After the Fire by Jolinar @ Carter

Notes: Sorry if this has the paragraphing from hell. Its fine on my pc but when uploaded...

Samantha Carter walked in to the Officer's Club at the SGC, scanning the room. She found the people she was looking for, Daniel Jackson, who was sitting with his crutches next to him, Jack O'Neill, who was laughing at something that Teal'C had said, Janet Fraiser, their beloved Doctor, the only one able to fix them up, and Teal'C. They were all sitting at their usual table near the bar. Colonel O'Neill waved at her, and she nodded and joined them, after she had ordered a drink. She wiped her eyes, just to make sure it didn't look like she'd been crying. She nearly always did after a mission. She always wondered how the hell they'd made it out from the tough ones, and if they'd be so lucky next time.

"Hey Carter. You look better. I guess all that mud, and having your brain fried, and being put in stasis didn't help you did it? You look...different." Jack thought, staring at her clothes. He was used to seeing her in uniform.

"Thanks sir. I think. How's the leg Daniel?" Carter asked.

"Better thanks." Daniel replied with a smile. He had been staff blasted in the leg earlier that day, but he was happy because all of SG-1 had made it out, alive.

"He's not going to be able to walk on it for a while." Janet reminded him. Sam sat down next to O'Neill, who offered her a sip of his beer. She declined, and a guy bought hers over for her.

"Thanks." The guy walked off, and left the five friends to talk.

"What's on your mind Carter?" O'Neill asked, noticing that she looked a bit ill and stressed.

"I'll tell you later...maybe." She wasn't sure if she should. Especially not in this public place. She wasn't sure if she should ever tell him. How could she tell him? Err...sir, I love you, and I want to get married and spend the rest of my life with you sir. It was not that easy. Nothing was easy for her. She had thought she liked him, but now she knew how much. A lot.

"By the way, thanks for saving my butt."

"No problem. It would have been a shame for a nice butt to get fried like that." Jack told her.

"When did he save you? It was so long, I forgot!" Janet tried to recall that part, but couldn't.

"When Hathor found me helping him. She nearly killed me with that Goa'uld ribbon device. He saved me by grabbing her, and pushing her down in to the stasis...thing." Sam remembered.

"Oh yeah. Sam, I have some bad news." Janet said sadly.

"What?" Carter asked. Could this day get any worse?

"Cassie went to feed your fish, but Noodle was already dead." Yes it could.

"Noodle?" Teal'C, Daniel and Jack asked. Funny name for a fish! Thought Jack.

"Spaghetti, Cocoa and Hot Dog are fine. Just Noodle." Janet informed her.

"Oh! He was my favourite!" Sam moaned.

"Get a new one." Daniel suggested.

"How the hell did we get out of there? I can't believe we made it out." Sam exclaimed, still thinking about the last few week's events. "We should be with Noodle shouldn't we?"

"You always find a way. It was obvious you would, you're SG-1! You escape so easily. You always make these great escapes, while the rest of us are dreaming about being on one of your wonderful adventures." Janet told her.

"You weren't there Janet! How could you possibly know how easy it was? It wasn't easy. It wasn't wonderful. It was scary. It scared the crap out of me. To have so many flashbacks, to be told that your friends are all dead, to almost loose your commanding officer and your best friend! To nearly get killed with a ribbon device! You do not know what it is like!" She yelled.

She left, Jack followed.

"Carter! Sam? Come on. Let me in. Please. You obviously need to talk to someone!" He banged on the door. There was a noise, and it unlocked. He opened it, and walked over to his friend, who was lying on the bench in the middle of the locker room. He sat next to her. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Everything Colonel! Those memories...flashbacks, I guess you could call them...they were just horrible! The memory device didn't just set off my memories, they set off Jolinar's! They scared the crap out of me! And then there were these other ones too, mine. They were awful...they...they were just...horrible!" She cried. Jack pulled her up, and hugged her, like he had in Hathor's palace. God her loved her. He was hugging her really tightly.

"It's okay, we're out. You're safe now. You're home. We're home. All of us! Me, you, Danny, Teal'C, we're home. They can't hurt you anymore." Jack told her. "They're a long way away. They won't hurt you now."

"I know! It's just..." She stopped in the middle of her sentence.

"What? Sam? You okay?" He pulled his head back to see that she was staring at the wall, looking really frightened. She shook her head after a while, and gasped. She was crying again, so he hugged her. "What happened? Flash?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

"Why don't you get some sleep hey? It is ten o clock." Jack suggested.

"I don't want to. I'm not tired enough. I'm scared they'll come in my sleep. They're so awful. I had one when I was back there! It was awful!" She cried.

"It's okay. Tell you what, wipe your eyes, and then come home with me." Jack told her, getting up and grabbing her leather jacket. He threw it to her and she got up.

"Sir..."

"You can stay in the guest room of course." Jack added.

"Of course." She nodded, slightly disappointed.

"But it's better than you being alone. Chances are we'll just sit there all night talking, watching the tv or drinking. It's what I usually do." He explained, as she threw her jacket on. "Nightmares suck, so visions or flashes or whatever junk these are, they must be a royal pain."

"Thanks. I just don't...I'm not used to those flashes. Most of the time they aren't as frightening." She said. "Some of Jolinar's memories are terrifying, some are happy, some are just unthinkable. She went through a lot. God..."

"Hey. Forget about it." He told her. "That's an order. You're allowed to be upset."

"Yes sir. I'll try." She promised. She would like to forget them. But it wasn't that easy.

They went back to the bar before heading off, and found their friends at the same table. "Hey. Sorry Janet." Sam apologised.

"It's okay Sam. I don't know what it is like. I shouldn't have thought I knew." Janet smiled.

"It's okay." Sam grinned.

"L8r g8rs. We're going home." O'Neill announced, and they walked off.

That night, Sam and Jack didn't get any sleep. They stayed in the living room talking all night, about their childhoods, families, missions and all that kind of stuff. They both found out a lot of things they didn't know about each other, and Sam felt a lot better, knowing that she still had a very good friend, that was always going to be looking out for her, no matter what.

They both realised how much worse off they could have been right now - Jack could have had a snake in his head and Sam could have been Hathor's slave. Dan, Jack and Sam had all got out alive, and that was something worth celebrating. So the very next day, their first day off in a few weeks, they went out to dinner with Cassy, Janet, Hammond, Teal'C and Daniel.

Soon, Sam's flash backs had stopped coming almost altogether. She would occasionally get one, but when she did, she could talk about it to O'Neill...if she needed to. Most of the ones she now had were not too bad, usually happy or only slightly sad.

They would never forget the mission where they almost lost Colonel O'Neill to a snake, but they would now concentrate on future missions, meeting new people, discovering new technologies and travelling through space...and...just completely messing about and having fun...where possible...