Work Text:
Sam touched an alien device on P4X-127 and it gave her the ability to read minds.
Well, not read, exactly. She couldn’t hear people’s thoughts as if they were speaking aloud, but she could sense moods and feelings. If she concentrated, Sam could pick up a vague idea here or there, but mostly it was just abstract impressions.
Daniel was fascinated by it all, of course. Sam could feel it swirling around him, each new question sparking a dozen more. “What’s it like?” he asked, eagerly. “Can you feel what we’re feeling, or just sense it? Do you see anything, like extrasensory perception? Can you—?”
“Perhaps we should return Colonel-Carter to Earth,” Teal’c interrupted. His thoughts were smooth, like a crystal clear lake.
“Yeah, good idea,” Sam agreed. She didn’t think anything was wrong, apart from the sudden mood-reading, but it was always a good idea to get this sort of thing checked out. “Cam?”
His thoughts marched like soldiers, always on patrol. “Better safe than sorry,” he agreed. “Let’s go.”
“You do feel okay, though, don’t you?” asked Vala. Outwardly, she was as loud and bubbly as ever, but now, Sam could sense the worry that roared along just beneath the surface, like a hidden riptide.
“I don’t think it did any damage,” said Sam, reassuringly.
In the SGC infirmary, Dr. Lam didn’t find anything wrong with her. “There is some elevated activity in certain areas of your brain,” said Carolyn. “But it’s beginning to decrease already. I think it would be best to let it wear off on its own, unless something unusual starts to happen.”
Sam arched an eyebrow. “More unusual than being able to ready people’s moods?”
“Yes,” Carolyn deadpanned. “More unusual than that. And I’d prefer if you stayed on-base at least overnight, in case something does happen.”
“Sure thing,” Sam agreed.
Carolyn seemed more laid-back than Sam sometimes thought a doctor should be, especially one who worked with such potentially-world-ending things that the ‘gate teams kept getting into, but now Sam could see the rapid-fire analysis going on in Carolyn’s mind, as sharp and quick as she’d always imagined Janet’s to be.
“General O’Neill, sir!” said a surprised voice from the other side of the infirmary, and Sam looked up.
Jack was smiling, talking warmly with a few of the airmen, but she could sense the dark mood he carried with him, like a cartoon raincloud above his head. Sam opened her mouth to call out to him, to say something comforting, when Jack spotted her and his entire mood changed. The cloud vanished, like the sun coming out after a rainstorm, a wash of golden light. It was warm, like being wrapped in the softest blanket Sam had ever felt.
“Hey, Carter,” he said, smiling.
She knew that smile, the one only for her, but now she could feel every bit of emotion behind it. How long had he been smiling at her like that? Far longer than they’d been together, certainly. Sam was suddenly very glad she was sitting down, because she was feeling rather weak in the knees.
“Carter?” Jack said again. “You okay?”
Worry and concern began to creep along the edges of her warm love-blanket, like dark clouds on the horizon, and that was definitely not okay. Sam reached out, slow enough to give Jack a little warning, and pulled him into a kiss. Jack froze, surprised for a split-second, then kissed her back, sliding forward to stand between her knees, hands coming up to cup her face and pull her closer.
When they broke for air, Jack just looked at her for a long moment, then turned to look at Carolyn.
“Doc,” he said. “Is Carter under the influence of anything, human or alien, that would in any way impair her judgment?”
“Not a thing,” said Carolyn.
“Excellent,” said Jack. “If anyone needs us… tell them not to need us.”
“As long as you keep her on-base, I’ll tell them anything you like,” Carolyn agreed, smirking.
Jack grinned and turned back to Sam. “Is there a story in this?”
Sam slid off the exam table and took his hand, lacing their fingers together. “I’ll tell you afterwards.”
THE END