Haunting Obsessions

~*+*~

Janet stared at Sam's chart. Something wasn't adding up. According to
her tests, the drug would have made Sam loose a significant amount of
weight, but she was normal.

"Janet!" Sam called, running over to her friend. "I figured it out!"

"Figured what out?" Janet asked.

"What the drug was supposed to do."

"You did?"

"You said that I was acting like I was obsessed with getting the
Colonel home, right?"

"How do you know I said that?"

"I was outside Hammond's door while you were having the conversation.
Anyway, you said that right?"

"Yes. It's true, you were acting like you were obsessed."

"And the obsession started about a year ago, right?"

"Yes."

"And I passed out when the Colonel came out of the Stargate and back
onto Earth, because I had achieved my goal of getting him home. It
was all I thought about for four months, and then it was done and I
passed out. When I woke up, the drug had completely left my system."

Janet's eyes lit up. "It made you obsessed with finding the Colonel!"

Sam clicked her fingers. "Exactly." She grinned.

"I noticed that one of the side effects from this drug should have
been a significant amount of weight loss, but you….." Janet stopped
as Sam unbuttoned her shirt and showed her friend the top half of her
body. "My god." She breathed, how had she missed that in the
physical's? "But…..but your weight is normal! I checked, several
times."

"I had led in my pocket." Sam admitted.

"You what?"

Buttoning up her shirt, she averted her eyes from the other woman. "I
had some melted lead that came off the first accelerator. I knew what
weight I should be, so I measured enough lead to bring me back up to
that."

"Sam!" Janet scolded.

"I know, but that was before that I knew I was on this drug."

"We'll talk about that later. I still don't know why someone would
want the Colonel back badly enough to slip you something that
powerful."

"Maybe that wasn't the intention."

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe the drug was supposed to make me obsessed with whatever
project that next came up and it just so happened that getting the
Colonel home was what I was working on at the time. But why would
someone do that?"

"I don't know."

Janet's phone rang and she quickly moved to answer it. "Fraiser."

"Doctor, General Hammond had requested that you and Major Carter come
to the briefing room immediately."

"Thank you, we're on out way." She hung up and turned to
Sam. "Hammond wants us."

~*+*~

Jack stepped back onto Edorra to find Laira, Garran and Beth waiting
for them. He smiled and walked down the stairs to hug Laira, shake
Garran's hand and pick Beth up. "You're getting bigger every day." He
smiled and the little girl, who grinned back.

"She has been unsettled since you departed." Laira told him. "I am
glad you have returned to your people."

Jack sighed. "Laira, you know that the Edorrans aren't my people. I
am grateful to you for all you've done, but I can't stay here."

"What about your daughter?"

"You could return to Earth with me?"

Garran discreetly moved away from the two, but neither noticed. "My
place is here, they may not be your people but they are mine and I
cannot leave them."

"I didn't think so."

"May I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Do you feel love for me?"

"Laira…..you gave me Beth, and I love you for that."

"But you are in love with another, are you not?"

"I'm sorry."

"Do not be. For I am the same way."

"You're in love with someone else?"

"You sound hurt."

"Not hurt, surprised."

"I do love you Jack, but I am in love with another."

"Who?"

Laira hesitated before answering. "Paynen."

"Paynen? Does he feel the same about you?"

"Yes." She nodded.

Jack though back to that night with Jaylan under the stars. *I know
this will sound horrible, but if he wont leave you, then why are you
so upset?*

*Because she carries his child within her.*

"Beth isn't mine." He whispered, holding the child close as she began
to cry, sensing her fathers…..Jack's distress.

"I did not mean to deceive you Jack, but the council would have
exiled you if I had not."

"Answer me dammnit!"

"She is not."

"Shh Beth, don't cry sweetie." He cooed softly to the child he had
though of as his, and now wished she was.

"She wants her father."

"Could you rub any more salt into the wound please?"

"I do not understand that statement Jack."

"Why didn't you just tell me? I knew that I didn't love you. If you
had told me from the start then I wouldn't have gotten so attached to
her."

"Had I told you then it would have been difficult to fool the
council. They watched us. It was only when they saw that I was with
child did they believe that you and I were truly in love."

"I can't believe this…..I can act when I have to Laira! You should
have told me."

"I did not wish to make things more difficult for you."

"If I hadn't been rescued, would you have ever told me?"

Laira looked down at her hands. "I would not."

"You would have lied to me?"

"You would never have known."

"So why tell me now?"

"You love another and you deserve to be with her. I do not wish you
tied to my world because you believed Beth to be yours."

"Oh it was all for me." He sneered.

"No Jack. I did this for myself as well. I did this for Beth. I knew
that she would not be accepted if the council knew that she was
conceived in the circumstances that she was."

"That night…..the night we slept together, did you plan that?"

"Yes. I already knew that she was within me. I needed you to believe
it too."

Jack sighed. "I love you sweetie, if you ever need me I'll always be
around." He told Beth, kissing her forehead before handing her back
to Laira.

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

~*+*~

"Major, doctor, have a seat." Hammond pointed to two of the chairs.
Sam took the one opposite Major Coulburn of SG-3, and Janet was next
to Daniel. Jack was no where to be found, but Sam suspected that he
was already on Edorra starting his new life.

"Major Coulburn."

"Yes sir. We `Gated to P887B6 and were greeted by the leader of the
local village, Mallory. She said that it was a great honor to accept
visitors from our would again."

"'Again?'" Sam frowned. "We've never `Gated to that planet before."
She told them.

"I know." Coulburn nodded. "She invited us back to their village to
meet the people. Then she asked us how the `Ontaria' was."

"That's Latin, or something close to it, and it means obsession."
Daniel added.

"We though so. She said that four men from our would had come through
the Stargate many, many moons ago and they had traded. The men had
given her village a sidearm in exchange for some of the drug. We
didn't realise it until later, but we figured that it must have been
the NID that went there and traded."

"So they had a drug that did what…..?" Janet asked.

"Apparently it was for focus. If a project was needed to be completed
and the people working on it were unable to do so, then they would
take the drug and think of nothing else until their project was
completed." Coulburn told them, looking at Sam in particular.

"Were there any side effects?" Janet asked.

"None, apparently."

"It must be the Shilatria that causes the weight loss." She theorized.

Hammond raised an eyebrow in question. "Doctor?"

"Major Carter has lost a significant amount of weight and body fat.
The drug we found in her system had traces of a man made element
called Shilatria. That must be the reason for the side effects."

"I though you said that she was a healthy weight?" Hammond asked, a
deep frown on his face.

Sam saved Janet from having to rat her out. "I had led in my pockets
sir. I knew that Janet wouldn't let me through the Stargate when she
saw how much weight I'd lost, so I put lead in my pockets."

"Major….."

"I was under the influence of the Ontaria sir, you can't hold me
accountable for that, I was trying to complete my project."

The frown stayed firmly on his face. "I see your point." He conceded.

"Thank you." She smiled, breathing a sigh of relief.

"So, now that we know why you were acting the way you were, how do we
find out where it came from?" He asked.

"I believe that it came from within the SGC General Hammond. For
Major Carter has not left this base in a long time." Teal'c answered.

"That's a lot of people as suspects." Hammond sighed.

The Stargate spun to life, and everyone went their separate ways.
Hammond and SG-1 went to the control room in time to see Jack
returning, a lost look on his face.

~*+*~

She picked up the phone and dialed the correct number.

Three rings and he answered. "Yes?"

"It's me." She whispered.

"Why are you calling me. I told you that we were to have no contact."
He snapped, angry.

"They've figured it out."

"What?"

"Carter knows about the drug."

"How?"

"SG-1 went back to the planet, and the natives told them."

"Crap."

"That's what I thought."

"Thank you for informing me."

"What do I do now?"

"Hope that they don't discover that it was you who administered the
drug."

"And if they do?" She held her breath as she waited for the answer to
come.

"Then if you name me or anyone from my organization, we will deny
everything."

Her tone was incredulous, even to her own ears. "You're going to let
me hang for this?"

"Only if they discover it."

The phone went dead.

~*+*~

"Jack?" Daniel asked, looking at his friend.

"What?" he snapped, looking up from his intense study of the locker
room floor.

"You okay?"

"Fine." He lied.

He couldn't believe that Laira would do that to him. She was supposed
to be the mother of his child…..a child that wasn't even his. If
she'd told him, then it would have been better. Not okay, but better.
She wouldn't have needed to lie constantly, and he wouldn't have
become so smitten with the child.

"I wasn't sure if you were coming back to say goodbye."

"I'm staying here."

"Things not going well between you and Laira?" He asked, sitting down
beside him to join in the study of the floor.

"You could say that."

"I thought that you didn't love her?"

"I don't, never did. But you knew that already."

"Yes, but I though you would have gone back for Beth."

"She isn't mine."

"What?"

"Laira is in love with Paynen, and Beth is his daughter, not mine."

"God. She lied?"

"That she did."

"Why did she come clean now then?"

"She said that it was because she could see that I was in love with
someone else. She said that she just wanted me to be happy."

"She's right."

"What do you mean?"

"You are in love with someone else."

Jack hated it when Daniel was right. "It won't change anything. She
hates me at the moment."

"Why would S…..she hate you?"

"Because she thinks that I don't care about her."

"Have you told her otherwise?"

"No."

"Don't you think you should?"

"No." Jack sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face. "But I
suppose you do, right?"

"Yes."

"Why? It doesn't change our situation."

"She's been through a lot."

"She's the one that locked herself in a lab for months."

Suddenly, it dawned on Daniel why he was acting so nonchalant about
the whole situation with Sam. "You don't know?"

"Know what?"

"Come on, let's go out and get a beer. This is a long story."

Jack shrugged and followed, figuring that this was a story he wanted
to hear.

~*+*~

Jack had, surprisingly, remained silent throughout Daniel's
explanation of Sam's behavior. Daniel suspected that his friend was
completely shocked by the news. But that shock quickly turned to
anger.

"I'll kill the rat bastard that did this to her." He sneered.

"Jack, we don't know who did this. We don't even know if they were
monitoring Sam's condition."

"I don't care. I'll find them."

"Where are you going to start looking?"

Jack hated it when Daniel was right. "The SGC. It had to be someone
from there, but who would do such a thing?"

"I don't know." He sighed.

Swallowing the rest of his beer, Jack hung his head. "I should have
known something was up when I saw her in the locker room."

"What about it?"

"She's so thin Daniel, it's almost sickening."

"I wouldn't tell her that's what you think."

"I already did." Jack at least had the decency to look sheepish, even
if it was only slightly.

"No wonder she didn't look happy to see you when you came back
through the Stargate."

Jack shrugged, if he hadn't been so involved in his own problems,
maybe he could have seen something in her behavior on Edorra that
would have clued him in on the fact that she was under the influence
of…..something.

"I swear to God Daniel, I'm going to find the bastard responsible for
this and I'm going to kill them."

"How are you going to do that?" Daniel asked, fearing that he might
be considering something rash.…..and very Jack like.

Jack thought back to a conversation that he'd had with Hammond the
previous day, and the offer that had been made. "I have a plan."

~*+*~

"Sir." Jack greeted, walking into Hammond's office without knocking.

George looked up from his report from Janet on Sam's condition and
gestured for Jack to have a seat. "What can I do for you?"

"I thought about our discussion yesterday." He told the older man.
Their conversation had taken place in a park near the SGC, trying to
avoid any bugs that may have been planted within the base.

"And?"

"I'll do it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes sir.

"You do realise what you'll have to do, don't you son?"

Jack took a deep breath. "I understand sir, and I think you know why
I have to do this."

"I thought so. I'll contact the people and you can proceed with your
mission as planned tomorrow."

"Yes sir." Jack stood and walked over to the door.

"Good luck Jack."

"Thank you, I think I'll need it."

~*+*~

Sam laid curled up in a ball on the infirmary gurney. Janet had let
her go on the last mission to Tollana, under the General's request,
but now she was to be kept in the infirmary for observation, on a
drip that would-hopefully-help her put on more weight.

Admittedly, she was tired, but her brain refused to allow her the
pleasure of a few blissful hours of sleep. Jack had come back from
Edorra, claiming that he was going to split his time between SG-1 and
his daughter, but stay Earth based for the most part. Now he was
gone, back to Edorra to be with Laira.

He had been forced into early retirement after stealing from the
Tollan.

She couldn't believe that he could possibly be that stupid. Sure, the
Tollan weren't willing to share their technology-and were quite
arrogant about the fact that they were more advanced- but there was
still a lot they could learn from them, even Teal'c could clearly see
that. And she thought that Jack had as well.

Apparently not.

What was worse, he had been a complete ass to them all. Daniel had
worn the brunt of it, Jack had said that they hadn't had much of a
friendship to start with, but what he'd said to her had really cut
her. *I haven't been acting like myself since I met you, now I'm
acting like myself.*

Eventually, she cried herself to sleep.

~*+*~

Jack wandered through the facility, familiarizing himself with the
corridors. It was-surprise, surprise-set up a lot like the SGC. Maybe
Maybourne liked the Earth base a little more than he was letting on.

He found the living quarters easily enough, and the locker room was
pretty close to his room. The commissary-if you could call it that-
was a few corridors away from the barracks, and was small, but fed
all of the personnel easily.

He saw Tobias and Newman heading his way, so Jack ducked behind one
of the pillars and listened to their conversation as they passed. It
was nothing interesting-something about the anti-gravitational device-
but he had a feeling that they were involved in whatever had happened
to Sam.

And there was not a chance in hell that he was leaving until he
discovered who was behind all of this.

~*+*~

"On the scales." Janet ordered.

Sam sighed. "Janet, I feel great. I've been eating properly,
exercising-but not too much-and I've been getting enough sleep."

"On the scales."

"But….."

"Now!"

Groaning, Sam reluctantly did as she was told. Janet stepped up
behind her and began to pat down all of her pockets. "What are you
doing?"

"Checking for led."

"You won't find any."

Janet picked up her chart and wrote down Sam's weight. "I had to make
sure."

"And…..?"

"You're not putting anything on."

"But I….."

"Am worried sick about Jack, and completely jealous of Laira, and
thus not putting on weight?" Janet supplied.

Sam's shoulders visibly slumped as she stepped off the scales and put
her boots back on. "Maybe." She admitted.

"It's not doing you any good Sam."

"I know, he made his own bed, but I can't help but think that
something is wron….."

"What?" Janet asked as Sam began to sway.

"Dizzy." She muttered, falling backwards onto the floor.

~*+*~

"Have we heard anything about Carter?" Tobias asked, absently pushing
her food around the plate.

Newman took a mouthful of water before replying. "Last I heard she
passed out, but Maybourne's reports have become less frequent. He's
worried that someone will suspect him."

"Do you think they know?"

"Apparently SG-3 are the one's that tipped Hammond off about the
Ontaria. I don't think they know that we added the Shilatria."

Jack decided that now would be a good time to join the
conversation. "Yes they do."

Newman and Tobias automatically rose to their feet as a mark of
respect as Jack sat down at their table. "At ease." He waved his hand
in their direction.

"Sir? What do you mean they know?" Tobias asked.

"Well, Fraiser found the drug in Carter's system and had some lab
geek test it. They know about the element."

"Do they know who gave it to her?"

Jack shrugged, trying to look uninterested. "No."

"Good. She hasn't been discovered." Newman muttered.

"She?" Jack repeated.

"I don't know exactly who it is sir, but I know it's one of the
female nurses." He answered.

"How did they administer it?"

"One of her pre-mission shots, I think. Why do you ask sir?"

"It's been bugging me. The whole damn SGC is talking about it, and
I've been itching to know." He admitted with a shrug.

"Curiosity." Newman nodded in understanding.

"Why Carter anyway?" Jack asked, picking at his Jell-O. Of all the
Earth based foods that he had expected here, Jell-O wasn't one of
them.

Not that he was complaining.

"Because they could monitor her more easily. Maybourne wanted to test
the drug on someone that was expendable to him." Tobias explained.

Jack could hardly believe how easy this was. "Why did they want to
test it? Is it going to be used for some sort of wide spread
application?"

"The plan was to create a army of soldiers who had one goal, to kill
the Goa'uld. And the drug would keep them focused on that task until
it was completed." He replied.

"Didn't they know about the weight loss?"

"That was the point of testing it on Carter, they'd find out what the
side effects were."

"Oh."

Oh, indeed.

~*+*~

The Stargate had engaged a few minutes earlier and a sea of people
were crowded into the `Gate room, all being arrested. Jack had
handcuffed Makepeace-oh the irony of that name-and was currently
accepting the thanks from High Chancellor Travelle.

"You have once again regained our trust." She smiled, kissing him on
each cheek.

Jack nodded and looked around the room, searching for one person in
particular. Daniel noticed and turned to the man standing at the base
of the Stargate's ramp.

"She's in the infirmary." He told him curtly, leaving the room.
Daniel wasn't quite ready to forgive Jack for the stuff that he had
said at his house, not to mention the stuff that he'd said to Sam.

Turning to Hammond, who nodded his ascent, Jack headed out of
the `Gate room, passed all of the people who were scowling at him and
into the corridor, walking quickly towards the elevator.

A few of the airmen that he passed gave him strange looks, obviously
they hadn't heard that it was all an act to catch the mole. It
wouldn't take long for the news to spread.

The infirmary was hardly quiet. Nurses were running around like mad,
tending to their patients. Every time Jack saw one of them inject
something into an injured man or woman, he couldn't help but wonder
what was really in the syringes they were using.

"Charge the paddles to one hundred!" Janet shouted. "Clear!"

Jack saw her administer an electric shock to her patient. He moved to
the side a little and saw Sam lying on the gurney, the heart monitor
flat-lining with an ear piercing sound.

"No change." Jenny told her.

"Two hundred!" She shouted. "Clear!" The charge went through Sam's
limp body again and the flat-line turned into a weak heart rate.

"We have a pulse!" Jenny told her.

"Keep an eye on her vitals, I don't know how long it'll stay that
way." Janet ordered, turning around to see Jack standing there. "What
are *you* doing here." She sneered.

"I work here. What's the go with Carter?" He asked.

"I'm sorry Colonel O'Neill, but I can't discuss that with you." She
replied icily.

"Janet cut the crap. I care about her and I want to know why you just
had to revive her." He snapped, in no mood to play these kinds of
games at the moment. Fraiser obviously hadn't heard yet either.

"She's in withdrawal."

"From the drug?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to tell me any more?"

"No."

"One word answers? It that how you want to play this?"

"Yes."

"Janet, it was all a lie."

"What?"

Jack briefly explained the reasons behind his departure-as well as
the fact that when he went back to Edorra, he didn't even go to the
village let alone see Laira-and watched as she reddened slightly.

"Sorry about that then."

"No sweat. Is Sam going to be okay?" He asked, his voice low.

"I don't know sir. I wish I could answer that, but it's up to her
body. If she had a bit more body fat on her, then her immune system
would have something to fight with. But at this point, all we can do
is hope."

"How about you give me my post mission physical?"

"Wouldn't you prefer one of the more gentle nurse?"

Jack didn't think she needed to hear about his latest discovery
concerning her nurses just yet. "Yes, but jabbing an needle into my
ass will make you feel better."

"True."

~*+*~

Janet looked tired, really tired. The other people seated around the
briefing room table matched her weary face.

"Doctor? What's Major Carter's condition?"

Shaking her head grimly, Janet sighed. "I don't think that she's
going to make it sir, her immune system was so weakened by the weight
loss that it can't fight the withdrawals from the drug."

"Can't we call the Tok'ra and get Jacob to use the healing device?"
Jack asked quietly.

Mentally, Janet kicked herself. Why hadn't she thought of that? "It
could work, sir, and it's worth a try." She told Hammond.

"Agreed. Teal'c get down to the control room and tell them to dial up
the Tok'ra home world. Colonel, a word in my office please."

"Yes sir." He nodded, and everyone departed.

~*+*~

Jack waited anxiously for Hammond to speak. He wasn't
disappointed. "Jack, I wanted to thank you for what you did."

"I did my job sir." Jack defended. He didn't want to be thanked for
being an ass to his friends.

Hammond offered the younger man a sad smile. "I know that this is
hard for you, but hopefully the Tok'ra will be able to help Major
Carter."

"Sam should never have been put in this situation in the first place."

"You'll get no arguments from me on that one."

Jack idly fiddled with a pen that he'd picked up from the briefing
room. "I didn't want to say anything in front of the Doc, she's got
enough on her plate. But I found out that it was one of the nurses
who gave Carter the drug."

Hammond's mouth opened and shut for a few moments before he gained
enough composure to speak. "All of those nurses are highly trained
professionals, hand picked by the best."

"Everyone has their price sir. And Maybourne has a lot of money at
his disposal."

Suddenly, Hammond had a monster of a headache. "How do we find out
who?"

"Doesn't the infirmary keep a record of every shot given to a
patient, as well as who administered it?"

"Yes."

"Well, we should check the records and see who gave Carter the last
shot before she started working on the generator, that should be our
perp."

"Check the records." Hammond ordered.

~*+*~

Sam curled herself into a ball on the bed.

Her father was somewhere out in the living room, no doubt trying to
find something to do. He had come through the Stargate the day before
and used the healing device on her. Colonel O'Neill was, apparently,
very close to finding out exactly who it was that had given her the
drug.

While Jack investigated what had happened, Sam had been sent home to
rest, with strict instructions that she was not be left alone, her
father had volunteered to, for want of a better word, `baby-sit' her.

And, when it wasn't thoughtful, caring and unusually sweet,
the `mother hen' act that he was using towards her was beginning to
drive her nuts.

Every five minute's he would be knocking on her door asking her if
she needed anything to eat or drink, or even once he had asked if she
wanted her pillow fluffed to make it more comfortable for her.

Very un-like the father that she'd known all her life.

To be honest, all Sam wanted was to be left alone so she could curl
up in a ball and cry for a while. The emotional release would make
her feel better, if only for a short time.

She glanced at the clock, almost midnight. No doubt her father would
be in soon to check on her yet again.

Never one to disappoint, Sam heard the sound of her door creaking
open and she closed her eyes, feigning sleep in the hopes that he
would just leave her alone.

"I know you're awake."

"Though you might."

"Mind if I come in?"

Sam shrugged, she wasn't in the mood for one of his botched attempts
at a deep and meaningful conversation.

"Want to talk?"

"No."

"Good, I'll go first." He grinned and sat on the unoccupied side of
her bed.

"Great." She rolled over to face him. If he was going to try to get
her to open up-and, undoubtedly he was-then she may as well get it
over with as soon as possible.

"When's your first session with the doc?"

"Which one?"

"Mackenzie."

"Oh. Him. In a few days, I think. I wasn't really listening."

"Sam, it's for your own good, you know that don't you? They are only
trying to help you get through this."

"By making me sit in a room and blubber like a baby about something
that doesn't actually bother me?"

"You were obsessed with getting O'Neill home, surely that has to take
it's toll. And look at you!" He gestured at her body, waving his arms
madly.

"Dad, I love you, but shut up!" She snapped.

Jacob couldn't help but sigh. "You need to talk to someone."

"And it wont be you." She replied, turning over to face away from
him.

Obviously he wasn't welcome at the moment, so Jacob decided to make a
hasty retreat and left the room. He closed her door and stood outside
of it for a moment, listening to the sobs that floated through the
wood.

~*+*~

Jack felt like the biggest ass in the world.

Seriously, *the* biggest.

Watching Janet's face fall as he told her that Jenny, he head nurse
and good friend, was currently being arrested by the SF's for
drugging Sam was not something he had planned on doing today.

Janet wasn't sure what to think.

She trusted Jenny, they had gone to medical school together and while
they hadn't exactly been the best of friends, they had always been on
good terms. Not even stopping to think for a second, the Doctor
walked briskly out of her office and stood in that path of three SF's
who were currently escorting her head nurse out of the infirmary.

"Why?" She demanded.

Jenny didn't even flinch at the harsh tone. "Because I was ordered
to. And it was necessary."

"Necessary? Do you realise what you did to Major Carter? Did you even
stop to think, for just *one* second what the ramifications of your
actions would be?"

The other woman shrugged nonchalantly. "Not really."

"How could you do this to another human being?"

"I was defending my country, in my own way. The drug could have help
us defeat the Goa'uld."

"Your way of defending this planet was to *save* lives, not destroy
them."

"Doesn't it ever get to you, the amount of people that we treat, the
amount of people that we loose? I don't know about you, but I don't
like seeing good men and women die, and by testing that drug, I could
have helped stop the death."

"No you couldn't."

"What makes you say that?"

"Do you even know what the drug was designed for?"

"Yes…..to create an obsession on one task that would end when the
task was completed."

"No. Daniel and Teal'c went back to P887B6 and talked to the natives.
That drug, the `Ontaria' was a weight loss drug."

"But it worked on the obsession, didn't it?"

"That was a die effect that the natives hadn't expected, so they
changed it's purpose. But whenever the drug had run it's course, the
weight loss became to much for their bodies to bare and they wasted
away."

"No…..Maybourne said that-"

"Do you think he's never lied to get what he wants before?" Janet
deadpanned.

The realization of what Jenny had done finally hit her and her eyes
welled with tears of disgust. "My God."

"Get her out of here." Janet ordered.

~*+*~

Sam tentatively stepped out of her bedroom, wary of her father after
the way she had spoken to him the previous night. She figured that
he'd probably be cooking up a breakfast fit to feed a cast of
thousands for her, but she was surprised to see that he was on the
phone.

"No, she's still asleep…..I don't know, she wont talk to me and I
don't expect her to anytime soon…..yeah,. well I wouldn't hold my
breath waiting if I was you…..she was pretty upset last night…..yeah,
I don't think she's too thrilled about it either. Is Mackenzie really
*that* bad? Well, if I were a friend of Doctor Jackson's then I'd
react that way to the man as well…..what should I make her for
breakfast? Any doctor's orders on a healthy start to the day…..what
do you mean I should know what she likes? The last time I made her
breakfast it was fruit loops and a glass of flavored milk." He
chuckled to-she assumed-Doctor Fraiser. "Okay, thanks, bye."

She waited until he'd replaced the handset on her charger before Sam
announced her presence. "How's Janet?"

"Sam! You're awake. Janet's okay."

"Good."

"They found out who gave you the drug."

"Who?" Sam tensed despite herself, waiting anxiously for the answer.

"Jenny Harrow."

"Isn't she one of the nurses?"

Jacob nodded. "Head nurse, if you want to get technical."

"But….aren't the nurses supposed to be highly trained professionals.
They have to go through a number of physiological evaluations before
they can get into the SGC to prevent this kind of situation. How did
this happen?"

"She thought that she was doing the right thing."

"How much?"

Jacob's brow creased in confusion. "How much what?"

"How much was she getting paid to screw me over like this?"

"Five million, give or take a few thousand."

"Nice to know that I'm worth at least that much." She joked dryly,
her body trembling.

Reaching out just in time, Jacob Carter barely caught his daughter as
she slumped face first towards the ground.

~*+*~

Janet checked Sam's vitals again.

Much to his annoyance, Jacob had brought her in earlier in the
morning, still unconscious but before she could inform him of Sam's
condition, he had been called back to the Tok'ra, who urgently needed
Selmak's advice on a problem one of their operatives was having.

Jack had been asked nicely-okay, kicked out-of the infirmary several
hours ago. While Janet was trying to give Sam a once-over he had been
getting in the way, unintentionally of course, but it was distracting.

She had very little doubt that he'd crept in to check on Sam several
times throughout the day, but thus far he hadn't been caught. At
least, not by her.

"Janet?" Sam mumbled, somewhere in that blissful place that rests
between sleep and wake.

"You're awake." Janet smiled. "Do you know where you are?"

"Infirmary."

"Yes. Do you remember what happened?"

"Dad was on the phone to you. He told me that Jenny was the one to
give me the drug, and then I just blacked out."

Janet's jaw involuntarily tightened at the mention of her former head
nurse. "Yeah, he was pretty worried about you. We all were."

"I'm okay."

"No not yet, but I think you will be."

~*+*~

Much as Sam hated to admit it, the sessions with Mackenzie were
helping her….and when he told her that essentially `getting back onto
the horse' would be good for her, she had forced herself to go back
into her lab.

It was a lot different than the last time she had been back, nearly a
month ago. Someone had, thankfully, cleaned it up and there was
absolutely no sign that she had lived there for six months.

That was probably what had kept her out of there more than anything
else. The evidence that she had virtually lost the plot would have
been a little too much for her fragile emotions to deal with.

But now, she was back at work. Sleeping regularly, going on missions
and eating properly…..much to Janet's delight, and-probably best of
all-she hadn't fainted or blacked out once since she'd been released
from the infirmary. The other three members of SG-1 had taken to
being her emotional rock. They put up with the remaining mood swings
that still haunted her, and the sudden crying fits.

Jack, most of all, seemed to be trying to help her through this.
Despite the fact that she told him several times, he felt a large
amount of guilt over her situation. Like, somehow, if he hadn't
helped Garran she wouldn't be in the situation that had been haunting
her. He'd been taking her to Hockey games, having frequent pizza and
video nights-many with just the two of them-and lately he had taken
to being her sleeping partner.

They weren't *sleeping* sleeping together. At least, not yet. But
there was something about the night that bothered her now…..she
couldn't quite put her finger on it, but the darkness only served to
remind her of what she had been like before.

And that was not a person that Sam Carter wanted to remember.

To anyone that knew her, Samantha Carter seemed to be normal again.
She still laughed at her commanding officer's jokes-and lately, at
his loud snoring-she still bit her bottom lip in frustration or
concentration. She still argued with Daniel over theories on the
Stargate and she still worked too hard. She still tried to help
Teal'c adapt to new things about Earth that continued to confuse him.
She still had regular girl's night's with Janet, and lately Jack
seemed to be the central topic. She still acted like the person she
was before, only now there was more brightness in her day.

And she thanked Jack O'Neill for that.

~*+*~

The end.