Ripple Effect - A Great Big Plan
Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1, I am only playing in the world
A/N: Here is another side story / companion piece to my series of SG-1 tales. By popular demand, Black BDU Cam and Sam.
A/N 2: It is advisable not to read this until after completing 'A Sword in Agate'
Ripple Effect - A Great Big Plan
It takes a bit of madness to survive as a member of SG-1 and it is when things are at their bleakest that you must pull out all the stops. Sam and Cameron find it pays to be a little reckless at times.
In times of adversity it is the resilient and adaptable who survive and SG-1 excels at making the tough choices. So when left with the choice between accomplishing the impossible and certain defeat, Sam and Cam will always choose to make the impossible become reality.
Petersen AFB Medical Center, July 2004 (alternate reality)
"… I can't believe you did tha- …"
"… if you weren't already lying there all broken I'd kick your ass myse- …"
"… what were you thinking, Cam?" She sobbed. "What would I do if you …"
"… you walk around with that damn smile and look at me with those damn eyes and you just expect me not to …"
"… don't you know, Cameron?" She paused, her voice breaking, her hand squeezing his. "Can't you tell?" A sob escaped from her lips. "Ever since the Academy …"
"… no one has made me feel the way you do. I love you, Cameron Mitchell, I've always …"
MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, October 1939 (alternate reality)
The bell rang and Dr. Janet Carter née Mitchell looked up at it before turning back to the students in her lecture hall.
"I want you all to read chapter two by next week, we'll make a start on comparing Keplerian and Newtonian dynamics. Have a good weekend everybody." She smiled sadly as all the young men and a very few women stood up and gathered their books to walk out, laughing boisterously. Worried only about the football game this weekend or who they were going to ask out for the Halloween Masquerade dance next week. She tilted her head slightly and sighed wondering how many of those young men would be dead in six years. She collected her own books, sliding them into her shoulder satchel. She looked up and pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose when she heard the door of the lecture room opening, wondering if a student had forgotten something.
"Janet." he called and her eyes locked with his baby blues. She smiled broadly just at the sight of him, he'd been at sea for three weeks, she hadn't expected him back from Boston until tomorrow. She glanced curiously at the man standing with him, Dean Robeson, the head of her department.
"Daniel, sweetheart. Why didn't you call and tell me you would be getting home early?" she asked brightly as she walked over. She frowned slightly at his look. Could it be?
"We got a telegram from your Aunt Millie in New Mexico." he said and the Dean looked at her sorrowfully. "Your mother's ill, Janet, very ill." That was the signal. It was time. She tightened her brows and raised her hands to her mouth.
"Daniel..." she breathed and he was standing in front of her with his hands on her shoulders. "I have to go to her, Daniel." Aunt Millie was really Professor Langford, and her mother being ill was actually a request from the US Department of War to relocate the Stargate from Egypt.
"I know, sweetness, I know." He looked over his shoulder at Dean Robeson.
"I have already arranged for you to take an immediate leave of absence, Dr. Carter." said the elder academic. "Janet, I'm so sorry." She nodded gratefully. The Dean was a really nice old man and she felt bad deceiving him like this, but it was one fool-proof way of being able to leave at the drop of a hat with no questions asked and no one wondering where they went.
"I got us tickets on the train for Grand Central." said her beloved and she stroked his cheek while forcing out tears. "We just have to get you home to pack, honey." She nodded vigorously and moved to take a hold of Robeson's hand in both of hers.
"Thank you, Edgar, and I'm so sorry about this." She lifted a hand to her mouth and he nodded, patting her shoulder before turning to walk out. She spun on her heels and threw herself into her husband's arms to complete the effect.
"And the Academy Award for Best Actress goes to... Samantha Carter!" he whispered into her ear then kissed her cheek. She grinned and giggled.
"I want to thank my parents, and the director, the wonderful Cameron Mitchell, who is also my co-star and should have gotten a nomination!" she whispered back before growing more serious again while he held her tightly. "It's really time?"
"Yes, baby. I've cleared it with Ben, you sign on as a cook for this trip." He pulled back to look at her for a moment. "You ready for this?" She rolled her eyes at him.
"I've been ready for ten years, Cam." She pulled out of his embrace and took his hand in hers, leading him from the lecture hall and down the corridor to her office to grab what she'd need. She had no idea if she'd be back. They were both planning to return to Europe if they succeeded. "What I can never get used to is how you're on a first name basis with your great-granddad."
"What?" he cried indignantly. "He's a great old guy!"
"I know he is, sweetie, we've met remember? He likes me better than you." she teased.
"Everyone likes you better than me. I'm used to it." He flashed her that smile when she looked over her shoulder at him.
"Yeah, well, fifty says Ba'al will name me before he names you." she said with her eyes twinkling.
"No bet." he declared. "I plan on shooting the son of a bitch in the head as soon as I see his supercilious mug. He won't even get the chance to say 'How typical of SG-1' before he tops it." Sam almost laughed at his impression of the Goa'uld's accent, but she had to try to keep up appearances out in the halls.
"Then fifty says I shoot him first." she offered.
"You're on, Sam." he replied with a grin.
Stargate Command, January 2005 (alternate reality)
Sam rushed up the ramp when Jacob walked through the Stargate and wrapped her arms around him. Jack looked on rather more calmly. Jacob pulled back to look at her with a slightly worried gaze and she smiled and shook her head gently.
"I came as soon as I could, Sam, what's wrong?" he asked in a soft voice.
"Told ya, Carter. Gotta watch the tone of your messages." Jack jibed from the bottom of the ramp. "How ya doin', Jacob?"
"I'm fine, Jack." the Air Force General slash Tok'ra High Councillor replied. "Sam? What's going on?" She just smiled at him brightly.
"I'm getting married, Dad." She leaned in for another embrace while Jacob looked over her shoulder in slight confusion at O'Neill.
"Don't look at me, Jacob." he said, holding his hands up.
"I'm getting married on Saturday and I need you to give me away, Dad." Sam rattled off as she pulled back and took her father's hand to walk him down the ramp. "It's just a small ceremony, he can't stand up to much yet, he's still weak. He can stand though, with the help of crutches, for a little while. Oh, I was so proud of him last week!" she gushed while dragging a very confused Jacob Carter through the corridors of the SGC.
"Sammie, hang on. Slow down." He glanced helplessly at Jack walking beside him who just shrugged with his hands in his pockets.
"You'd be so proud of him too, Dad. He's such a fighter! He wakes up every day determined to walk just a little farther than the day before." She sighed happily. "I suppose I should thank you for that, sir." she said with a bright smile over her shoulder.
"Oh, no, I think this one's all on him." Jack replied with an amused glint. Jacob still looked confused.
"Sam." he intoned as she pulled him into the elevator. "Honey, stop." She blinked at him in curiosity. Jack came to stand next to her with a lopsided smile as the doors of the elevator closed.
"What is it, Dad?" she asked.
"You're getting married." he said and she nodded. "On Saturday." She grinned stupidly with another nod. "And you want me to give you away." She nodded vigorously with a happy sigh. "To who?"
"To whom." Jack corrected. Jacob glared at him.
"Oh!" she cried in realisation. "To Cameron, Dad." Jacob blinked and made a little 'oh' with his mouth.
"Well, it's about damn time." he said simply. She gaped at him.
The Adam & Eve, Kensington, September 1944 (alternate reality)
"I preferred the RAF blues." Sam teased him with a smile. He glared at her and took his USAAF cover back from her, laying it down on the table on his other side. "Oh, you know you do too." she jibed and he had to sigh and admit she was right.
"Yeah, yeah. We just have to wait until the Uxbridge blues come out." he grumbled and she leaned over and kissed him softly, then rubbed his lip with her thumb.
"How's Major Treadwell doing?" she asked with a sidelong glance. Cam growled and took a drink from his pint.
"He's... officious." he replied and she chuckled. "He's like Paul, but without the sense of humour." he clarified and she nodded in understanding. "Good at what he does though."
"So you're driving him crazy." she stated.
"Every damn day." he admitted with an evil grin. She shook her head at him. "How're things at Bletchley?"
"Busy, but not so much with the theory anymore. I'm bored." she replied wistfully. He nodded and held out a forkful of his fish for her to eat which she did. "I suppose even now I still miss the adrenaline, at least they let you fly combat missions, I'd only be allowed to fly for the ATA or as a WASP." He gave her hand a squeeze while chewing some of his fish. "Ferrying planes is all well and good, but I guess I'm just annoyed about the whole double standard after all my time smashing through the glass ceiling in the USAF."
"Colonel Carter?" They both looked up then Sam rolled her eyes as she glared at Cam. He tilted his head apologetically then gave the nondescript man in the suit his full attention. He was an American by the accent, but nothing else was discernible.
"That's me." he replied.
"My name is Perry." He sat himself down at their booth and looked around at the quiet pub. "I have come to request a meeting on behalf of my commander." Cam frowned at him. "With both of you actually." Sam frowned as well.
"And who might your commander be when they're at home?" she asked.
"General John Magruder." he replied. Cam's jaw clenched and Sam looked at him in alarm. "Yes, I see what we'd heard about you two is correct, you know things that aren't common knowledge."
"What does the OSS want with us?" Cam asked softly.
"Hyde Park is lovely at this time of the day and not far from here, shall we take a turn?" Perry stood up as he spoke and Cam did also when Sam gave him a little nod. The three of them left the pub and walked the short distance to the park in silence. Only once they were on a secluded path did the intelligence operative speak again.
"We have a job for you both-" he began, but Cam stopped him.
"I just got a new job, Mr. Perry. Been at it less than a month." He watched the man carefully.
"We know." he replied. "We told General Spaatz's office about you." Cam narrowed his eyes. "Your being commissioned with the RAF made it a little harder to recruit your services." He glanced at them as they turned onto a path shaded by trees on both sides. "We've lost something in Northern France. Something that should not have been lost." he began. Sam's fingers tapped at Cam's wrist as they walked arm in arm. She didn't trust the guy. Cam didn't blame her. "Something I believe you are both familiar with." He suddenly let out a breathy chuckle. "You see, when I called you Colonel Carter, I was actually speaking to you both." In an instant Cam had the man's arm pinned behind his back while Sam had a combat knife circa 2009 pressed to his throat. "Ah, well, perhaps that wasn't as amusing as I thought." Sam glanced up and down the empty lane and motioned with a flick of her head towards the trees behind Cameron and he dragged the man backwards out of sight of the lane itself.
"You'll have to forgive us, Mr. Perry. We're cautious people." Cam said softly as he pushed the man face-first against a tree. Sam stood next to him with the knife pressed over a kidney.
"I quite understand." Perry said. "You're a lot faster than I thought you would be too. Another reason we'd like your help."
"You know something it is impossible to know, Mr. Perry. Unless you don't just work for the OSS." Sam growled.
"I don't just work for the OSS," he admitted, "but we are on the same side." She scoffed.
"Mr. Perry, you really shouldn't make my wife angry." Cam intoned.
"Yes, I know." he said. "I would never knowingly anger a woman who has blown up a star before." Cam growled. "I was told to say 'a kiss against glass isn't enough.'" Cam let the man go and he staggered back as if struck. Sam also stepped back, almost dropping the knife from fingers gone slack in shock. Perry slowly pushed away from the tree and straightened his suit and tie then rearranged his hair. "I work for you, ma'am." he said softly. "I can't tell you when or where." Sam looked at Cam and he shook his head.
"You have five seconds to tell us what you've lost in Northern France, Perry." Sam ordered.
"We've lost Thor, ma'am."
Stargate Command, August 2005 (alternate reality)
"What the Hell is that thing?" Jack asked as they all watched the relayed footage from Prometheus in orbit over the equator. The thing was moving all over their screen, rippling in shades of blue and white with broken, tattered edges. "And who the Hell is working that camera?"
"I don't think that's the camera, sir." Sam explained as she stood next to Cameron with one arm across her chest cupping the elbow of the other as she flicked at her cheek with a tapping finger. "I think that's a wormhole." Everyone turned to look at her incredulously.
"Do I even want to know?" O'Neill asked as he sat down in a huff and Landry walked over to the comm station.
"Colonel Pendergast, this is Landry, what readings are you getting from that thing?" he asked.
"We can't make heads or tails of it, sir." came the instant reply. "Everything we've got says that thing isn't really there. Until it all registers as the biggest wormhole you've ever seen. Then nothing again." Landry turned to Sam.
"I'm flummoxed, sir." she said with a slight lift of her eyebrows. "I mean, when I started looking at wormhole equations at the Academy I just assumed they were phenomena like this, but once I was told about the Stargate I never went back to looking at the possibility of untethered wormholes."
"Wait a minute." Vala said from where she was standing by Daniel. "You're saying that's a wormhole? Like a Stargate wormhole, but without the Stargate?" She pointed at the screen and stared at Sam with narrowed eyes. Sam nodded.
"Yes, an untethered wormhole." explained Sam. "There's no telling what the other end is like, but this end is being projected through space... and well... through time, when it's untethered like this you have to keep the temporal coordinates synchronised as well as the spatial coordinates." She stared at the screen in fascination.
"Sam, honey, focus." Cam warned and she glanced at him with a smile.
"Could this be a natural phenomenon, Colonel Carter?" asked Teal'c with a troubled glance.
"Well, theoretically, yes. However the energy requirements to produce one are incredible. Orders of magnitude more than connecting two Stargates." She shrugged. "In Nature, that sort of energy is only seen in the core of a star or at the event horizon of a singularity. And there are far easier things for Nature to use that energy on than puncturing the fabric of the space-time continuum with a coherent tunnel through subspace. And that," she pointed at the screen and shook her head at the wormhole that every sensor they had told them was over a kilometer in diameter, "maybe, maybe, if you captured all the energy released by a supernova... maybe."
"So somebody is directing this." stated Daniel and Sam nodded.
"I think so," she agreed, "somebody powerful."
"General, if somebody made that thing, then it's likely that something is going to come out of it." Cameron said with a pointed look at O'Neill. Jack frowned and looked back up at the screen. "Maybe we should get somebody at the Ancient weapons platform in Antarctica." The General grimaced and pointed at the younger man in irritation.
"Damn it, Mitchell. You're talking about me, arentcha?" he groused.
"Sir, I'd never dream of implying-" he began with a faint smile.
"Oh, quiet. I know you're right." O'Neill griped. "You all gotta promise to take Beckett's treatment though. There's gotta be someone who hasn't gone to Atlantis, other than me, who can sit in the damned thing." Cam nodded with a smile, as did Sam.
"Sir, I expect half the telescopes in the hemisphere are already trained on that." Sam gave Jack a pointed look and he frowned. "If something comes out of it..." He closed his eyes and sighed.
"I'll call the President." he mumbled as he stood up and turned to the comms. "Pendergast, I need a ride."
"Yes, sir, General O'Neill, we're on our way." Pendergast nodded to someone off screen.
"How much juice do we have in the ol' chair anyway?" Jack asked.
"Not a lot, sir." Sam admitted. "This is the ZPM we used to send the Atlantis Expedition and it was nearly depleted when we made the connection."
"And the other one you guys found in Egypt with that tape from Daniel was depleted when McKay-" Cam was interrupted by Sam growling loudly.
"Don't! Just... don't... I really don't want to remember that! Three months I'll never get back." She only turned back to O'Neill after Cam laid a hand on her shoulder apologetically and she calmed down a little. "So... keep your powder dry, as they say." Sam concluded.
"General, we're in position." Pendergast called over the comms.
"Prometheus. It's the only way to fly." Jack said with a manic smile as he vanished in a white shimmer.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Daniel murmured with a frown while watching the screen.
Fifteen minutes later the wormhole was gone, leaving only the ship that had come through it. Over two kilometers long with four arcs sweeping from the bow of the ship, tapering off to connect with an engine assembly at the rear while encircling a massive globe of light in the center. That wasn't the worst of it, however. The worst of it was that the ship began broadcasting on all frequencies as soon as it exited the wormhole. Sending the image of a pallid and scarred man with a shock of silver blond hair and white eyes wearing an inscribed metallic plate sweeping up over his chest and shoulders into curved tines which formed a halo around the back of his head. The purple jewel which glowed upon the center of his chest as he spoke left Daniel watching in dismay.
"The Do'ci." he breathed into the silence of the control room while they all stared at the television in shock.
"People of Earth." intoned the image of the Ori's religious leader. "The Ori have heard of your plight and have sent us to lead you onto The Path. Origin will show you the way. The Ori know of the evil ones who have shrouded you in darkness and have sent us to bring you The Truth. Hallowed are the Ori …" He droned on and on.
"Sir, this is on every channel." Chief Harriman said from where he sat at one of the substations by the far wall. Landry shook his head in silence and Sam took Cameron's hand in hers.
Things did not improve. Soon after the Do'ci's broadcast ended with the alien calling for Earth to embrace the Ori, the President responded with an address of his own. He officially welcomed the Do'ci and his people in the name of peace, though he stated definitively that the various peoples of Earth reserved the right to live and worship as they so chose. As he spoke, the Ori ship manoeuvred from its equatorial orbit high into the northern hemisphere and settled itself above Washington. The President's broadcast was interrupted by the Do'ci's image taking over all frequencies once more.
"The power of the Ori cannot be denied." he stated and Daniel shot up out of his chair in the briefing room.
"General! Contact Antarctica right now! Tell Jack to power up the chair!" He ran for the control room and everyone quickly stood up to follow while Landry bellowed orders as he went.
"What is it, Daniel?" Jack asked over the comms as he stood by the chair.
"Sir, Prometheus is picking up a build-up of energy in the Ori vessel." Harriman called over from his station.
"Jack, power up the chair, do it right now!" Daniel pleaded. "The Do'ci once said those exact words to me in Celestis." Jack was already moving to the chair on the screen as Daniel spoke, he turned to the rest of SG-1. "Right after that he said 'Those who reject the path to enlightenment must be destroyed.'"
"General, Colonel Pendergast is requesting permission to open fire on the Ori ship." Walter called. Landry turned and shook his head.
"No, Walter, we can't do anything that might be seen as a provocation." he declared as he walked over to the station. SG-1 looked up at the monitors following the vessel in orbit. They could see it turning on its end to point down towards the planet.
"It's going to open fire." Teal'c said softly.
"General!" called Sam, turning to face her commander until Cam grabbed her hand. She looked at him with a horrified gaze. He stared back with anguish in his eyes, but shook his head. Landry was right.
"Powering up the platform." called O'Neill from Antarctica just as a lance of energy began slicing its way from the Ori ship only to sputter and gutter out into nothingness almost immediately as the vessel turned over once more to make for a polar orbit. It was too late however. There was nothing left of the White House. Prometheus opened up with everything it had after Landry finally gave the order, but the Ori ship's shield didn't even weaken and the energy beam tore through the BC-303 as if it wasn't there. Only when it was in range of Antarctica and Jack fired every drone he could get powered with what little energy was left in the ZPM did anything happen. The drones ripped through the Ori vessel's shields and tore into its hull, the swarm of Alteran weapons shredding the ship in only minutes as a new star was born in the southern sky, shone for several seconds, then faded into nothingness.
An hour later Cam found Sam in their quarters on base. The lights were off so he just followed the sound of her sobs to the corner by the desk where she had curled herself into a ball against the wall. He knelt at her side and silently accepted the thumps and punches she threw at his chest and shoulders until she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck to weep for her friends lost in the skies over Earth, and the hammer blow dealt to them with the revelation of secrets and the loss of leadership.
MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, August 1969 (alternate reality)
He poked his head in the door of her office and smiled happily when she looked up and grinned at him. He shuffled in and closed the door behind him then walked around her desk to lean over and kiss her tenderly. He felt a little twinge from the old wound, but it was alright.
"Same old pain?" she asked gently when he walked over to the chair by the window she always kept for him and he nodded as he sat down.
"He was a good shot, that German sniper. I'll give him that." He chuckled and scrubbed at his grey hair with a look out into the summer views over Cambridge. "You got him anyway." He smiled at her gently and she nodded.
"Well, he shot my man." she muttered darkly. "Won't stand for that." She looked up at him when she felt his gaze on her and frowned slightly at the wistful look in his eyes. "What is it, sweetie?"
"Don't you remember what day it is, Sam?" he asked and she glanced over at her calendar. It was early August, term didn't start for a few weeks yet. She looked over at him in confusion as he stood up. "I swear, Sam, biggest brain on the planet, still lectures at her age-"
"I have tenure!" she cried. "They can take my chair when they can claw it from my cold dead hands." He laughed.
"Still teaches at her age, but can't remember what's going to happen tomorrow, of all days." he finished. She glared at him as he walked over to her and took her hand in his. "Come on, sweetness. We're going to New York." She stood and walked along with him after grabbing her satchel and looping it diffidently over her shoulder. They were halfway down the hall before it twigged. "Oh! Solar flares!" He laughed and waved to the old custodian who grinned at both of them.
"Holy Hannah! What will it be like to see them again?" she whispered and gripped his hand tightly.
"Like going home, we're just going to check on them." He glanced at her sidelong. "And to see Jimi on stage." She chuckled.
"You mean Janis." she teased and they walked out into the warm breeze.
"Both of 'em, I'm easy." He smiled and prodded her towards his Mustang parked in a visitor's spot. "I packed us a suitcase so we're good to go."
"Janet!" they both turned around at the call and Sam smiled at the younger woman who approached them. "I'm glad I caught you before you left on holiday, it's about the curriculum for next semester, do you want me to take care of it again?"
"Yes, Sally, that will be fine." She frowned softly. "What holiday?" Sally rolled her eyes and glanced at a chuckling Cam.
"I swear, Janet, smartest woman I've ever met, but can't remember the holiday she's had booked for the last ten years. What I want to know is why?" She looked pointedly at Sam then at Cam. "You two are really odd birds, Colonel, no offense. Sometimes it's like you know exactly what's going to happen."
"We're from the future, Sally." Cam said in a very serious voice. "We were sent back in time from the year 2009 to avert the destruction of the planet Earth at the hands of an evil race of aliens. From space!"
"You've just been listening to another message brought to you by the Department of Redundancy Department." Sam jibed. Sally was laughing already.
"You two are so funny." she cried when she recovered. "I know you love those 'B' movies, Colonel, but the way you say that so seriously is hilarious." She pointed at Sam. "And Janet! Telling you off for being redundant, not because you said something crazy." She started laughing again. "You guys have fun on your holiday. Careful though, I hear there's a big concert going on in upstate New York while you're there." She walked away and waved at them both.
"One of these days I'm going to just start speaking in Alteran all the time. See if people finally decide to lock me up." Cam joked as he opened the door to the Mustang for Sam to get in.
"If you do, I'll divorce you." she warned. "I had enough trouble learning French before the war. I'm not going to learn Ancient too just because Daniel taught you on Odyssey and you want to show off." He chuckled and walked around the car to the driver's side.
Derelict ship, above P1X-011, November 2005 (alternate reality)
"Sam!" he called in warning into the radio as she leaned her forehead against the glass window. He wrapped his hands around the metal arm on the door and pulled at it with all his might.
"Cameron," she called weakly, "look at me." He raised his eyes to meet hers through the glass. "I love you so much, Cameron." she whispered into the radio before pressing her lips against the pane and falling over backwards as her eyes rolled back into her head.
"SAM!" he cried in horror and tore his eyes from her lying prone on the ground inside the room to grab at the control panel beside the door. He tore it off with his bare hands and glared in frustration at the metal plate that was underneath. He reached behind his back to draw his combat knife and slipped the blade into a gap, twisting it to warp the plate. He then dug his fingers in and yanked it away as well, flinging it down the corridor.
They weren't even supposed to be on this bucket! This planet wasn't due for a mission for at least six months, but the coming of the Ori had thrown all their plans out of whack. They needed to find anything that could help them and they had to do it yesterday. So here they were on a derelict ship in orbit above a primitive world and Sam was dying on the other side of a two inch thick metal door. They'd already lost Vala at the Ori Supergate over Kallana, he could not lose Sam too, he'd go crazy if he lost her. He punched the wall next to the door to try and bring his thoughts back into focus. He pulled out all the wires and boards inside the panel and growled in frustration at it all. It made no sense! He passed the back of his hand across his forehead and stared at all the wires through a film of angry tears.
Then his mind slowed, he felt a trickle of energy against his temples as his shadow was cast in stark relief over the wall in front of him. He blinked rapidly and staggered forward slightly with a grunt then turned his head at the sound of a body slumping on the floor next to him. He frowned at the sight of a young boy, no older than twelve, pitched awkwardly against the wall of the corridor. The boy looked at him with eyes as old as any Cam had seen.
"Cut the green one." the boy ordered in a weak voice. "Do it now, Colonel, before it is too late." Cam blinked and turned to look into the panel, seeing the wires and picking out a green one amidst the various other colours. He lifted it out and sliced it cleanly with his combat knife only for nothing to happen. He frowned angrily at the boy until he heard a metallic clunk from the door, then he leapt to his feet and grabbed at the metal arm, pulling it up with all his might until its stubborn resistance gave way and it spun free out of his hand to push the door open with its momentum. Air rushed into the gap created by the slightly open door and Cam pulled at it to widen it further, then wedged himself in and pushed against the door with his back after bracing his foot against the jamb. He tumbled into the room and scrabbled over to Sam, lifting her up by the collar and patting her cheeks.
"Sam? Don't do this to me, baby." he dragged her out and laid her down gently in the corridor as Teal'c and Daniel rushed over to them. They both stopped to glance at the boy in confusion, the emotion slightly more evident in Daniel's case. "Teal'c, close the door, the atmosphere is still venting." Cam muttered as he touched Sam's cheek with shaking fingers. The Jaffa nodded and, with Daniel's help, managed to get the door closed and locked.
"Dr. Jackson," called the boy, still slumped against the wall, "take me over to Sam. I can help her." Daniel stared at him incredulously while Cam was busy checking his wife's vital signs.
"Who are you?" asked the linguist in consternation.
"Orlin." replied the boy. "Let me help her." Daniel blinked stupidly and it fell to Teal'c to pick the boy up and move him to where Sam was. Cam was just blowing two breaths into her lungs and was about to begin chest compressions when the boy put his small hand over Sam's heart and closed his eyes. A light washed over her chest and her back arched up as she took a deep gasping breath and her eyes opened wide. Cam clutched at her and wrapped his arms around her as she took shuddering breath after shuddering breath against his neck.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you..." he muttered over and over. Orlin slumped back against the Jaffa.
"You must take me to the SGC, we have no time to lose." he said with a touch of warning in his voice.
"What are you talking about?" Daniel asked as he crouched by Cameron and put his hand on Sam's shaking shoulders.
"The Ori are targeting Earth with a plague. They've already infected someone from your base." Cameron looked at the boy in dismay and he could feel Sam clutching at the front of his BDUs with her hand. "Only I can help you make a cure before millions of your people perish."
Auburn, Kansas, June 1976 (alternate reality)
"So there I was, moving slowly through the bocage-" Cameron was stopped when the boy on his knee threw his arms up in the air.
"What's a bowcazh?" he asked excitedly.
"It's a word the French use to describe the countryside in Normandy, dearest." Sam explained from beside Cameron. "Shaded lanes through hedgerows surrounding pastureland. It's very distinctive." The boy smiled, satisfied.
"Right, so there I was, moving slowly through the bocage when-" He was interrupted again, this time by a woman who came over and covered the boy's ears.
"Daniel! Please don't fill the child's head with all these war stories! He's only six." she ordered and Cam smiled and chuckled while the boy shook his head trying to uncover his ears. "And Janet, you should know better!"
"Oh, you're making too much of it, Joanna." Sam said in an amused tone. "It's not as if we're going to get graphic."
"Aunty Jo, I wanna hear the story!" cried the boy as he wrapped his fingers around the woman's hands.
"It's okay, Joanna, they've probably already told Cameron that story a dozen times." a man said as he walked over with tall glasses of lemonade on a tray which he offered to the elderly couple. They took them gratefully.
"Well don't go telling my Samantha such stories, I won't have it." the woman said and released the boy's head to stick her tongue out at him when he turned to glare at her. Cam and Sam looked at each other and began chuckling.
"Oh, no. You haven't!" Joanna cried. "Frank, have they been telling my girl these stories?" The man laughed as he walked away.
"You talk to your husband about that, Jo." he replied in full retreat. Joanna turned in a full circle looking for her husband and strode off.
"Don't kill him too much, Joanna!" called Sam to both Camerons' laughter.
"Now where was I?" Cam asked the boy grinning on his knee. "Oh, right. So there I was, moving slowly through the bocage when I heard the crack of a branch from the left-"
"Grandpa Daniel! Grandma Janet!" cried the light voice of a young girl running up to them both.
"What is it, Sammie?" Cameron asked.
"Aunty Wendy wants to know if you're staying here for the whole week or if you're going back to Massachusetts on Monday." she asked as she quickly climbed into Sam's lap.
"Oh, Samantha, you're getting a little too big to sit on my lap." Sam said with a little groan.
"Sorry, sorry." She slipped off to sit between them.
"Keep my seat warm while I go talk to Wendy, okay?" she stood up and kissed the girl on the top of the head before planting a kiss on her husband's lips. "Back soon, sweetie." she said with a smile as she began to walk away.
"Okay, love." Cam turned back to the two children whose undivided attention he now had. "So there I was, moving slowly through the bocage when I heard the crack of a branch..." Sam lost the sound of his voice when she walked into the house and entered the kitchen to find Wendy talking animatedly with Joanna. The women both turned her way and smiled.
"Corrupting our youth again, Janet?" asked Wendy with a twinkle in her eye.
"Only insofar as I plan to make sure they get married to each other in the future." she replied with an evil smirk and both the other women laughed. "I'm serious!" she cried then smiled before getting to the business which brought her inside. "If you're okay with us staying the week, Wendy, Daniel and I would much appreciate it. You know how much we love visiting with the children."
"Of course, Janet! We're happy to have you anytime." Wendy declared with a smile and a hug for her old family friend.
"Oh, look, Marky, whenever you see so many women together at once, you can be sure their plotting nefarious business, likely somebody's marriage." said a man who walked into the kitchen with a four-year-old boy in his arms.
"Jacob, don't say such things." Joanna chided him before giving him a quick kiss. "You've been letting Janet tell my little girl war stories, hmm?" she began with a warning tone.
"Of course." he admitted. "She's my little girl too, and I want her to hear about the amazing sorts of things she can do if she wants to." He smiled at Sam. "About the amazing women she can look up to." She blinked and choked up slightly. Joanna frowned at him before turning to Sam.
"No blood, alright?" she demanded with a point of her finger. Sam held up her hands to concede defeat to her mother, as was natural.
"Running, jumping, climbing trees. The odd bout of fisticuffs and everyone has lemonade at the end." she promised and Jacob laughed, which caused Mark to giggle and laugh happily. Sam smiled and patted Jacob on the shoulder before giving little Mark a kiss on the cheek and walking out of the house. She turned to see Cam and Sam running off to play in the field next to the barn as her husband waved them away and she walked over to sit next to him again. She took his hand in hers and he lifted it to kiss the back of her hand.
"So can we stay?" he asked with a sly smile and Sam poked him in the ribs.
"Of course we can. Ass." she chided while letting her head rest on his shoulder. He chuckled and kissed her hair.
Stargate Command, January 2006 (alternate reality)
"That's the craziest thing I've ever heard, Mitchell." Daniel cried with a frown. "I know we're desperate, but we can't be that desperate." Teal'c glanced his way from where he was standing by one of Sam's shelves.
"I do believe we are exactly that desperate, Daniel Jackson." he said simply and Daniel stared at him for a long moment. He turned to Sam and she shrugged, pointing at the screen of her laptop with the pen in her hand.
"I can do it, Daniel. I've quadruple checked these equations. Orlin wasn't kidding." she said with a hard look. "And we are that desperate."
"The only thing that's gone right for us so far was destroying that first ship of theirs and killing the Do'ci." Cameron said from his seat on the other side of the bench from Daniel, close to where Sam usually sat. "And they probably just made another guy the new Do'ci so it wasn't even that much of a win." He scrubbed a hand through his hair in frustration. "We lost half a million in the US alone thanks to that plague, Jackson. If you and I hadn't gotten that Prior's blood, I don't even want to think how many more would have died." Cam stood up to move closer to Sam. "Now, I don't like it, but we don't have a choice anymore." Daniel drew his lips tight with a deep frown.
"So we go into it as one." Daniel said as he looked at each of them in turn.
"Or not at all." Cameron added as he crossed his arms. Daniel finally nodded and steeled his gaze.
"Alright. So do you have a plan?" he asked.
"Do I have a plan? I have a plan. I have a great big plan." Cam said with a glint in his eye.
"I'm not storming Da Vinci's castle with you while singing 'Side By Side.'" Sam warned. Cam gaped at his wife.
"I can't believe you remember that, we watched that at the base in Saudi when it first came out." he grinned.
"Well, I was scarred for life." she replied, looking down at the table and tapping her pen on the surface.
"Come on, you laughed." he needled and she glared at him.
"At how dreadful it was." she retorted.
"Methinks the lady doth protest too much." he countered.
"Shut up." she warned, pointing at him.
"Oh, we ain't got a barrel of... mo~ney." Cam began singing and Sam threw her pen at him. "We may be ragged and... fu~nny."
"But we'll travel along," Teal'c intoned from his position by the shelf and a grinning Cam pointed at him with both hands, "singing a song." Daniel was wondering what the Hell was going on while Sam just covered her face in her hands.
"Side by side!" Cam and Teal'c finished together.