Work Text:
Stargate SG1
SEASON 3 EPISODE 7
DEADMAN'S SWITCH - THE MISSING SCENE
"Carter".
Sam vaguely registered fingers pressing against her neck as she struggled to clear the fog from her mind.
Her head thumped as she swallowed and struggled to open her eyes.
"Carter. Where is he?".
Sam heard the Colonel's voice through the fog but she wasn't sure who he was talking about.
She wasn't even sure where she was.
She struggled to make sense of everything as she finally dragged her eyes open and saw blue sky, trees and the Colonel's face.
She was on the ground?
How did she end up on the ground?
She heard the dull roar of a Tel'tak and her vision swam as she automatically reacted to a possible threat, lurched up and then automatically propped herself up on her elbow to see where the noise was coming from.
A vaguely familiar face was at the controls but her mind stayed stubbornly blank as she stared at the ship in growing alarm as she tried to put a name to the slightly fuzzy person that was currently wagging a finger… or two… at them.
Sam was still trying to figure out where she was and what had happened to her when the Colonel suddenly hooked his hand under one of her upper arms and began pulling her upright.
She struggled to get her legs to cooperate as the Colonel tried to pull her up onto her feet.
Sam shakily placed her other hand down on the ground in an attempt to push herself up off the ground.
She managed to get one boot heel underneath herself enough to give herself a slight upward boost, but then she groaned as her vision suddenly went completely blurry.
She vaguely heard the Colonel yell an alarmed sounding 'Carter!' as her muscles suddenly turned to jelly and everything around her swirled back into darkness.
Jack heard Sam give a soft groan and quickly turned his head back to look down at her.
"Carter!" He cried out with alarm as Sam's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she began to bonelessly flop sideways towards the ground as she suddenly lost consciousness.
He reacted quickly and managed to keep pulling her arm up high enough so her head didn't hit the ground.
He carefully reached out and put his other hand under her head and neck, then crouched down and leaned her torso up against himself to support her body.
He quickly freed his other hand so he could check the pulse in her throat.
He felt slow flutters under his fingers as he looked down at her completely slack face with concern.
He lightly tapped her face but this time he couldn't wake her.
He looked up and scowled angrily at the Bounty Hunter in the Tel'tak as he picked up Sam's cap and shoved it down the front of his vest and then took off his own cap and put it in there as well.
Jack felt like swearing because he knew that he'd just lost his chance to get Sam away from him.
He carefully repositioned Sam's lax body, then hugged her torso against his and lifted her body upright with his own.
He repositioned his feet, then very quickly ducked his shoulder under her midsection so he could hoist her unconscious body up over his shoulders in a fireman's carry.
He steadied his balance again then adjusted her body slightly so he had her in a more secure position.
He knew that Teal'c was smart enough to recognise that they'd lost their chance to rescue Sam, and he hoped that they'd all be able to evade capture until Teal'c could come up with a plan to either catch the Bounty Hunter, rescue them or hopefully both.
He knew that without any weapons the chance of a rescue was pretty slim… and honestly, although their captor was a smart ass, he was a pretty clever smart-ass and Jack figured that it would probably just be a matter of time before Aris caught the others too.
As Aris turned the Tel'tak and brought it closer to the ledge to let them onboard, Jack briefly contemplated making a run for it now he had Sam on his shoulders, but he quickly shut down those thoughts as he realised he had no idea what was actually wrong with Sam.
He was quite worried about what the smart-ass might have actually done to her, and with the Stargate out of commission… there wasn't anywhere they could take her to get medical help.
He knew that Sam hadn't been shot with a Zat, because he knew exactly how she recovered from that.
No.
This reaction was something very different and judging by Sam's obviously vague and weakened state after being forcefully roused, it was highly possible that she'd been drugged.
Aris was enough of a smart ass to come up with the idea of using a drug that required a 'reversal' drug or a 'cure' so he could blackmail them into giving themselves up.
He hadn't noticed any blood on Sam, but he knew that it was also highly possible that the bounty hunter had simply whacked her on the head to knock her out, and her reaction could be due to having a severe concussion.
Either possibility could explain her current condition, and that left him with a ball of dread in his gut. He knew that he couldn't take that kind of risk with Sam's life.
It was obvious that Sam had been left as bait and he'd had no choice but to take the risk to try and get her away from Aris.
He'd checked the surrounding area very carefully for signs of a trap before he'd approached her, but there had been no clues to what the Bounty Hunter's plan was.
He'd decided to approach Sam along the ground, to see if he could wake her and get her away before Aris could spring his trap
He certainly hadn't counted on Sam being this badly compromised, OR the Bounty Hunter's sneaky aerial approach from below.
Not knowing what had knocked Sam out, meant that he didn't have a choice, and he sighed with annoyance as he started walking towards the ship with his unconscious 2IC on his shoulders.
He carefully stepped into the open doorway of the Tel'tak then stood still and waited as the Bounty Hunter pointed his weapon at them with one hand and steered the ship with the other.
The Bounty Hunter flew the ship upwards and then once it was hovering, he left the controls and moved to open the cargo hold then directed Jack to enter.
"What did you do to her?" Jack demanded as he refused to move.
"She'll be fine. Get in there. Now" Aris replied firmly.
"What did you DO to her?" Jack demanded again with barely controlled anger as he stood his ground.
"I just stunned her. She'll be a bit groggy for a while but then she'll be fine" Aris told Jack with obvious amusement at his anger.
"She's been hit with a Zat a few times and she's NEVER reacted as bad as this" Jack snarled.
The Bounty Hunter smirked "I didn't use a 'Zat'. The stun function of my main weapon was especially designed to put a Goa'uld out of commission… fast. It knocks them out and also does something weird to their Naquadah which leaves them weak and very cooperative for a while so I know I can do whatever I want with them at no risk to myself. As you can see… It's VERY effective. Now… get in the damn hold before I shoot you too. You don't have Naquadah, but I guarantee that it will still put you on the floor before you can blink. So… Do you want to cooperate and go in there willingly? Or do you want her to get another dose of this weapon when you force me to shoot both of you?".
Jack glared at him and knew he had no choice but to comply. If that weapon really had messed with Sam's Naquadah, then he definitely didn't want to risk her being shot a second time.
Jack slowly turned and walked towards the door "How exactly does it mess with her Naquadah? She doesn't have a Snake to heal her. Are you CERTAIN that she'll be okay?"
"I have no idea HOW it works… and as long as it DOES work… I couldn't really care less WHAT it does to the Goa'uld's Naquadah. I can't say that I've ever stunned a Host without a snake before, but I'm sure she'll be just fine. It will probably just take her longer to recover".
"What if she doesn't… recover?" Jack questioned angrily as he stepped into the cargo hold "What if not having a Snake makes that weapon deadly for her?".
"Well… If Sokar doesn't want to put another Goa'uld in her, then I guess I'll only get the Bounty for her dead, rather than alive" Aris smirked as the door shut.
Jack silently cursed the Bounty Hunter as he began to carefully ease Sam down off his shoulders, but then he almost lost his grip on Sam as he suddenly lost his balance.
He frantically juggled to keep hold of her enough to keep her head from hitting the floor, and ended up crashing down on his ass with Sam partly lying on top of him.
He quickly checked her pulse and then made sure that she was still breathing before he sighed with relief and began to assess how to move her safely.
He decided he may as well stay on the floor with her, so he managed to sit themselves both upright and then he wiggled back against the closest wall with Sam's bottom on his thighs and her head leaning against his neck.
He carefully changed Sam's position so her torso was slightly sideways to his and leaning more comfortably against his own, and her head was leaning against his right shoulder.
Her bottom was still on his thighs and her legs were bent at the knees and mostly on the floor on his left side.
He checked her breathing and pulse again and sighed with relief at the slow but steady throbbing under his fingertips.
He leaned back against a wall and made himself comfortable with Sam lying against his chest.
After a few more minutes he felt the Tel'tak land on the ground and the engine shut down, then he heard the outer door open and close.
Jack couldn't help but wonder how long it would take for the Bounty Hunter to catch the others.
About ten minutes later he felt Sam's head move slightly and heard a soft little groan.
It took her a little while to rouse enough to start opening her eyes.
Sam must have realised that she was partly lying on top of someone because she began to try and unsuccessfully push herself away from his chest.
"You're okay Carter. Just take it easy" he quickly reassured her as his hands tried to stop her from moving.
She stilled at his words. "Sir?" she questioned with a rather vague sounding wobbly voice.
"You're okay Carter. We're back on board the Bounty Hunter's ship. He stunned you and left you on the ground as bait… and it worked. You're going to be fine but you're going to need to take it easy for a bit. How do you feel?"
"Awful" Sam whispered roughly with a bit of a slur as she started to relax her head back down against his shoulder again.
Jack knew Sam must be feeling pretty out of it for her not to protest the fact that she was partly lying on top of her Commanding Officer.
"Just don't puke on me Carter. Let me know if you're going to puke. Okay?" Jack told her with a little amused grin as he gently patted her arm.
"Mmm… 'Kay" Sam murmured and then a couple of minutes later Jack's heart skipped a beat as her head suddenly rolled towards his neck as she passed out again.
Jack quickly felt her throat, but reassured by her continued steady pulse he sighed with relief and then looked at his watch.
He decided to keep careful track of her blackouts so he would know if she improved over time or not, and two hours later he finally felt as though he could start to relax a little as she began to spend more time awake than unconscious.
Her heart rate continued to stay very low and she was still quite spacey and vague whenever she was awake.
She still didn't seem to be aware of the fact that he was pretty much cuddling her while she was sitting on his lap, and the last few times she'd been awake she'd sort of snuggled her head against his neck.
It was rather adorable, and despite the serious circumstances, he was certainly enjoying the chance to act out his dreams and hold her close.
He knew that he was feeling things for his 2IC that he shouldn't be feeling.
It was getting harder and harder to only see Sam as 'Major Carter' and sometimes… just sometimes… he wondered if she was struggling with her feelings too.
He knew that nothing would ever happen between them, but his heart wasn't very good at listening to his brain, and seeing her in trouble like this certainly wasn't helping.
It was worrying the heck out of him that she was still so unaware of her immediate surroundings and still suddenly passing out for no obvious reason.
The stressful worrying was beginning to drive him crazy.
After a couple more hours of slipping in and out of consciousness, Sam was finally showing signs of being a little more mentally aware and was able to hold a basic short conversation about the fact that she'd been stunned by the Bounty Hunter with the strange weapon.
She was obviously still a little vague and confused, and she couldn't even begin to make sense about what the weapon might have done to her Naquadah and why it would be affecting her like it was.
She was definitely finding it hard to keep focus on one solid train of thought, so he thought it best to distract her from thinking about the weapon and started to soothe her with his voice while he absent-mindedly rubbed her forearm with his thumb. He kept reminding her to just relax and let herself rest so she could continue to recover.
The last thing Jack wanted Sam to do was for her to put any added stress on her addled brain by trying to think about possible theories while it was still clearly struggling with basic awareness.
Sam steadily stayed awake for longer and longer periods of time and after another hour she was finally aware enough to realise that she was basically 'snuggling' with her CO.
Jack tried to dismiss any possible embarrassment and told her that it had been the easiest and most practical way to keep constant tabs on her heart rate and breathing without killing his knees.
She blushed a little and quickly suggested that she should try to sit independently now that she was starting to feel better.
Her balance and strength was a little wonky so Jack helped her to ease herself off his lap and then helped to settle herself down as she sat next to him on the floor.
He watched her carefully as she leaned her head back against the wall and then winced with a little groan as she wriggled a little to make her position more comfortable.
"You right?" he asked her gently but Sam just replied with a quiet 'hmm' and kept her eyes closed for a long moment before opening them again as she sighed quietly.
She relaxed back against the wall and pretty much just stared at the wall in front of her.
She was still awake thirty minutes later, and although she remained quiet and looked overly tired, Sam finally seemed to be physically and mentally improved enough for him to guess that she was finally over the effects of the Bounty Hunter's weapon.
Then she took him by surprise as her eyes suddenly rolled back and her head began to loll forward and then her body started falling sideways as she passed out again.
Thankfully he reacted quickly enough to stop her head from hitting the floor as she collapsed.
As Jack gently lowered her head to the floor and put her in a more comfortable position by laying her on her back, he seriously began to wonder if his frayed nerves would survive for much longer.
He checked her pulse and let out a relieved sigh.
Sam's heart rate had definitely improved while she'd been sitting by herself, and even though she'd just lost consciousness again, she was almost back to her normal resting heart rate.
He sat down beside her and sincerely hoped that this would be the last time she passed out.
After ten minutes he began to get a little worried about the stuffiness of the cargo hold, and began to wonder if that had contributed towards her current blackout.
He took his cap off and started to fan her face to try and increase her oxygen intake.
A long five minutes later he said her name to try and wake her up, but after getting no response, his ongoing worries and then his tired and aching arm suddenly made him lose his patience and he reached out and cupped his hand onto her jaw to see if he could forcefully wake her.
Thankfully she began to rouse straight away.
As she opened her eyes he could instantly see that they looked much brighter and he hoped it was a sign that her clever brain had finally kicked into gear again.
“You passed out again” he explained "You right?" he asked gently as he carefully studied her reactions.
He was instantly relieved when she gave him a thumbs up sign because it proved that she was definitely thinking much more clearly.
“Yep. What'd I miss?” Sam whispered a little roughly.
“Oh not too much” he replied casually as she slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position without any assistance.
Jack watched as Sam wobbled a little then gave her head a bit of a shake like she was trying to clear the final cobwebs from her mind.
She was definitely much more physically coordinated and stronger this time, and she was definitely more mentally aware.
Jack felt pretty confident that Sam was finally over the effects of that stupid weapon, and as he watched her sit there and blink a few times to seemingly help clear the last of the fuzz out of her brain, he swore silently to himself that if Aris tried to shoot her again, then he would seriously jump in front of her and take the hit himself.
There was no way in Hell that he could stand to watch her go through all that again.
He knew he'd have to continue to keep a careful eye on her until they could get her home and have Janet check her out properly.
The thought of home made him wonder about the current status of the rest of their team and Korra again.
"Oh…" said Jack as he suddenly realised that he hadn't had the chance to tell Sam about their new friend "By the way… the Goa'uld Aris wanted us to catch claims to be a Tok'ra named Korra. Ring a bell?" he asked her hopefully.
"Yeah it does" Sam replied with clear interest.
"He said you'd recognize him"
"Maybe. We can't let Aris trade a Tok'ra" Sam said firmly as she looked at him.
Jack felt relieved at her answer. Yep. Carter's brain had definitely kicked back into gear at long last.
They heard a noise on the other side of the door. Jack carefully pulled Sam up off the ground and then steadied her as she turned around to face the door as it slid open.
The others sheepishly walked through the door followed by Aris.
"Oh yeah. Way to play hard to get boys" Jack said sarcastically.