Work Text:
Between Two Worlds
The dry wind of P4X-739 whipped up swirls of dust from the ruins, a desolate landscape that seemed to scream abandonment. The SG-1 team moved through the remnants of an ancient civilization, their footsteps echoing in the oppressive silence. Jack O’Neill led the way, his P90 raised, his eyes scanning every shadow with a mix of caution and weariness.
Upon reaching the ruins, everyone dispersed to their tasks. After a few hours, Jack approached his second-in-command.
—Carter, what’ve you got? —he asked, his voice sharp as he stopped beside Sam, who was crouched in front of a metallic panel covered in faintly glowing symbols.
Sam handled her tools with precise fingers, her eyes narrowed in concentration.
—It looks like a control interface —she replied, her tone clinical yet tinged with curiosity—. It could be Ancient technology, but I don’t have enough to fully determine—
Daniel Jackson leaned over her, interrupting with his usual enthusiasm.
—It’s fascinating. These inscriptions might be a variant of— —He didn’t finish. A blinding flash erupted from the panel, enveloping Sam in a golden light that sliced through the air like a blade. Her body tensed for a moment before collapsing, motionless, onto the dusty sand.
—Carter! —Jack lunged toward her, his heart pounding in his chest. The light vanished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving a void that buzzed in his ears.
—Sam! —Daniel dropped to his knees beside her, his trembling hands searching for her pulse. Teal’c spun around, his staff weapon activated, his face a mask of alertness.
Jack knelt next to Sam, his hands brushing her pale face.
—Come on, Carter, don’t do this to me —he whispered, his voice breaking—. Teal’c, pick her up! We’re leaving now!
Teal’c bent down and hoisted Sam over his shoulder with silent strength, his expression stoic but his eyes filled with urgency.
—Daniel, to the gate! —Jack ordered, standing with a sharp motion—. Move!
The run was a nightmare. The uneven terrain threatened to trip them, and the wind flung sand into their faces, blinding them with every step. Teal’c ran with steady strides, Sam’s weight barely slowing him down. Daniel stumbled behind, muttering theories between gasps, while Jack brought up the rear, his weapon ready, his mind screaming a single word: Sam.
They reached the Stargate exhausted. Daniel threw himself at the DHD, his clumsy fingers dialing the symbols as sweat dripped down his forehead. The blue vortex roared to life, and Jack shouted into his radio.
—SGC, this is SG-1. We’re bringing Carter in for medical attention. Get ready now!
Teal’c crossed the gate with Sam over his shoulder, followed by Daniel and Jack. The echo of their boots reverberated in the Stargate Command chamber before the portal closed with a final snap.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOooO
The white light of the SGC infirmary blinded Sam as she opened her eyes. Her head throbbed as if a drum were pounding in her skull, and a dull hum filled her ears. She blinked, adjusting to the surroundings: the humming monitors, the antiseptic smell, the rough sheets against her skin. Then a familiar voice broke the silence.
—Welcome back, honey —said Jack O’Neill, sitting beside her with a soft smile that didn’t match the man she knew.
Sam turned her head so fast that dizziness hit her like a wave. He was there, leaning toward her, his brown eyes shining with a warmth that disarmed her. Honey? Her mind reeled, a shiver running down her spine.
—What? —Her voice came out raspy, and she tried to sit up, but a sharp pain in her chest stopped her.
Jack leaned closer, his hands reaching out and gently grasping her arms to ease her back down.
—Easy, you’ve been out of it for a while. How do you feel?
Sam pulled back instinctively, raising a hand to push him away.
—Colonel, what are you doing? —she asked, her tone sharp, almost accusing—. This isn’t… this isn’t right.
He frowned, confusion crossing his face like a shadow.
—Colonel? Since when do you call me that off-duty? —He let out a chuckle, but there was an edge of worry in his voice—. Sam, what’s wrong with you?
She stared at him, her pulse racing until she felt her heart might burst. She glanced at her left hand: no ring, no sign of commitment. But the way Jack looked at her, the closeness in his demeanor, hit her like a punch to the gut. This violated every rule they’d upheld for years.
—You shouldn’t be this close —she insisted, her voice trembling—. The regulations… this isn’t allowed.
—Regulations? —Jack cut in, his smile fading completely—. Sam, you’re starting to scare me. What regulations are you talking about? —He stood and took a step toward the door, his face tense—. Janet, can you come in here for a sec?
Sam fell silent, her mind a whirlwind as Janet Fraiser entered with a clipboard in hand, exchanging a few whispered words with the colonel. Jack shot her a worried glance before stepping out, closing the door behind him with a click that echoed in the room. Janet approached, her expression professional yet warm.
—Sam, Jack says you’re acting strange. How do you feel? —she asked, checking the monitors with a calm that contrasted with Sam’s inner chaos.
—Confused —Sam replied, her gaze locked on Janet—. What’s going on? The colonel… he called me "honey." That’s not normal. That’s not him.
Janet raised an eyebrow, pausing for a moment before sitting on the edge of the bed.
—Sam, he’s not "the colonel" to you. He’s Jack. Your fiancé. —She paused, studying her reaction with piercing eyes—. You really don’t remember?
The world tilted beneath her. Sam felt a lump in her throat, her hands clenching the sheets until her knuckles turned white.
—Fiancé? —she whispered, the words barely escaping her lips—. That… that can’t be.
Janet frowned, her tone growing more serious.
—I’m going to run some tests. Stay here. Don’t move.
The tests were thorough: brain scans, blood work, neurological exams. Sam endured them in tense silence, her mind spinning without finding solid ground. When Janet returned, she came alone, closing the door carefully before speaking.
—Sam, physically, you’re fine —she said, sitting again—. No damage, no anomalies. But I’m worried about your memory. You and Jack have been engaged for almost a year. You really don’t remember anything?
Sam shook her head, tears of frustration burning in her eyes.
—No… this isn’t real. I can’t be engaged to him. The Air Force rules… they’d never allow it.
Janet interrupted gently, her voice firm yet compassionate.
—The rules changed for you two a while back. After years of working together, risking your lives for each other, General Hammond, the Joint Chiefs, and even the President approved an exception. Jack proposed to you on a mission, and you said yes. —She smiled faintly, a flicker of nostalgia in her eyes—. It was pretty romantic, according to Daniel. The whole SGC celebrated.
Sam closed her eyes, trying to process it. Every word from Janet was a hammer shattering her reality into splinters. She didn’t know if this was an alternate universe, a device-induced hallucination, or something stranger still, but the weight of it all crushed her.
—I need to talk to Daniel —she said finally, opening her eyes—. About the device on P4X-739. I need to understand what happened to me.
Janet nodded, though her expression remained heavy with concern.
—Okay. But, Sam… be careful. Jack’s torn up over how you’re treating him. I don’t know what’s going on with you, but he loves you. That hasn’t changed.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoo
The following days were a silent hell for Sam. She locked herself in her lab with Daniel, diving into the P4X-739 data as if it were a lifeline to pull her out of this abyss. But she couldn’t escape the feeling of being trapped in a dream that wasn’t hers. Everything around her—the laughter of the SGC staff, the knowing looks they gave her when Jack’s name came up—was a constant reminder that this world didn’t belong to her.
And then there was Jack. He tried to reach out, showing up at the lab with coffee or flimsy excuses to talk, but she pushed him away every time. A curt "I don’t have time now," a cold nod, a quick turn to avoid his eyes. Each encounter was a knife in her chest, but she couldn’t stop. Jack’s closeness—his smiles, his casual touches—was a violation of everything she knew, a betrayal of the rules that had defined her life. Yet watching him sink into sadness was killing her.
One morning, he appeared at the lab door while she and Daniel reviewed images of the panel.
—Sam, can I talk to you for a sec? —he asked, his voice low, almost pleading.
She didn’t look up from the screen.
—I’m busy, sir. Maybe… later.
He stood there, motionless, and when he finally spoke, his tone was laced with pain.
—Sure. Later. —He turned and left, his heavy footsteps echoing down the hall.
Daniel looked at her, adjusting his glasses with a sigh.
—Sam, what are you doing? He’s falling apart.
—He’s not my… Jack —she replied, her voice shaking—. I can’t… I can’t deal with this right now.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoo
That night, alone in her quarters, the tears came unbidden. She sat on the edge of the bed, hugging herself as the weight of her confusion crushed her. This world was perfect: Jack loved her openly, there were no barriers between them, and yet she couldn’t accept it. Because it wasn’t real. Because in her world, he’d never look at her like that, never touch her like that, never say the words this Jack seemed to carry etched into his soul. And that truth tore her apart.
The next day, she saw him in the commissary. He sat alone, his tray untouched, his eyes fixed on a distant point. When their gazes met, he tried to smile, but it was a broken grimace that crumbled before it fully formed. Sam looked away, her heart squeezing until she could hardly breathe, grabbed her tray, and fled back to the sanctuary of her lab.
Teal’c noticed too. The following day, as they walked together down a corridor, he spoke with his usual calm.
—Samantha Carter, you are causing great pain to O’Neill. Is that your intention?
—No —she whispered—. But I don’t know how to stop it. I don’t know what to do or how to act around him… He’s not the man I know. It’s all… a giant mess.
—Perhaps you should try speaking with him —he suggested, his gaze steady on her—. Silence wounds more than words.
Sam didn’t reply, but Teal’c’s words dug into her like thorns.
The confrontation came one night when a soft knock at her door pulled her from her thoughts. She opened it to find Jack standing there, his face pale and hollow-eyed, his hands stuffed in his pockets as if he didn’t know what to do with them.
—Can I come in? —he asked, his voice barely audible.
Sam hesitated but nodded, stepping back to let him pass. He entered and stood there, staring at her with an intensity that made her tremble.
—Sam, I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but you’ve got to talk to me —he said, his voice cracking—. If you don’t want to be with me, just say it. I can handle it… But this—this silence, this constant rejection—it’s killing me. I can’t keep going like this.
She swallowed hard, the weight of his words pressing down on her.
—Sir, this isn’t real to me —she confessed at last, tears burning her eyes—. In my world, my reality, or whatever it is… we can’t be together. There are rules, protocols. We could never be… this. And being here, seeing you act like we’re something more, it’s driving me insane.
He stared at her, processing her words with a mix of confusion and pain.
—Your world, your reality? —he repeated, stepping closer—. What are you saying, Sam?
—I don’t know exactly —she admitted, her voice shaking—. But all of this… you and me, engaged… it’s impossible where I come from. I can’t accept it, even though part of me wants to.
Jack moved closer, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.
—Here, it’s not impossible. It happened. —He paused, searching her eyes with desperation—. Two years ago, I almost lost you on a mission. A Goa’uld blast hit you, and you were on the edge of death. I spent nights by your bedside, begging you to wake up. When you did, I swore I wouldn’t waste any more time… I proposed to you on P3X-118, in the middle of a storm, with chaos all around us— —he smiled faintly at the memory— I gave you the ring, and you said yes, with that smile that lights up everything… You were happy, Sam… We were happy, we are happy… or at least I thought we were.
She let out a sob, her hands flying to her mouth. His voice was so earnest, so full of love, it hurt down to her bones.
—I don’t remember that —she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks—. I can’t remember it because I didn’t live it.
Jack nodded slowly, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a simple ring with a blue stone surrounded by tiny orange gems, resembling the Stargate, and held it out to her, his hand trembling.
—Then keep this —he said, his voice breaking—. If you ever want it back, let me know… But I can’t keep begging you… I can’t keep watching you look at me like I’m a stranger after it took us so long to get here.
He placed the ring on the dresser with a slow, almost reverent motion and turned away. At the door, he paused, his shoulders slumped.
—I love you, Sam —he murmured, not looking back—. I always will.
And then he was gone, the door closing behind him. Sam collapsed onto the bed, sobbing until there was nothing left but a hollow ache in her chest, clutching the ring he’d given her against her heart.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoo
Days later, the truth struck like lightning in the dark. With Daniel’s help, Sam deciphered the device’s purpose: an Ancient technology designed to project subconscious fantasies, trapping the mind in a vivid but false dream. Everything—the engagement, the life with Jack—was a reflection of her deepest desires, an illusion crafted by her own heart.
—We can go back to P4X-739 and activate it again —Daniel said, adjusting his glasses with restrained excitement—. It should bring you back to reality or wake you from your dream or… whatever this is.
Sam nodded, but her gaze was distant. She knew what she had to do, but the thought of leaving this Jack behind, even if he was an illusion, tore her apart. The night before the trip, she didn’t sleep. She sat staring at the ring he’d given her, its faint gleam reflecting the tears she couldn’t stop shedding.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoo
The journey to the planet was grim. The team was tense, aware of the oppressive silence cloaking Sam. When they reached the ruins, she stepped away from the group and sought out Jack. He stood by the temple entrance, his face a mask of exhaustion and pain.
—Jack —she called softly, her voice trembling.
He turned, and she approached, stopping inches from him.
—Hold me —she pleaded, tears already streaming down her cheeks.
Without hesitation, he wrapped her in his arms, pulling her against his chest with a force that spoke all the words they couldn’t say. Sam closed her eyes, letting his warmth envelop her, memorizing every detail: the beat of his heart, the scent of his jacket, the way his hands shook against her back.
—I love you —she whispered into his shoulder—. More than my own self. I always have.
Jack pulled back just enough to look at her, his hands rising to her face. His eyes shimmered with tears that finally spilled over.
—Sam… —he murmured, before leaning in and kissing her. It was slow, deep, a kiss brimming with desperation and love, a farewell neither wanted to voice. When they parted, she was sobbing openly.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the ring. He took it with trembling fingers and slipped it back onto her ring finger, his eyes locked on hers.
—We’ll find each other again —he said, his voice steady despite the pain—. In this world or yours, we’ll be together.
Sam smiled through her tears, squeezing his hand one last time.
—I know —she whispered.
She stepped away toward the panel, her heart shattering with every step. With one final glance at Jack—his solitary figure at the entrance—she activated the device.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoo
She awoke in the SGC infirmary, the sound of monitors filling the air like a distant echo. Her body ached, her mind foggy, but she was alive. Her team was there: Daniel, Teal’c, Janet, and him… Jack, or her commanding officer… she still wasn’t sure if the device had worked, though they all looked at her with palpable relief.
—Sam, you were in a coma for a week —Janet explained, her voice soft but professional—. You had us really worried.
After a brief chat and some relief at her return, one by one, they left to let her rest, their words of encouragement lingering in her ears. But Jack stayed behind. He dragged a chair to her bedside and sat, his eyes fixed on her with a mix of relief and fear she knew all too well.
—I thought… we were losing you —he said, his voice rough with emotion—. A week, Sam… A damn week not knowing if you’d wake up.
Sam gave a faint smile, but then she felt it: something on her left hand. She looked down and saw the ring—the one Jack had given her in her fantasy—gleaming under the artificial light. He followed her gaze, and his breath caught, his heart leaping to his throat.
Slowly, he took her hand, brushing the ring with his thumb as if afraid it might vanish.
—What does this mean? —he asked, his voice barely a whisper—. How did this get on your finger?
Sam looked at him, tears welling in her eyes as the pieces fell into place. She took a shaky breath and began to speak.
—When I collapsed on P4X-739, the device… it trapped me in a fantasy… One created by my subconscious… I was here, at the SGC, but everything was different. You and I… we were engaged. You called me "honey," looked at me like I was your whole world. And I… I couldn’t accept it at first. I pushed you away, rejected it, because here… that could never happen. But you were so real—every word, every touch… You told me how you proposed on a mission, how you’d almost lost me once and decided not to wait any longer… And in the end, before I came back, you gave me this ring. You held me, kissed me, and told me we’d make it somehow.
Jack listened in silence, his eyes shining with a mix of awe and pain. When she finished, he swallowed hard, his hand tightening around hers.
—It’s the same ring —he said, his voice trembling—. I’ve got it stashed in my nightstand… I bought it years ago, Sam… After that mission on P3R-272, when we almost didn’t make it. I’ve kept it ever since, waiting for "someday." I never told you because… the rules, the duty, they were always in the way. But… I love you. I always have.
Sam let out a sob, raising her right hand to caress his cheek. Her fingers trembled as they brushed his skin, trailing down to touch his lips.
—I know everything my heart holds now —she whispered, a loving smile breaking through her tears—. And we’ll figure it out. Together.
He squeezed her hand, leaning in until their foreheads touched, their breaths mingling in the space between them.
—I love you —he whispered, the words falling like a vow.
—And I love you —she replied, closing her eyes as tears flowed freely.
They stayed like that, silent, their hands clasped around the ring that had crossed worlds to unite them. There were no guarantees, no easy answers, but for the first time, there was hope.