One, by Aimless (PG-13)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Sam and Daniel friendship

Pairing: none
Categories: Sam and Daniel friendship, Samantha Carter, gen, Daniel Jackson, drama, team
Warnings: torture, innuendo from the bad guys
Author on LJ: unknown
Author's Website: Aimless at The Grove
Link: One 

Why This Must Be Read: In this intense story, Sam and Daniel are the victims of an alien scientist's experiments, causing their friendship to become unexpectedly a lot closer than either of them realize - even as it helps them alleviate the situation.

The story is set sometime in S4, when the team dynamic has begun to falter and the characters are no longer quite as close as they used to be. Sam, all too aware of this, tries her best to get her relationship with Daniel back on track. But when Sam volunteers to return with Daniel to a friendly planet to give him the opportunity to get back to his archeological and linguistic roots, a rogue scientist seizes the opportunity to snatch them both and hold them for ransom. Sam gets sent back to the SGC to procure the naquada, with Daniel held hostage to her prompt return; but the scientist's method of ensuring her cooperation leaves her and Daniel inextricably linked, both emotionally, psychosomatically, and, over time, physically. With phantom sensations and awareness of each others' emotional states, it's their close friendship that gets them through the harrowing experience and leaves them even closer than ever.

 While the fic is unquestionably Sam's and Daniel's, there's solid team support from both from Jack and Teal'c, and some lovely scenes with Janet as well. Add a nice cameo or two from Hammond and some other SGC teams, and you've got an exciting, enjoyable story!

 

"Janet?" Sam croaked, surprised by the weakness in her own voice.

"Sam?" the petite doctor gently lowered Sam's arm and pulled out the dreaded penlight to check her pupil reaction. "Can you tell me your full name?"

"Major Samantha Carter. I'm a member of SG-1. Janet, there's nothing wrong with my head," frustration began to creep into her voice and she batted the doctor's hand away. "Where's Daniel?"

"Let me be the judge of what is or isn't wrong with you. Sam, x-rays show that some sort of metallic disc has been implanted in the back of your neck. It has wires leading into your spinal column. I need to run a few tests to find out exactly what its purpose is and then, hopefully, remove it."

"Yes, yes, I know all about that," frustration quickly changed to irritation. "You can't remove it right now. Where is Daniel?"

"Daniel isn't here, Carter." Colonel O'Neill swam into view. "You were found, alone and semi-conscious, near the gate by some Kolean people. They immediately contacted us and we got you home."

Dr. Fraiser once again took over the conversation. "You have a nasty burn on your arm..."

"The burn!" Sam cut her off. She raised her arm up in front of her and examined it closely. "It doesn't hurt. Why?" she questioned with obvious wonder in her voice.

"That would be because of the pain-killers." Janet indicated the IV line attached to the Major's uninjured arm. "The wound was pretty dirty and I had to debride it. You were beginning to come around by the time we got you here to the infirmary, so I gave you a sedative and some pain-killers..."

"De-de-debride? Did it hurt?" Sam broke in again. Her voice sounded almost child-like, lost.

To say that Janet was confused would have been a major understatement. "Well, uh, without the sedatives and pain meds, yes, it would have hurt a great deal, but..."

"NO!" Before anyone could stop her, Sam had ripped out her IV and vaulted from the bed. "No pain meds! I have to know how it feels. Oh my God! It must have hurt so much. You don't know what you've done. You can't cause pain! You..."

O'Neill reached the distraught woman first and firmly grabbed her upper arms to still her. "Carter, Sam, stay with me here. What's going on?" Seeing that the action failed to gain his 2IC's attention, he moved his hands to cup the sides of her face. He didn't speak, he simply held her head still in an attempt to force her to meet his eyes and hopefully snap out of whatever had gripped her.

Sam was aware of her surroundings and knew that the Colonel was trying to calm her, but the medications in her system and the knowledge that she was somehow responsible for causing Daniel severe pain had eaten away at her self-control and she was in a panic.

She could feel the Colonel's hands on either side of her face, stilling her movements and forcing her to look at him, but it wasn't until she felt a familiar touch on her hand that she began to calm herself.

Sam brought her left hand up before her eyes and simply stared at it. There was nothing making contact with her, yet she felt as if someone held her hand in a firm grasp. After a moment, the pressure on her hand increased and then disappeared entirely.