Title: "Silent Screams"
Author: Jackie W.
Email: [email protected]
Rating: R
Classification: SJ UST/Romance
Season: Season 7, immediately after Death Knell
Spoilers: Small ones through Heroes part II. All events after that episode do not occur.
Summary: SG1's luck finally runs out when Sam is captured and tortured.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment, not monetary purposes, and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Sam eventually figured out that they had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Typical SG1 bad luck. However the miraculous stroke of good luck that usually followed didn't come along for four long months. By that time it was way too late for her.
They had been sent to check out P4R-277. The UAV had flown over Goa'uld ruins, and sent back pictures clear enough for Daniel to determine that the planet had once been one of Ra's outposts. Hoping to pick up any weapons or other technology abandoned there, SG1 arrived just hours before a squadron of Jaffa landed in a Teltac. They too were looking to scavenge anything left behind for their god Ptah, a Goa'uld with little power who had been hovering on the outskirts of other's territories for centuries. They surprised the four members of SG1 as they both converged on the small temple not far from the gate, and a firefight ensued. Just bad timing.
She was never really sure what happened at the end. It had been utter chaos as the four of them tried to get back to the gate, firing at the Jaffa who were trying to surround them and cut them off. She saw Daniel get hit in the left arm, luckily not a life threatening shot, but enough damage to make it difficult for him to return fire. Sam instinctively moved into a better position to cover him. The next thing she knew she was waking up in a Sarcophagus aboard Ptah's mothership. None of her teammates were with her, which simultaneously filled her with relief and terror. Hopefully they had made it back to Earth alive. Not that it would do her any good. She was long gone from P4R-277 even if they had been able to get re-enforcements and return.
It didn't take her long to figure out that ol' Ptah was pretty far out of the loop. As she was tortured for information she learned a lot more than she gave away. He had only a vague idea of the current power structure of the System Lords, made no mention of Earth, nor did he give any indication that he'd ever heard of SG1. All pluses in Sam's eyes. On the downside, he was so far removed from the main stream of Goa'uld activities there was little hope that there were any Tok'ra or rebel Jaffa in his ranks. No help from within was likely. The only thing working in her favor was that thanks to his scavenger tendencies, Ptah was kept pretty busy staying one step ahead of whatever Goa'uld he had just stolen from. It meant that entire days went by without any torture which gave her a bit of breathing space to recover in between her sessions with the megalomaniac. She needed those days, as it also seemed that Ptah wasn't too worried about her dying. She had not been put into the sarcophagus again since her arrival.
Four weeks had passed when the Goa'uld finally became bored with the lack of information he had received from the prisoner. In the past he might have forced her to serve him, but he currently had a consort that he was quite fond of, so he decided to play a different sort of game. Since Sam wouldn't talk he began punishing her any time she uttered a sound. It didn't take long for her to learn the rules of the game. Speaking resulted in two Jaffa working her over with their staff weapons. Moaning or screaming in pain was punishable by slapping her around or stomping on ribs. Once she called out in her sleep in the throes of a nightmare and was promptly hung by her wrists from the ceiling dislocating both of her shoulders.
Three months after she had first been captured found Sam Carter living in a world filled only with pain. Both legs were broken, as well as one arm and wrist, plus numerous ribs. She'd managed to pop both shoulders back into place by ramming them into her cell wall, but the left one ached constantly and was very stiff. She spent the majority of her days curled up silently in the corner of her cell trying to stay still. Occasionally the Jaffa brought her food and water but it was always a mixed blessing, as often they would test her to see if they could get her to cry out. By the time she had survived four months with Ptah she was beginning to welcome the thought of death. Only one thing kept her fighting. One set of brown eyes that she needed to get home to.
Back on Earth, her teammates were struggling to move on without her. All three had been injured in the firefight and not been allowed back as part of the attempted rescue. They had been devastated at the news that there was no sign of Sam when SG2 and SG3 had come back to report in. They had kept their hopes of finding her alive by contacting all of their allies. The rebel Jaffa had promised to let them know if any of their spies heard or saw anything. The Tok'ra were unreachable as were the Asguard.
The night that Sam's status was changed from MIA to MIA/presumed KIA the three men retreated to Jack's house and drank themselves into a stupor. Even Teal'c managed to drink enough to pass out on the couch. In the morning as they nursed their hangovers Jack admitted that he was thinking of retiring.
"But we need to keep looking for Sam!" Daniel protested.
Jack wanted to tell Daniel that they needed to be realistic and start accepting the fact that Sam was dead, but there was a part of him that refused to give up hope as well. So he agreed to wait. Mentally he made a vow that if they hadn't found her in two months then he was getting out. It was just too painful to be around the SGC without her there.
A month later he was regretting letting Daniel talk him into staying. Fraiser was dead, and the place was swarming with reporters and NID. Once he'd been released from the infirmary and the memorial service had been completed he typed up his retirement papers and handed them to Hammond.
"I have Cassie to think about now, Sir. She has no one left," he explained. And while it was partially the truth, Hammond knew that Jack was also leaving to try to find some relief from the constant grief that Sam's disappearance had caused.
"It will take a couple of weeks to process everything Colonel," Hammond informed him sadly. In the last four months the SGC had lost two of it's best. Now it was losing a third.
Two days later the Klaxon's sounded and Bra'tak accompanied by two Tok'ra walked through the gate with the broken body of Sam Carter. She was unconscious, battered to the point of being barely recognizable, but alive.
Seventeen weeks and three days after Sam was captured she finally got the miracle she needed. Not that she could have told you how long it had been, only that the faces that she saw in her dreams seemed to be from another lifetime. Then she awoke one day to find the ship was under attack. Ptah had finally pissed off the wrong Goa'uld and had been hunted down by a squadron of Ba'al's forces. Forced to crash land on the nearest planet, Ptah and most of his Jaffa were killed by the invaders and the ship was stripped of all of its' valuables. The silent unmoving heap in the corner of one dark cell was totally overlooked. Unable to re-start the ship's engines, it was left behind only to be found by a Tok'ra scout ship two days later.
They were surprised to receive signs of one life form on their scans, and even more surprised when they discovered the body. Her dog tags were the only way they identified her as being from Earth as her uniform was long gone. She had obviously hit her head during the crash, and so they gently lifted her and took her back to their ship. They had only the most basic first-aid supplies on board and concentrated on getting her cleaned up and into some clothes. Then they set a course for the small outpost they had been using for a base.
From there they tried to contact her father, since they had both recognized that she was Jacob Carter's daughter. Unable to reach him, and afraid that if they took her to the Tok'ra council she would not be returned promptly to her people, they set out for a planet they knew would help them to gain access to Earth's gate. Their stop on Chulak was brief, just long enough for them to explain the situation and have Master Bra'tak join them with the device to signal the SGC. Sam remained blissfully unconscious through the entire trip.
She woke up a week later. Unknown to her she'd already had three operations, one on her left leg, one on her left shoulder and one on her right arm. Her other broken leg was set. It had been a simple break and had mostly healed already. Her right arm would be fine now that they had put pins in it to stabilize it. The doctors were unsure if she would ever regain total mobility in her left shoulder. Her left leg was a disaster. Multiple breaks had already healed poorly causing muscle and nerve damage. The doctor's were fighting to keep her from losing the limb totally. At best she would have a severe limp for the rest of her life.
They also had been fighting off infection. There were small burns and cuts all over her body that had had gone untreated. The Tok'ra had done the best they could with the healing device on all of injuries before they left, but most of them were too severe or had already scarred enough to make it impossible for them to do much for her.
The doctor's were reassuring though. She had survived the worst and now it was just a matter of time for her body to heal, so her teammates took turns waiting for her to wake up. Daniel was sleeping in the chair next to her when her eyes finally fluttered open. She stared at him for several minutes before a nurse passing by noticed she was awake. She put out a call to one of the doctors, then placed a hand quietly on Daniel's shoulder.
"Dr. Jackson, look who's awake," she smiled.
Daniel's eyes flew to Sam's and he jumped up to her side.
"Sam! It's Daniel. You're back at the SGC. You're safe now, Sam," he reassured her.
Before he could say anything else the new CMO stepped in and told him he needed to check over the patient. He took a step back to let Dr. Miller do his job. No one was prepared for what happened next. Sam opened her mouth as if to scream, fighting back the doctor with her left arm as best she could. The horrifying part was that absolutely no sound came out. Daniel stepped in after a moment of shock and made the doctor step back.
"Give her time to get her bearings. She's obviously terrified," he warned. Then he turned to the nurse. "Lieutenant, could you call General Hammond and the rest of SG1 down here. A few more familiar faces might help," he suggested.
Dr. Miller nodded at the nurse in agreement and she went to make the pages. Two minutes later Jack entered the room. Teal'c was not far behind.
"Carter, nice to see you awake," Jack greeted.
His 2IC had been staring at Dr. Miller to ensure he didn't come any closer. At the sound of Jack's voice her head whipped around and she looked at him as if she was seeing a ghost. Suddenly her eyes filled with tears which slid silently down her cheeks.
"It's ok, Sam. I told you that you were back and safe now. See Jack and Teal'c are here. Dr. Miller just wants to check you out. Can you let him do that?" Daniel asked.
Sam's head whipped back to where Dr. Miller stood. She shook her head vigorously.
"How about Lt. Rush? Can she take your vitals?" Daniel suggested looking at Dr. Miller for his ok.
Sam looked over at the Lieutenant. Eventually she nodded her grudging approval, and the woman stepped in and following Dr. Miller's quiet orders checked Sam's temperature, and took a look at her throat to she if she saw anything unusual. Daniel was the only one of her team that understood that. He knew that Dr. Miller was wondering if his team had missed an injury that was keeping Sam from speaking. As Lt. Rush finished charting Sam's pulse and blood pressure, Hammond arrived.
"Major Carter, it's good to see you. You've had us all very worried," he said.
Sam looked at him with a small smile, but it was obvious to everyone that she was losing the battle to stay awake. Dr. Miller signaled everyone out of the room, despite SG1's protests.
"Lt. Rush will sit with her for a bit. She's probably not going to wake up again for awhile. I know the General was expecting an update on the Major's condition today, and I don't want to have to repeat myself, so this would be a good time if that's ok, Sir," Dr. Miller suggested.
They ended up in the briefing room, after the Doctor stopped to get his notes.
"As you know the leg injury had up until now been our biggest concern. Dr. Howell feels that we are past the critical point and that the Major will not loose the leg," he reported to the relief of everyone in the room. "However I think we have another problem," he continued.
"It's not unusual for her to not want a male to touch her Doc. We don't know what all was done to her in that hellhole but you can bet your bottom dollar her torturers were all men," Jack commented.
"Yes, I know, and we will all need to be sensitive to that for quiet a while. She probably won't want anyone to touch her, though the fact that she let Lt. Rush do so is encouraging. No, I'm talking about her voice," Dr. Miller explained.
Daniel nodded in understanding then filled in the others on what had occurred. "When Dr. Miller first approached her, Sam made as if to scream, but no sound came out. She didn't make any noise at all the whole time we were in there," he pointed out.
"You think they did something to her throat?" Jack asked.
"We didn't find anything on the initial exams, but we weren't specifically looking for anything either," Dr. Miller told them. "With your permission General, since the Major is asleep now, I'd like to lightly sedate her so that I can perform a few tests without her waking up and panicking," he requested.
"Permission granted, Doctor," Hammond agreed, and Dr. Miller left to run his tests. Hammond motioned the others to stay.
"Eventually someone is going to have to tell Major Carter about Dr. Fraiser. For now though I think unless she asks, we should not bring up the subject. Also, I made the appropriate phone calls to her brother and to Detective Shanahan informing them that the Major had been found. Mark Carter would like to see his sister as soon as possible, but I convinced him to wait until she had been moved from this secure facility. Mr. Shanahan has authorization and would like to visit once the Major is up to it," Hammond told them.
"Cassie too, Sir," Jack added.
"Cassandra is welcome to come as soon as you think she should, Colonel, however it is going to bring up the question of where her mother is," Hammond said.
"Yeah, but I think that both of them need to see each other," Jack decided. "Tomorrow is Saturday, I'll have her come in the morning. Can we keep Shanahan away for a day or two?"
"I'll tell him to come Sunday, that's probably the best I can do. Then he can give her brother an update," Hammond agreed.
Hammond dismissed them and Teal'c decided to take his turn with Carter as soon as Dr. Miller was done with the latest rounds of tests. She was unlikely to wake for hours, but they didn't want to take any chances. Jack relieved him in the wee hours of the morning after getting a few hours of sleep himself. Now he sat and stared without fear of being caught at the woman asleep in the bed. She looked a lot better than she had a week ago, but still so fragile and broken. He wondered how much of the Sam they knew and loved remained. She was strong, but he knew what months of torture could do to a person. So much of what made her so special was her incredible mind. Was it still intact? And if she truly couldn't speak how frustrating would that be for all of them. No more technobabble? He couldn't stand the thought of never hearing her ramble on as she attempted to explain her latest theory or project.
He was aware of the change in her breathing immediately. She had been sleeping peacefully, but he could tell that she was in some distress now. As he watched unsure of what to do he saw her actions become more violent as she thrashed her way through the nightmare. The entire time she made no noise although it appeared that her lips were moving to call out. Finally he moved over to the bed, and careful not to touch her he spoke close to her ear.
"Wake up Carter, it's just a dream. You're ok, Sam. Just wake up," he repeated.
Her eyes suddenly flew open and met his, causing him to move back a bit to give her some space. To his amazement after a minute she reached out one hand tentatively to touch his face.
"I'm real," he assured her. Moving forward just a couple of inches so her hand could reach him.
When her fingers contacted his cheek she closed her eyes in relief. He was real. She was home. She opened her eyes again to take in the features before her. Unconsciously her fingers traced each one, skimming over his eyes and nose and down to his lips. Unable to control himself he pressed a kiss onto her fingers.
"I missed you so much," he admitted.
She wanted to tell him that the thought of getting back to him had kept her alive. Realistically she had known months ago that her career as she'd known it was over. But there was still the thought that there was something left undone in her life that had made her stubbornly refuse to give up. Now she told him the only way she could. Her hand snaked around to the back of his head and she pulled him into a gentle kiss. After she released him he moved back and got caught up in the beauty of her eyes. A moment later with a contented smile she fell back asleep.
He sat there and thought about what had just happened. A million thoughts raced through his head. The old Sam Carter would have never initiated that kiss. But then the old Sam Carter was a soldier under his command first and foremost. He wondered if she understood even in her weakened state that the regs no longer applied. She would be getting a medical discharge, and he was retiring. She couldn't possible know the second, but he wondered if she already understood the first.
His final thought as the day shift of the medical staff started to wander in was to wonder if she would even remember the kiss when she awoke.
Author: Jackie W.
Email: [email protected]
Rating: R
Classification: SJ UST/Romance
Season: Season 7, immediately after Death Knell
Spoilers: Small ones through Heroes part II. All events after that episode do not occur.
Summary: SG1's luck finally runs out when Sam is captured and tortured.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment, not monetary purposes, and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Sam eventually figured out that they had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Typical SG1 bad luck. However the miraculous stroke of good luck that usually followed didn't come along for four long months. By that time it was way too late for her.
They had been sent to check out P4R-277. The UAV had flown over Goa'uld ruins, and sent back pictures clear enough for Daniel to determine that the planet had once been one of Ra's outposts. Hoping to pick up any weapons or other technology abandoned there, SG1 arrived just hours before a squadron of Jaffa landed in a Teltac. They too were looking to scavenge anything left behind for their god Ptah, a Goa'uld with little power who had been hovering on the outskirts of other's territories for centuries. They surprised the four members of SG1 as they both converged on the small temple not far from the gate, and a firefight ensued. Just bad timing.
She was never really sure what happened at the end. It had been utter chaos as the four of them tried to get back to the gate, firing at the Jaffa who were trying to surround them and cut them off. She saw Daniel get hit in the left arm, luckily not a life threatening shot, but enough damage to make it difficult for him to return fire. Sam instinctively moved into a better position to cover him. The next thing she knew she was waking up in a Sarcophagus aboard Ptah's mothership. None of her teammates were with her, which simultaneously filled her with relief and terror. Hopefully they had made it back to Earth alive. Not that it would do her any good. She was long gone from P4R-277 even if they had been able to get re-enforcements and return.
It didn't take her long to figure out that ol' Ptah was pretty far out of the loop. As she was tortured for information she learned a lot more than she gave away. He had only a vague idea of the current power structure of the System Lords, made no mention of Earth, nor did he give any indication that he'd ever heard of SG1. All pluses in Sam's eyes. On the downside, he was so far removed from the main stream of Goa'uld activities there was little hope that there were any Tok'ra or rebel Jaffa in his ranks. No help from within was likely. The only thing working in her favor was that thanks to his scavenger tendencies, Ptah was kept pretty busy staying one step ahead of whatever Goa'uld he had just stolen from. It meant that entire days went by without any torture which gave her a bit of breathing space to recover in between her sessions with the megalomaniac. She needed those days, as it also seemed that Ptah wasn't too worried about her dying. She had not been put into the sarcophagus again since her arrival.
Four weeks had passed when the Goa'uld finally became bored with the lack of information he had received from the prisoner. In the past he might have forced her to serve him, but he currently had a consort that he was quite fond of, so he decided to play a different sort of game. Since Sam wouldn't talk he began punishing her any time she uttered a sound. It didn't take long for her to learn the rules of the game. Speaking resulted in two Jaffa working her over with their staff weapons. Moaning or screaming in pain was punishable by slapping her around or stomping on ribs. Once she called out in her sleep in the throes of a nightmare and was promptly hung by her wrists from the ceiling dislocating both of her shoulders.
Three months after she had first been captured found Sam Carter living in a world filled only with pain. Both legs were broken, as well as one arm and wrist, plus numerous ribs. She'd managed to pop both shoulders back into place by ramming them into her cell wall, but the left one ached constantly and was very stiff. She spent the majority of her days curled up silently in the corner of her cell trying to stay still. Occasionally the Jaffa brought her food and water but it was always a mixed blessing, as often they would test her to see if they could get her to cry out. By the time she had survived four months with Ptah she was beginning to welcome the thought of death. Only one thing kept her fighting. One set of brown eyes that she needed to get home to.
Back on Earth, her teammates were struggling to move on without her. All three had been injured in the firefight and not been allowed back as part of the attempted rescue. They had been devastated at the news that there was no sign of Sam when SG2 and SG3 had come back to report in. They had kept their hopes of finding her alive by contacting all of their allies. The rebel Jaffa had promised to let them know if any of their spies heard or saw anything. The Tok'ra were unreachable as were the Asguard.
The night that Sam's status was changed from MIA to MIA/presumed KIA the three men retreated to Jack's house and drank themselves into a stupor. Even Teal'c managed to drink enough to pass out on the couch. In the morning as they nursed their hangovers Jack admitted that he was thinking of retiring.
"But we need to keep looking for Sam!" Daniel protested.
Jack wanted to tell Daniel that they needed to be realistic and start accepting the fact that Sam was dead, but there was a part of him that refused to give up hope as well. So he agreed to wait. Mentally he made a vow that if they hadn't found her in two months then he was getting out. It was just too painful to be around the SGC without her there.
A month later he was regretting letting Daniel talk him into staying. Fraiser was dead, and the place was swarming with reporters and NID. Once he'd been released from the infirmary and the memorial service had been completed he typed up his retirement papers and handed them to Hammond.
"I have Cassie to think about now, Sir. She has no one left," he explained. And while it was partially the truth, Hammond knew that Jack was also leaving to try to find some relief from the constant grief that Sam's disappearance had caused.
"It will take a couple of weeks to process everything Colonel," Hammond informed him sadly. In the last four months the SGC had lost two of it's best. Now it was losing a third.
Two days later the Klaxon's sounded and Bra'tak accompanied by two Tok'ra walked through the gate with the broken body of Sam Carter. She was unconscious, battered to the point of being barely recognizable, but alive.
Seventeen weeks and three days after Sam was captured she finally got the miracle she needed. Not that she could have told you how long it had been, only that the faces that she saw in her dreams seemed to be from another lifetime. Then she awoke one day to find the ship was under attack. Ptah had finally pissed off the wrong Goa'uld and had been hunted down by a squadron of Ba'al's forces. Forced to crash land on the nearest planet, Ptah and most of his Jaffa were killed by the invaders and the ship was stripped of all of its' valuables. The silent unmoving heap in the corner of one dark cell was totally overlooked. Unable to re-start the ship's engines, it was left behind only to be found by a Tok'ra scout ship two days later.
They were surprised to receive signs of one life form on their scans, and even more surprised when they discovered the body. Her dog tags were the only way they identified her as being from Earth as her uniform was long gone. She had obviously hit her head during the crash, and so they gently lifted her and took her back to their ship. They had only the most basic first-aid supplies on board and concentrated on getting her cleaned up and into some clothes. Then they set a course for the small outpost they had been using for a base.
From there they tried to contact her father, since they had both recognized that she was Jacob Carter's daughter. Unable to reach him, and afraid that if they took her to the Tok'ra council she would not be returned promptly to her people, they set out for a planet they knew would help them to gain access to Earth's gate. Their stop on Chulak was brief, just long enough for them to explain the situation and have Master Bra'tak join them with the device to signal the SGC. Sam remained blissfully unconscious through the entire trip.
She woke up a week later. Unknown to her she'd already had three operations, one on her left leg, one on her left shoulder and one on her right arm. Her other broken leg was set. It had been a simple break and had mostly healed already. Her right arm would be fine now that they had put pins in it to stabilize it. The doctors were unsure if she would ever regain total mobility in her left shoulder. Her left leg was a disaster. Multiple breaks had already healed poorly causing muscle and nerve damage. The doctor's were fighting to keep her from losing the limb totally. At best she would have a severe limp for the rest of her life.
They also had been fighting off infection. There were small burns and cuts all over her body that had had gone untreated. The Tok'ra had done the best they could with the healing device on all of injuries before they left, but most of them were too severe or had already scarred enough to make it impossible for them to do much for her.
The doctor's were reassuring though. She had survived the worst and now it was just a matter of time for her body to heal, so her teammates took turns waiting for her to wake up. Daniel was sleeping in the chair next to her when her eyes finally fluttered open. She stared at him for several minutes before a nurse passing by noticed she was awake. She put out a call to one of the doctors, then placed a hand quietly on Daniel's shoulder.
"Dr. Jackson, look who's awake," she smiled.
Daniel's eyes flew to Sam's and he jumped up to her side.
"Sam! It's Daniel. You're back at the SGC. You're safe now, Sam," he reassured her.
Before he could say anything else the new CMO stepped in and told him he needed to check over the patient. He took a step back to let Dr. Miller do his job. No one was prepared for what happened next. Sam opened her mouth as if to scream, fighting back the doctor with her left arm as best she could. The horrifying part was that absolutely no sound came out. Daniel stepped in after a moment of shock and made the doctor step back.
"Give her time to get her bearings. She's obviously terrified," he warned. Then he turned to the nurse. "Lieutenant, could you call General Hammond and the rest of SG1 down here. A few more familiar faces might help," he suggested.
Dr. Miller nodded at the nurse in agreement and she went to make the pages. Two minutes later Jack entered the room. Teal'c was not far behind.
"Carter, nice to see you awake," Jack greeted.
His 2IC had been staring at Dr. Miller to ensure he didn't come any closer. At the sound of Jack's voice her head whipped around and she looked at him as if she was seeing a ghost. Suddenly her eyes filled with tears which slid silently down her cheeks.
"It's ok, Sam. I told you that you were back and safe now. See Jack and Teal'c are here. Dr. Miller just wants to check you out. Can you let him do that?" Daniel asked.
Sam's head whipped back to where Dr. Miller stood. She shook her head vigorously.
"How about Lt. Rush? Can she take your vitals?" Daniel suggested looking at Dr. Miller for his ok.
Sam looked over at the Lieutenant. Eventually she nodded her grudging approval, and the woman stepped in and following Dr. Miller's quiet orders checked Sam's temperature, and took a look at her throat to she if she saw anything unusual. Daniel was the only one of her team that understood that. He knew that Dr. Miller was wondering if his team had missed an injury that was keeping Sam from speaking. As Lt. Rush finished charting Sam's pulse and blood pressure, Hammond arrived.
"Major Carter, it's good to see you. You've had us all very worried," he said.
Sam looked at him with a small smile, but it was obvious to everyone that she was losing the battle to stay awake. Dr. Miller signaled everyone out of the room, despite SG1's protests.
"Lt. Rush will sit with her for a bit. She's probably not going to wake up again for awhile. I know the General was expecting an update on the Major's condition today, and I don't want to have to repeat myself, so this would be a good time if that's ok, Sir," Dr. Miller suggested.
They ended up in the briefing room, after the Doctor stopped to get his notes.
"As you know the leg injury had up until now been our biggest concern. Dr. Howell feels that we are past the critical point and that the Major will not loose the leg," he reported to the relief of everyone in the room. "However I think we have another problem," he continued.
"It's not unusual for her to not want a male to touch her Doc. We don't know what all was done to her in that hellhole but you can bet your bottom dollar her torturers were all men," Jack commented.
"Yes, I know, and we will all need to be sensitive to that for quiet a while. She probably won't want anyone to touch her, though the fact that she let Lt. Rush do so is encouraging. No, I'm talking about her voice," Dr. Miller explained.
Daniel nodded in understanding then filled in the others on what had occurred. "When Dr. Miller first approached her, Sam made as if to scream, but no sound came out. She didn't make any noise at all the whole time we were in there," he pointed out.
"You think they did something to her throat?" Jack asked.
"We didn't find anything on the initial exams, but we weren't specifically looking for anything either," Dr. Miller told them. "With your permission General, since the Major is asleep now, I'd like to lightly sedate her so that I can perform a few tests without her waking up and panicking," he requested.
"Permission granted, Doctor," Hammond agreed, and Dr. Miller left to run his tests. Hammond motioned the others to stay.
"Eventually someone is going to have to tell Major Carter about Dr. Fraiser. For now though I think unless she asks, we should not bring up the subject. Also, I made the appropriate phone calls to her brother and to Detective Shanahan informing them that the Major had been found. Mark Carter would like to see his sister as soon as possible, but I convinced him to wait until she had been moved from this secure facility. Mr. Shanahan has authorization and would like to visit once the Major is up to it," Hammond told them.
"Cassie too, Sir," Jack added.
"Cassandra is welcome to come as soon as you think she should, Colonel, however it is going to bring up the question of where her mother is," Hammond said.
"Yeah, but I think that both of them need to see each other," Jack decided. "Tomorrow is Saturday, I'll have her come in the morning. Can we keep Shanahan away for a day or two?"
"I'll tell him to come Sunday, that's probably the best I can do. Then he can give her brother an update," Hammond agreed.
Hammond dismissed them and Teal'c decided to take his turn with Carter as soon as Dr. Miller was done with the latest rounds of tests. She was unlikely to wake for hours, but they didn't want to take any chances. Jack relieved him in the wee hours of the morning after getting a few hours of sleep himself. Now he sat and stared without fear of being caught at the woman asleep in the bed. She looked a lot better than she had a week ago, but still so fragile and broken. He wondered how much of the Sam they knew and loved remained. She was strong, but he knew what months of torture could do to a person. So much of what made her so special was her incredible mind. Was it still intact? And if she truly couldn't speak how frustrating would that be for all of them. No more technobabble? He couldn't stand the thought of never hearing her ramble on as she attempted to explain her latest theory or project.
He was aware of the change in her breathing immediately. She had been sleeping peacefully, but he could tell that she was in some distress now. As he watched unsure of what to do he saw her actions become more violent as she thrashed her way through the nightmare. The entire time she made no noise although it appeared that her lips were moving to call out. Finally he moved over to the bed, and careful not to touch her he spoke close to her ear.
"Wake up Carter, it's just a dream. You're ok, Sam. Just wake up," he repeated.
Her eyes suddenly flew open and met his, causing him to move back a bit to give her some space. To his amazement after a minute she reached out one hand tentatively to touch his face.
"I'm real," he assured her. Moving forward just a couple of inches so her hand could reach him.
When her fingers contacted his cheek she closed her eyes in relief. He was real. She was home. She opened her eyes again to take in the features before her. Unconsciously her fingers traced each one, skimming over his eyes and nose and down to his lips. Unable to control himself he pressed a kiss onto her fingers.
"I missed you so much," he admitted.
She wanted to tell him that the thought of getting back to him had kept her alive. Realistically she had known months ago that her career as she'd known it was over. But there was still the thought that there was something left undone in her life that had made her stubbornly refuse to give up. Now she told him the only way she could. Her hand snaked around to the back of his head and she pulled him into a gentle kiss. After she released him he moved back and got caught up in the beauty of her eyes. A moment later with a contented smile she fell back asleep.
He sat there and thought about what had just happened. A million thoughts raced through his head. The old Sam Carter would have never initiated that kiss. But then the old Sam Carter was a soldier under his command first and foremost. He wondered if she understood even in her weakened state that the regs no longer applied. She would be getting a medical discharge, and he was retiring. She couldn't possible know the second, but he wondered if she already understood the first.
His final thought as the day shift of the medical staff started to wander in was to wonder if she would even remember the kiss when she awoke.