, still smiling, "can we go ho..."

"Jesus, Sam," Janet sounded exasperated but the smile never left her face, "this room is our home for today and tomorrow at the very least." She pulled Sam's hand to her lips and placed her own kiss on the back of the hand, her expression turning serious, "I will take you home in a couple of days but you will be off your feet for a while, sweetheart, it may be weeks..."

"Weeks?" Sam rasped, "Janet, I just hit my head..." Janet's eyes widened, her eyebrows rising at Sam's disbelieving tone and her voice suddenly evaporated,

"Sam." Janet drew a deep breath, "you are suffering from a massive concussion..." her voice faltered, "do you have any idea how lucky you are that you..." the lump in her throat stopped her and she clamped trembling lips together.

Sam pulled lightly at her hand, "I'm pretty hard-headed..." she mumbled in a rough whisper.

Janet sniffed, an amused snort erupting from her, "I'll say..." she sighed, "but the human brain needs time to heal, and if you rush it...." she shook her head, her eyes downcast until Sam squeezed her hand,

"Okay..." Sam whispered, feeling like a jackass, "I'm sorry."

Janet looked away for a moment and cleared her throat, "It's okay... and as soon as your head feels better I need you to try lying on your side so your back can heal..."

"My back?" Sam squinted at her, perplexed.

"When you were in the engine room a panel exploded behind you and some hot sparks burned through your flight jacket..." she added, "Col. Ronson forwarded video from the ship's security cameras."

"Really..." Sam murmured vaguely, not remembering the event at all.

"So you have some second degree burns on your back..."

"So that's why it smarts..." she cautiously shifted her shoulders in the bed.

"Yep..." Janet stroked her hand and arm, "I imagine you're pretty stiff and sore all over considering how many times you fell down out there."

"Yeah," Sam sighed, "I hate throwing up."

"Well, enough of that," Janet brightened, "That's not a great topic of conversation when you need to eat a hearty breakfast..."

The corner of Sam's mouth quirked in a smile; "Like toast?"

"And an egg..." Janet added.

"And can I have corn flakes?"

"Frosted?" Janet's eyebrows rose in mock inquiry.

"Please..." Sam murmured and pulled weakly at her hand, "kiss, please...."

Janet grinned and leaned in, placing her mouth on Sam's, her lips gently caressing those of her wife, letting her decide how much deeper she wanted to go and smiled as Sam's tongue pushed its way inside her mouth. Soft tongues stroked and caressed one another and when she finally pulled away she lost herself in deep blue,

"Thanks." Sam whispered again.

Janet's brow furrowed, "For what?"

Sam husked, "Everything."

~

"Hey, doc..." Jack called to her softly as SG1 filed quietly into Sam's intensive care unit.

Teal'c bowed silently and Daniel greeted her with an equally soft, "Hey Janet..."

She looked up from the workstation in the room, "Hey guys." she murmured back, gracing them with a smile.

The three gathered at the foot of Sam's bed, Jesus, Jack thought, she looks as white as those sheets she's lying on, and called to her, "Hey Carter..."

Sam cracked open an eye and grinned lopsidedly at her teammates, "Hey..." she licked her lips, her hand waving weakly from its place on the bed.

Jack winced in spite of himself, "Jeez, Carter, I know you're drugged to the gills but you look like crap." Daniel jabbed him with his elbow and even Teal'c gave him a look, 'What?"

Daniel rolled his eyes and looked back at Sam, "Welcome back Sam..." he smiled at her.

"Indeed." Teal'c bowed formally.

"Thanks..." Sam murmured and sighed heavily, "Janet's keeping me pretty loopy..."

"Just for today..." Janet softly chided her.

"So..." Jack dropped his hands on the bedrail, "have a hearty breakfast didja'?"

"Yeah, kept it down too..."

"Good for you," Jack nodded back at her, "Doc Fraiser tells us you'll be off your feet for some time, so... no rush getting back." he wagged a finger at her, "cuz' we absolutely cannot risk you losing any of those amazing brain cells of yours."

Daniel turned to him in utter exasperation, "Jesus, Jack..."

"What?" he turned to him, indignant.

"Thanks..." Sam still lay limply in the bed, but she was definitely feeling better, "I think..." she added playfully.

"See?" Jack looked at Daniel; gesturing at her. Daniel rolled his eyes at him and once again turned back to Sam,

"You were pretty much out of it on the way back from the Prometheus... so just to fill you in; it turns out Ronson and the entire crew has no memory of what happened to them..."

"Really" Sam murmured weakly, surprised.

Daniel nodded, "Yeah; according to them one minute they were being attacked by the alien ship and the next you were getting them out of the nebula... and there's no record of what happened just after the alien ship began attacking the Prometheus either. Right now they think the aliens either knocked out or froze the ship's technology for recording, well..." he shrugged, "everything, really; audio, video... the computers recorded nothing until an hour before you woke up in the engine room."

Sam's eyebrows arched slightly and she licked her lips.

"Yep," Jack sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets, "it's a mystery... but Hammond is hoping you can help figure it out once you're back... unless they manage to figure it out on their own."

"Well," Daniel sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets too, unconsciously imitating Jack; "all they've managed to figure out so far is that the gas properties of the cloud prevented you from hearing us when we called you about nine hundred times on the giant radio from P3X-114..."

"That figures..." Sam croaked, licking her lips again.

"Here," Daniel stepped over to the glass of water on the overbed table and handed it her.

"Thanks..." she fumbled with the glass and bent straw so Daniel helped her hold it while she took a sip.

Janet smiled at the group and turned her attention back to her work; Daniel had promised they wouldn't overtire her wife, but she knew if they did Sam would simply fall asleep. Watching them reminded her of watching the video forwarded by Col. Ronson; seeing images of Sam stumbling down corridors and vomiting or dry heaving on the floor, having conversations with people who weren't there, crying in exhaustion and frustration, pain... she felt her chest tighten and she squinted at the screen, focusing her vision on Sam's med sheet for a moment. In addition to the second degree burns on her back Sam was covered with bruises, her knees took a particular beating from repeatedly falling onto the steel deck of the ship. And then there's that hard head of hers, she mused silently, shaking her head; was it her hard head? Or was it an effect leftover from her time as a host for Jolinar that kept her alive? Janet sighed and shook her head again, as if to clear it.

The phone flashed on her workstation and she picked it up, it was her head nurse informing her that Sara had arrived with Cassie,

"Let them in."

Cassie was well versed in infirmary protocol when it came to visiting the parent who was prone to getting injured on the job and she calmly walked into the ICU, first hugging and kissing Janet before making her way to Sam's bed,

"Can I come up?" she asked politely and Sam smiled crookedly at her daughter,

"Of course you can kiddo." she rasped.

"Hi, Sam," Sara O'Neill wrapped an arm around her husband, "how are you feeling?"

"Always better once I'm home." Sam mumbled.

Teal'c easily swung Cassie onto the bed and she cautiously hugged her parent, "That sure is one big goose egg, Sam, is the aspirin working yet?"

A smile pulled at one corner of Sam's mouth, "Almost." she sighed, "how are you doing on your science project?" she asked, although she already knew Janet had helped her complete the school assignment.

"Finished it, Mom knew that stuff so she helped me."

"Yah?" Jack draped an arm around Sara's shoulders and smiled at the young girl, "What was it?"

She turned to him, "Binary fission of protozoa." she answered succinctly.

"No kiddin'?" he tried to nod sagely, obviously mystified.

Daniel pressed his lips together to keep from laughing and even the corners of Teal'c's eyes crinkled in amusement.

"That really is her field," Sam croaked, "good thing too; I don't think I would have been much help."

Jack and Daniel stared at her,

"And yet you managed to figure out how to move not one but two ships out of a nebula and get the crew back..." Daniel murmured facetiously, lightly teasing.

Jack shook his head, incredulous, "Yah, I guess helping your kid with a science project woulda' been too hard..."

"Okay guys..." Sara squeezed the arm she had slung around her husband's waist to shut him up and shook her head, smiling, "I think we should let Sam have some peace and quiet for a while."

"Okay, uh..." Daniel held out his hand to Cassie, "We have some time off so Teal'c and I are gonna' hang out with Cassie at your house till you both come home...."

"Yeah," Jack nodded, "and we're plannin' on having a little shindig for ya' when you get back..."

"Really?" Sam asked weakly through now half-lidded eyes.

"Yah," Jack beamed at her, "there might even be cake."

"Hey," Cassie enthused as Daniel and Teal'c helped her from the bed, "I can make that."

"'Kay kiddo," the corners of Sam's mouth twitched in a smile, "give me a kiss."

~

"You're not eating?" Sam asked as Janet placed the single dinner tray on her overbed table.

"Already ate," Janet smiled at her, "sorry, I was starving and you were sleeping pretty hard and I didn't want to wake you." As she spoke she lifted the covers from the plates revealing meatloaf, mashed potatoes and vegetables on one plate and a salad on the other. "Are you okay with that?" she asked, unable to determine from Sam's expression whether she had an appetite or not.

"Yeah," Sam sleepily rubbed her face with one hand, "I like meatloaf."

"And the pudding is tapioca..." Janet raised the bed so Sam was sitting up.

Sam shrugged one-sided, "Not my first choice for dessert." she pouted quietly.

Janet grinned and leaned in for a kiss, "One more day..."

"Mmm," Sam hummed capturing her lips again and slipped her tongue inside Janet's mouth for a long minute then breathed, "Promise..."

"I promise, sweetheart." Janet breathed back and straightened, "but only provided you keep eating and the food stays down...."

"No problem." Sam dug into her dinner with gusto while Janet rolled her bed next to Sam's and set the brakes on the wheels, intending to do paperwork while her wife ate. They passed the time in companiable silence until Sam finished and silently pushed the overbed table from her.

"All done?" Janet looked up from the file she was working on.

Sam nodded, sinking heavily onto the mattress beneath.

"You okay?" Janet tossed the file on her bed and swung her feet to the floor, stepping into her heels.

Sam heaved a sigh, "Yeah... as my head gets better I can remember more of the weird stuff I saw..." she shrugged one-sided, "that's all."

"What weird stuff?"

"Oh, I kept seeing the guys and some little girl..."

"Cassie?"

"No, I didn't know who she was... and you, of course," she turned deepening blue to her wife.

"Oh, really?" Janet leaned on the bedrail and wagged her eyebrows at her.

"Oh yeah," Sam smiled wickedly, "and thank you, you were amazing... as always."

"I was?" Janet asked, although she had an idea where this conversation was heading.

"Yeah, you always take care of me..." Sam suddenly turned serious, "even if you were only a hallucination." She pulled Janet's hand to her lips and placed a kiss against the knuckles, "And you took care of me in every way...." she added, her expression at once becoming amorous.

"Ahhh," Janet nodded knowingly, "Glad I could be of service..."

~

The couple finally returned home late Tuesday morning so Sam could have the day to rest before their daughter came home from school in the late afternoon. Both Sam and Janet thanked Teal'c and Daniel for taking care of Cassie and Janet, after admiring the beautiful multilayer cake adorning the center of the dining room table, commented on the amazingly clean state of the kitchen,

Daniel shrugged modestly, his hands shoved in his pockets, "I like cleaning... and... surprisingly, so does Teal'c."

Teal'c hesitated for a moment halfway through his formal bow, unsure if Daniel Jackson was complimenting him or not, "Cassandra was an excellent instructor, and I now find that I enjoy the process of 'baking'."

"Well,' Daniel smiled, "if you have everything you need for the day then we'd like to come back this evening, with Sara and Jack of course, for an early get-together, say around six?"

~

Sam lay naked under the covers and openly admired her wife's form as she undressed,

"Since the guys are coming over why don't I send out for pizza??" Janet asked as she simultaneously stepped out of her heels and unbuttoned her skirt.

"How about we order takeout from the steakhouse and have it delivered?"

"Wow..." Janet grinned at her, "you could eat a steak with all the fixin's??"

"I could eat a lot more than that." Sam's voice dropped to a sultry tone.

"Yah," Janet snorted, "I believe that's why I'm getting naked right now." she said as she dropped the remainder of her uniform in the hamper and walked to the bed, "Ah' do believe Ah' am feelin' a might peckish muhsef', Major honey." she purred and slipped beneath the covers.

"Me first..." Sam husked and pulled the small form to her. Wrapping her arms securely around her she pressed close, taking a nipple into her mouth and smiled against the flesh as she felt it pebble and harden beneath her lips and tongue.

Janet's sigh became a groan and she combed her fingers through short blond locks, pressing Sam's mouth closer. Sam licked and suckled for several minutes before her hands began roaming over Janet's body, smoothing over the soft planes and curves until fingers stroked through neatly trimmed curls, her hand squeezing and kneading Janet's mound in perfect sync with her ravenous mouth.

Janet's eyes drifted closed and her moans became louder as Sam's middle finger teased the crease between her legs and she helpfully lifted the shapely limb, draping it over Sam's hip,

"Inside me, baby..." she whispered harshly, "oh, please... inside me..." she groaned.

Sam smiled against her breast and slid first one then two fingers inside slick folds, making Janet whimper and moan. She rolled her wife onto her back and straddled her leg, grinding her open dripping center on a smooth thigh. She pumped the fingers in tempo with her thrusting hips, her other arm still wrapped tightly around the slender form. She released the tortured breast and shifted her position until she made soft grunting sounds against Janet's neck.

Careful not to disturb the gauze pads taped over the burns on Sam's back, Janet stroked her hands through soft locks and cradled the blond head,

"Oh, I missed you, baby..." she whispered, "take me now..." the whisper turned harsh, "Take me, sweetheart...fuck me... fuck me... fuck me...."

Sam dug her knees into the mattress and pumped faster, her hips and fingers thrusting harder, making Janet arch her undulating hips to allow for deeper penetration. The sounds and tactile sensations were overwhelming; the comforting feel of Sam's weight on top her and the wet sounds of Sam slicking her thigh with thick, creamy cum combined with the sound of fingers pumping in sodden depths and the thick smell of sex that filled her nostrils brought her to climax, and her profane words of encouragement became strangled cries of release as her body both stiffened and trembled uncontrollably. Sam stifled a sob and came in a shuddering rush; her body straining as the waves crashed over her, the hand that rammed two fingers inside curled and rubbed the pebbled patch and gripped Janet's mound, rubbing and squeezing hard, making Janet scream as spurts of steaming cum shot from her body, soaking the gripping hand.

Both women whimpered and writhed and convulsed against one another for long minutes, tears streaming from their faces as they cried out and gasped for breath until they lay in a limp, sweaty heap on the bed.

Sam sniffed loudly and wiped her face on the pillow before turning to her wife, "I love you." she whispered in a choked voice.

"I love you, sweetheart..." Janet managed as Sam thoroughly kissed her, their tongues hotly devouring each other for more long minutes until Sam finally pulled away,

"Don't move..." she whispered, and keeping the hand between her wife's legs, slid down in the bed until she could press her face into the soft curls and inhaled deeply. Janet's breath caught and her body began to tremble and quake once more,

"Oh god...." she groaned as Sam began to devour the lightly sweet cum she had ejaculated before removing her fingers and licking and sucking away the abundance of creamy cum from her fingers and Janet's depths, her tongue venturing inside as deep as it could go, "oh god, baby I'm gonna'..." she panted and gripped the pillow beneath her head, "I'm coming!" she shouted and screamed when Sam pinched and rolled her throbbing clit between thumb and forefinger. She arched in the bed, her body shaking violently as wave after wave crashed over her and Sam rode the orgasm with her, her feasting mouth never losing its grip of her opening, her tongue straining to tickle the pebbled patch within.

She only eased down when Janet began to sob again, her mouth and fingers slowing until her lips and fingers merely held the softening clit and folds in a soft, soothing embrace. She stayed like that while Janet's body continued to tremble and shake in the aftermath, only shifting her position again when Janet called to her,

"Sam?" she murmured in a shaky voice, "Sweetheart, please..."

Sam turned and crawled the length of the bed again, again wrapping her arms around the slender form and held her close. She placed feather-light kisses on her wife's brow; eyelids, nose and finally her mouth, letting Janet's tongue enter and explore her taste, lightly sucking on her tongue. When she pulled away she smiled at the flushed, tearstained features,

Janet smiled back and asked, hiccupping, "You okay?"

"Yeah..."

Janet harrumphed and wiped at her face, "You really are amazing, you know that?"

"So are you." Sam placed a quick, wet kiss on her mouth and slid back down the sheet once again, this time stopping when she could suck Janet's nipple into her mouth.

"Mmm," Janet peered at the clock on the nightstand before closing her eyes, "It's almost eleven-thirty, sweetheart, we'll need to get up and have some actual food for lunch... okay?" She lay limply in the bed for a long time, watching Sam suckle her breast until she fell asleep herself. When she woke later she drew a deep breath and sighed aloud, I know it's not possible but I swear I haven't felt this good in weeks...she thought and watched her wife sleeping beside her until she woke, sleepily blinking herself awake until she looked into benevolent brown,

"What?" she smiled at her.

Janet shrugged, "I'm just enjoying the view... and marveling again how you can go so far away and come back to me so quickly."

"Felt like forever to me." Sam's smile faded a little and her brow furrowed, "You know, I kept seeing this little girl while I was on the Prometheus... it wasn't Cassie... but she was cute; blond hair, blue eyes..." she had been staring distantly and turned back to Janet, "Her lips and... and the way she smiled..." she sighed, "I don't know, there was something so familiar about her...." Janet arched her eyebrows in inquiry but kept silent, "She said her name was Grace... she gave me the idea about forming the hyper-space bubble..."

Janet waited a long beat before offering, "You know, hallucinations like that are usually your subconscious mind's way of either trying to communicate something to you or having a little nonsensical party from the injury caused to your brain...."

Sam sighed, "Yeah, I think that little party was going on every time Daniel showed up..." she snorted softly, "he kept insisting I was wasting my time trying to figure a way out of the nebula I was stuck in instead of studying it," she screwed her face into an overly dramatic imitation of Daniel's, "'you've come all this way and you're ignoring it...'" she said theatrically, making Janet snicker. She sighed again, shifting in the bed, "at some point my dad showed up and told me how my mom..." her voice trailed off and Janet held her breath; Sam seldom spoke of her mother, "how she reminded him that life was more than just working for the Air Force...." suddenly brimming blue searched the depths of concerned brown, "That wasn't my brain having some sort of fucked up party from the concussion, Janet." She passed a hand over her eyes and smoothed back her hair, "I shouldn't have gone." she muttered scornfully.

"What?"

"It was selfish and I promise..."

"Sam," Janet passed her thumb over Sam's lips and hurriedly stroked her cheek, "What are you talking abo..."

"I want a family," Sam's voice was strained.

"We are a family, sweetheart."

"I know, I mean I didn't need to go all the way to the nebula to study it, I could have..."

"Sam..." Janet placed both hands on her face and Sam blinked the moisture from her eyes,

"I'm going to devote more time to you and Cassie..." she pulled at the hands that held her and pressed them to her chest, "I need to recalculate how much longer I have till I can retire and concentrate on being a better wife and parent to Cassie..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..." Janet licked her lips, "Jesus, Sam... you weren't the only one interested in studying that nebula were you?"

Sam looked uncertain and refused to look her in the eye.

"Say you hadn't gone, the Prometheus still would have made the trip, wouldn't they?" Sam sniffed, still looking away, "Wouldn't they?" she persisted. "And who would have saved them, Sam?" She watched as Sam's lips trembled and she continued, "Much as I love having you safe at home there's no way I'd ever be happy keeping you from doing what you love..." she gave the hands she held in her own a soft shake, "there's nothing wrong with loving what you do, sweetheart.... It does not mean you love us any less... and I know you were thinking about us when you agreed to go because you thought you were only going to be gone for a few days, right?" Sam only sniffed loudly and this time she gave the scarred hands a firm shake, "Sam?"

Sam finally nodded, "Right." she sniffed again and cleared her throat, "It just... it's just such a confused... jumble," she shook her head and freed a hand long enough to wipe at her eyes, "but I think what happened... I think it meant something...."

"Like what?" Janet asked softly.

"I don't know," she finally looked earnestly in her eyes, "but if we ever have another child, I want to name her Grace."

"Okay..." Janet leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her wife's lips, "but if you'll remember, Cassie already had her name when she came to us."

"I know," Sam nodded and captured Janet's lips for another kiss.

"Keep kissing me like that," Janet sighed in contentment, "and you can do whatever you want."

"Deal..." Sam breathed and hummed, kissing Janet again, and again, and again....

Next: The Echo Of Our Souls