Chapter Text
SLAVE TRADERS – A JACK AND SAM STORY PART 5
JACK AND SAM - PEACEKEEPERS
CHAPTER 1 DESTINY
Jack lay face down on the bed in complete misery. The bed was damp with his tears but he didn't care, he didn't even want to move. He was nowhere near ready to face the reality of life without Sam. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he knew that he would need to get up soon, he knew that Melody might have felt Sam leave and that everyone who was looking after the other children would be waiting to hear what had happened, but moving, going to comfort his children, would make it real, and he wasn't ready for that yet. He wasn't ready to tell them that he'd failed and Sam was gone.
He wasn't sure that he would EVER be ready to face that reality.
His heart broke into even more pieces as he listened to Corbin cry. Carolyn had been taken too, making him despair that it just wasn't fair that they had paid such a steep price for trying to help Sam. His heart shattered even more when he thought about the babies Carolyn had been carrying. So senseless. The Ancients could have done something more than just... take them, and even though he was glad that she had been ascended, their continued non-interference still pissed him off. Sam was supposed to be here, she was supposed to be leading them into the future, leading their technology advances so they could 'fulfill their destiny' and be the 'fifth race'. How could they do that without Sam? That question made him consider the possibilities.
He knew that Daniel had been sent back for breaking the rules, and he knew that there was no way in hell that Sam would be happy to sit back and not get involved if she knew she could do something to help someone in need. He huffed an emotional breath, if he was being honest, Sam would probably be kicked out pretty damn quick and suddenly he could imagine her ranting about being taken from Jack and her children and raging at them about Carolyn being taken from Corbin and her boys.
Yep, Sam wouldn't last long with those unemotional, self centered, uncaring twits. Not long at all. She would hate it. Hate not being useful. Hate not being allowed to interfere. Sam having to be content with sitting around and doing nothing? No way in hell! Yep, she'll be back as soon as she pisses the 'Others' off enough. Sam knew what Daniel had done to be sent back, and who knew, maybe they would simply let her choose to come back, like Daniel had been able to do the second time.
Meanwhile he needed to pull himself together and care for their children. Then he began to worry. What if it took a while before she could get herself sent back? How in the hell were they going to have enough milk for all the babies, especially now they had to try and feed Carolyn's babies too. He sighed with despair. He didn't want to think about that problem. He didn't want to think about anything. Sam was gone and he didn't want to face it. Maybe if he laid here a bit longer, he wouldn't feel so overwhelmingly devastated by not being able to feel her anymore. How was he ever going to get used to feeling so.... empty.
Tears flooded his eyes as the dark emptiness inside him began to overwhelm him again, his grief spiking to swamp him as he let himself drown in it.
Reality could go stuff itself. He wasn't ready to live without Sam. He would NEVER be ready to live without her.
******
Sam struggled to open her eyes, feeling strangely light-headed as she became aware. She felt her hand being held as she finally managed to open her eyes. She blinked and then squeezed her eyes shut at the brightness and swallowed roughly. She licked her lips, worked saliva into her mouth and swallowed again before she opened her eyes again and blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted.
She felt Carolyn's presence before she saw her, she felt Carolyn squeeze her hand as she saw her smile. Sam felt confused and disoriented as Carolyn pressed against her mind. She opened the link and felt Carolyn's love and comfort as Sam continued to become more and more aware.
“Did it work?” a confused Sam asked silently.
“It worked enough” Carolyn replied silently.
“Enough for what?”
“Enough for Thor to arrive and finish what we started” Carolyn said with a gentle smile.
“Thor?”
“Oh boy, has he got GREAT timing!” Carolyn said with wonder and Sam felt Carolyn's relief, happiness and several other see-sawing emotions.
“My body failed too fast....” Sam struggled to remember “I was with Jack, but then I felt... You pulled me in?”
“Yeah..... I felt you... leaving... and I couldn't let you go”
“Our link?”
“Yeah... I somehow managed to pull you into my own body. I sort of remember..... 'hugging' you to my mind and then you were somehow sinking in through my skin. Then everything just went black until I woke up here”
“Here?”
“Thor's ship. Your life signs failed so he beamed you over and into a medical pod. He got a little confused by our very similar bio signatures, so he beamed me over too. He somehow realised that your soul was inside me, and once he was able to separate us, he stored you.... somewhere... until your body stabilized”
“He did?”
“Like I said.... GREAT timing”
“I'm not sure I understand...”
“Yeah me either. Thor said something about me having your blood and you having mine, as well as the same Protein Markers and Naquadah.... Then something about experience with clones and our separate consciousnesses.... It all sounded pretty complicated and I think my eyes actually glazed over in confusion for a while there....” Carolyn ended with a wry huff of a laugh.
Sam huffed a laugh herself and then her face dropped and she nervously asked... “The babies. Did they survive?”
“They're tiny and they needed help from Daniel and Vala to breathe, but they were all stable when I blacked out. I woke up as soon as he removed your soul from my body. He only just got you out of the medical pod and put you here, so it didn't take long for you to wake up either”
“Where's Jack?” Sam asked as she tried harder to sense him. Suddenly she distantly felt Jack's overwhelming grief about her being... ascended... Ascended? Then she instantly realised that Thor hadn't let him know where she was yet and that Jack must have mistaken the transporter flash for the 'glow' that accompanied ascension. She shook off her confusion about his error and closed her eyes to concentrate harder as she reached out to him.
******
Jack's eyes suddenly popped open as the breath froze in his lungs and his head lifted off the bed in shock. “She's back” he whispered incredulously.
“What?” asked Daniel in confusion as he looked at Jack's stunned face.
“Sam's back” he whispered again “I can feel her again” he said as he pushed himself up onto his knees. He closed his eyes to concentrate and the room went completely silent as he made contact with Sam.
Daniel watched as Jack's body shuddered and his head bowed as he let out an emotional sob. Then Jack opened his eyes and looked at Daniel with shocked relief on his face “She's okay” he said in a huff of emotional tears “Sam's okay...” he repeated as he slid off the bed and grabbed his shorts.
“Jack?” asked Daniel in confusion “Is she with the Ancients? Is Carolyn with her?”
Jack pulled on his shorts and then stopped and looked at Daniel “I thought they'd taken her too.... But it was Thor. Sam's with Thor” Jack clarified with a relieved smile as he blinked his tears away. Jack pulled his T-shirt on as he walked over to Corbin “Carolyn's okay too. They're both okay. Thor has them both” then he held onto Corbin's arm and they both disappeared in a soft glow of light as everyone sobbed with relief.
******
Sam opened her eyes to see Jack's relieved face looking down at her with a smile on his tear stained face.
“Hey” he said emotionally. He put his hands on her closest arm, desperately needing to anchor himself to her with touch.
“Hey” she smiled up at him.
“How do you feel?”
“Strange.... Tired.....”
“Your Markers are active?”
“Yeah. They're active and the program worked”
“I let you go” Jack confessed.
“No you didn't Jack. Carolyn pulled me in. She remembered what I did for the girls when their original bodies failed to implant. Carolyn's pull was stronger because she had my blood and Protein Markers. She collapsed because she pulled me in” Sam explained.
“Oh.... So you found a more compatible soul mate huh?”
“Never... You're the only soul mate I'll ever want” Sam said with a gentle smile.
Jack smiled at her and then glanced over at Corbin and Carolyn embracing before looking back at Sam “God you scared me Sam” he confessed as a tear began to roll down his cheek.
“I scared me too. My body failed SO incredibly fast.....” Sam admitted as tears shone in her own eyes. “All that extra energy helped to save me Jack. The energy on your Naquadah. It got me through the birth, and then getting Vala to keep my body going long enough for you to ejaculate.... They were great idea's Jack”
“Well.... I guess I had to use my improved brain sooner or later” he smiled “So... Where's the hero of the hour? Where's Thor?” he asked with a smile.
“I am here General O'Neill”
“Thor! Buddy! Now how did you know that Sam....” Jack turned and his voice failed him as he saw the 'new and improved' clone of Thor for the first time. His eyebrows rose as he studied Thor's new body. “Wow! You're..... taller! Melody sure did a great job didn't she?”
“She certainly did General O'Neill” Thor said as he came to stand beside him with a device in his hand.
“Thank you. Thank you so much for saving Sam” Jack said with deep emotion “How is she?”
“The activation attempt was successful but it will take time for her body to re-adjust to having working Protein Markers. She would have a faster recovery if she were not pregnant but...”
“Hey. Hang on. What?” interrupted Jack and then he looked at Sam “You're pregnant again?” he asked with raised eyebrows.
“I guess we're up to the letter O” said Sam with a wry smile, but then her smile fell “Now that I've said it..... we can't use O”
“We can't?”
“Their initials would be O O...... O O'Neill?...... That's just.... weird....” Sam said with an apologetic shrug as she screwed up her nose a little “And as for me getting pregnant, it wasn't totally unexpected”
“No... No it wasn't. So... No.... O... then? We go straight to P? Do you know how many babies?”
Sam let her mind assess her body and then her face showed surprise as her hand slowly moved down over the sheet that covered her body and laid on top of her belly... her not quite flat belly.
“My body was still in extreme fast forward mode when they were conceived” Sam said softly.
“How far along are you?”
“About ten weeks”
“You're on Ancient speed?”
“Yes. My body was put on Ancient speed with the K triplets so it will always be.... 'Ancient' now”.
“So. Another set of triplets? I figure if they were conceived before you got fixed then it's triplets again” Jack guessed as he smiled at her.
“Yeah” Sam confirmed with a wry smile.
“Two girls and a boy?”
“Yep” Sam smiled.
“Seems to be a winning combination” Jack smiled.
“Seems so” Sam agreed as she smiled back at him.
“Your pregnancy advanced very quickly. Once I removed you from the medical pod and your heart briefly stopped, the pregnancy slowed and stabilized. Doctor Lam explained what was happening and assured me that it was an expected reaction to the activation of your Protein Markers. I was previously unaware that Protein Markers could be reprogrammed. Your medical scans are very intriguing Colonel Carter and it appears as though your body and mind is now much more advanced than the previous scan” Thor said with a little confusion.
“Ahhh.... Actually there are a LOT of rather advanced bodies and minds on the Al'kesh now” Sam replied with a wry smile as Thor blinked with obvious interest . “A LOT has happened since you've been gone. I'm assuming that the form Melody changed your clone into is a success?”
“It is indeed. We are in the process of making enough clones to replace all the failing clones left on our Homeworld. I delayed my return until we had made enough new clones to provide bodies for the workers that I needed to bring with me. The workers are currently installing the technology that will provide the defense shield over your residence on Earth. Once the shield is operational, they will then begin to install the other technology”.
“Thank you Thor” said Jack warmly
“The scans that I took of your unborn offspring are proving to be as intriguing as your own scans. I would appreciate being able to scan your two older offspring if you are agreeable”
“I know you scanned the oldest set of triplets while they were still inside Sam last time we saw you, but do you want to scan the other two sets of triplets while you're here?” asked Jack.
Thor's mouth dropped open as he stared at Jack in shock “OTHER two sets? You have birthed..... eleven offspring?” he asked incredulously.
“And three more will make it a nice even number of fourteen” he said with a smile as he gestured towards Sam's belly, then he looked back to Sam's face “What do you think Sam. Time to call it quits after this?”
Sam smiled “As much as I love our children, it WOULD be nice to have my body to myself for a while”.
“For a... WHILE?” Jack asked as his eyebrows rose.
“Well... I'm Ancient, so I could probably safely bear children for another twenty years or more”
“Oh?” questioned Jack faintly as his eyes went big.
“Maybe once we bust up the Slave Traders network and dismantle the Lucian Alliance I might consider having more” Sam smiled teasingly at Jack.
“Oh.... Well.... I guess now that you're fixed, the pregnancies would be a lot easier” Jack conceded.
“Especially if I get demoted to just having twins again”
“There's that” Jack said “But we're definitely skipping Q right?..... Right?”
“Oh yeah.... Definitely skipping Q” Sam smiled brightly “And probably U as well”
Jack's eyes went wide “U?”
“Actually maybe we'll skip U through to Z and then start at A” Sam smirked.
Jack smiled as his face gentled “You're looking so much better already” he said a little emotionally. “If you want to keep having babies then who am I to argue?” he smiled.
“Can I argue?” asked Carolyn “If Sam keeps having babies for twenty years then so will I” she said with a little exasperation.
“Well at least now there are more 'Ancient' women around to have babies... I think we're sharing the joy quite efficiently” Jack said seriously, making Sam and Carolyn snort with laughter.
Suddenly Carolyn went pale and huffed a breath.
“Carolyn?” Sam questioned anxiously as she tried to lever herself up onto her elbow so she could see her more clearly.
Carolyn's hands were on her big belly as she wobbled a little “Oh... All of a sudden I don't feel too good” and then her face screwed up and she looked down “Oh..... I think my water just broke” and then Carolyn groaned as her knees buckled a little.
“Carolyn assess how many weeks you are” asked Sam urgently.
“Oh God..... I think I'm about thirty four” she said as she looked at Sam with big shocked eyes.
“Oh Carolyn. When you pulled me in I was still on the extreme fast forward, it must have affected you”
“Thirty four weeks.... That's good.... Thirty four weeks is good.... They'll be fine” Carolyn huffed with false brightness and then groaned again as her legs went weak again and Corbin lowered her to the floor.
“Are their lungs ready?” Sam asked as Thor looked on with wide eyes.
Carolyn closed her eyes as her face scrunched up for a moment “They're good now” said Carolyn and then she groaned again “OOOOHH I need to push! We need to go back to the Al'kesh RIGHT NOW!” she moaned and then they both disappeared in a gentle glow of light.
Sam saw them disappear in a soft glow that gradually brightened, and suddenly realized why Jack had mistakenly believed she had been ascended “Oh! New transporter beam? You combined your transporter beam with Ancient technology?” she guessed.
“Yes. It is now much more efficient in transporting those with the Ancient gene” Thor explained as he blinked at her and Jack.
“Sweet. Speaking of Ancient technology...... There's quite a few things we need to talk to you about” smiled Jack as he squeezed Sam's hand.
******
As soon as Corbin and Carolyn beamed back into the Al'kesh, Jayak heard Carolyn groan and then grunt as she began to push. He quickly went over to her and pulled off her panties while Noah grabbed some umbilical kits and some clean towels from the blanket warmer that they'd had on in readiness for Sam to give birth.
“Carolyn how many weeks are you?” Jayak asked quickly as he took in the increased size of her belly.
“Thirty four.... I've already strengthened their lungs” she told him in between contractions.
“Is Sam really alright?” Jayak asked anxiously.
“She's been fixed. Her body's exhausted and she's already ten weeks pregnant with triplets again. Thor said she will be very tired while her body gets used to having Protein Markers again” said Corbin.
“Sam's pregnant with triplets again?”
“Yeah. Remember she knew it would be a strong possibility because of the way Jack had to activate her Protein Markers” said Corbin.
“Can we focus on ME right now?” asked Carolyn with a groan just before she pushed again.
“I'm ALWAYS focused on you” said Corbin with a smile as he kissed the side of her face.
The first baby's head was delivered and then with one more push, his little body slithered out into Jayak's hands. He laid the baby on the warm towel that was covering Noah's hands, clamped and cut the cord and then Noah took the baby over to the bench to check him and put a tag on his leg. Carolyn delivered the placenta and then began to bear down again. The second baby started to crown, he was born just as fast as the first one and then Carolyn curled up in pain as the final placenta powered her healing. Once it was done she sagged against Corbin, feeling extremely light headed and woozy.
Jayak checked Carolyn's blood pressure carefully, he knew that it would still be low after the blood she'd had taken from her body for Sam only a few hours ago. It was still low but he was relieved that there were no signs of Pre-Eclampsia.
Jayak cleaned Carolyn up as best he could and then Corbin gently picked up Carolyn and once Jayak had put the leg rest up and placed a clean towel on it, Corbin put her onto the armchair next to Sam's side of the bed.
Daniel and Vala were now both sitting on Jack's side of the bed, leaning up against the bed head holding Jack and Sam's new tiny triplets. They had all needed serious help with their lungs when they were born and they couldn't quite bring themselves to put them in the humidi-cribs yet. When Carolyn had returned, they decided to keep holding them until Jack and Sam returned too.
Both Daniel and Vala used a hell of a lot of energy helping the babies, healing Sam and then trying to keep Sam alive. It had been scary as hell when Sam's body had started to fail so quickly. When Jack had told Vala to stop it had felt surreal. They had both felt's Sam's soul leave and now they were both wondering how the heck Thor had been able to save her. They certainly weren't complaining, they were extremely grateful, but confused because they knew that she had 'left' before the Protein Markers had activated. She'd died before the programming had started and they had both been overwhelmed with relief when Jack had said that Thor had her. He had been so relieved that it hadn't been the glow of the Ancients ascending her because he knew that as much as he wanted Sam to be ascended rather than die, he knew she would have hated being ascended.
Daniel glanced over at Carolyn, who looked completely exhausted. She had done something wonderfully selfless, but it had put her at risk. Carolyn had lost consciousness when Corbin had put her in the armchair. Jayak and Corbin had quickly gotten fluids running and she was now also attached to a monitor. Her newborns had been placed on her chest and covered over with a warm towel. Daniel knew that he would need to get the other two humidi-cribs sent up so they would have enough for all the premature babies. There were eight of them now. Six of Sam's and two of Carolyn's. It was crazy that Jack and Sam now had six premature babies to look after.
Carolyn would be nursing four babies now but she should have plenty of milk now that he had filled her breasts to capacity. She had been pumping quite a bit over the last couple of days and they'd decided to get another breast pump sent up when it had become a bit awkward trying to juggle it between Sam and Carolyn.
The plan was that the milk that Vala had been pumping and storing would feed the L triplets, so Sam could concentrate on the six newest babies. They had taken the L triplets through the Stargate and even though it had only been two days, it was obvious that they had already done a little bit of growing. Jack hadn't wanted to push them too far and had drawn the line at two round trips and they figured that with regular trips through, the L triplets would be able to be weaned in a couple of months if it became necessary. Hopefully Sam's breast milk hadn't been affected by what her body had gone through and she would be still be able to supply enough breast milk for both the K and N sets of triplets.
Daniel turned his attention back to the tiny brown haired little boy that he held. His hair colour was similar to what Jacob's had been and he guessed that his eyes would be turning brown too. Another mini-Jack. It really was adorable that Sam's kids looked so much like them, especially the girls. It was also adorable that Kyan Charlie, who had once looked like Jack, was now blonde and would most likely be blue eyed like Sam. It made him wonder if Kyan had influenced his body to be that way, because his brothers definitely all leaned towards looking like Jack. Maybe Kyan had wanted to push the fact that he was now Sam's son and not Sara's, because he was definitely different to what he used to look like.
He looked at the 'N' girls in Vala's arms and knew they were incredibly similar in looks to the 'K' baby girls, even though the 'K' baby girls weren't identical. With four girls all looking alike and of similar size it was going to be difficult to tell them apart, especially for those, like himself, who couldn't feel Naquadah signatures.
Daniel sighed with tiredness and wondered how much longer Jack and Sam were going to be. He was anxious to see her. Anxious to see for himself that Sam really was okay. Everything had seemed to fall apart so badly. He slowly shook his head as he smiled, Thor sure had great timing and obviously had new beaming technology. Thank God for Thor. Then he began to wonder if Melody had somehow known that Thor would play a major part in saving Sam's life. Is that why Melody had felt the need to change Thor's clone, despite the terrifying and almost deadly cost to Jack and Sam's Naquadah levels?
Maybe everything HAD fallen into place after all? Lots of different things had added up to the final result of being able to save Sam's life. Maybe Melody changing and saving Thor had been important for more than just the reason of saving the Asgard race? Without Sam to lead the way, improving their technology would have had to wait until Melody was ready. Melody was an amazing little girl, but she wasn't Sam. Losing Sam would have set their Peacekeeping plans back a long way, a VERY long way.
THIS is how it was meant to be.
Sam HAD to be saved, because she is the essential corner stone of their Peacekeeping destiny.
Sam had been saved, and it felt so very, VERY right.