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“Teyla?”
Teyla turned, looking towards Colonel Carter. “Yes, Colonel Carter?”
“Um, I was just wondering… we haven’t met everyone on Atlantis, right? I mean, are there more people?” She asked, partially dreading the answer.
Teyla’s head tilted in intrigue. “Are you looking for someone in particular?”
“It's hard to describe.” Sam admitted. “I feel as though I know him, and he knows me. He’s a part of me somehow.” She thought for a moment, then closed her eyes, trying to bring in to focus the image on her mind’s eye. “He has brown eyes and silver hair. Really very strikingly handsome.”
Teyla’s smile grew as Sam was describing him. “Come with me.”
They walked into Sam’s office. Sam’s eyes were immediately drawn to a single shelf that was adorned with a dozen picture frames. Sam walked over and began to pick up each one, hoping to recall some memories.
“You brought these pictures with you; they are pictures of those you love most.” Teyla told her softly.
“I wish I could remember them— they don’t even seem—”Sam stopped suddenly and walked over to a credenza behind her desk and picked up a single silver picture frame. “This is him.” She said, holding the picture in one hand as the fingers on the other hand traced the face of the man who was smirking back at her. She was unaware of the megawatt smile that appeared on her face.
Teyla smiled. “That is General O’Neill,” she informed Sam. “He was your commanding officer for eight years then you remained close when he became Head of Homeworld Security.”
“Commanding officer?” Sam asked stunned. “You can’t mean I’m one of those soldiers, do you?”
Teyla shook her head in denial. “You have a reputation for excellence, Colonel Carter. As both a military officer and a scientist and I might add a strong leader to Atlantis.”
“Colonel is a rank?” Sam questioned.
“Yes.” Teyla confirmed.
Sam looked even more shocked. “I’m in charge?” she asked, a question in her voice. “You mean Rodney—”
“Is brilliant in many ways, but he lacks some essential people skills required and can be somewhat — scattered in his priorities if not properly directed.”
“He kept forgetting we were looking for you.” Sam confirmed.
“And you did not.” Teyla reminded her.
“No,” she said with a shake of the head, looking back at the picture. “O’Neill,” she said quietly then even quieter murmured. “Jack.”
“He will be pleased you remembered him.” Teyla told her. “You hold onto the things which are most important to you. Like a map to your mind, you don’t forget the essence of who you are until much later. He must have had quite the impact.”
Sam smiled, her eyes not leaving the photograph. “I think he did,” she admitted, then said more emphatically. “I know he does.”
“So you’re all back to normal after your quarantine? You back to being you, in all your Carterness?” he asked her, while they were sending the data back to earth through the open gate.
“Yes sir,” she confirmed. “It's all knocking around here somewhere.”
He grinned at that. He was glad at the news of the safety of Atlantis, even more her safety. “That’s good to hear,” he told her. “If you were all forgetting who you were, how did you know what to do?”
Sam smiled. “Teyla And Ronan had developed immunity from a childhood disease, so it made things easier.”
“Like chickenpox and shingles.”
“Exactly.” She agreed. “Once we had it, we delivered the cure through our environmental systems, so now everyone here has been treated. I'm recommending anyone travelling to Atlantis get vaccinated as a precaution.”
“Makes sense.” He nodded.
“Ronan and Teyla were able to coordinate a lot of things. Luckily, the last thing Rodney let go of was his science.” She continued.
“And you?” He asked curiously, Sam being ten times the scientist Rodney was (in his own opinion), he wondered what had stuck.
She smiled widely looking down, blushing for a moment admitting to herself that the one person she instinctively sought was him.
“Oh?” He said catching on, and when she looked up, he had a smug grin on his face.
“Apparently it stuck.” She shrugged, trying to stay professional.
“Yes, well – there's some cliché about sticking together or being unforgettable, but we both know how I hate those.”
She chuckled. “I do, sir.”
“How long will it take for the treatment to work?”
“It depends on length of exposure. Putting it inside a vaccine, the potency of it does increase the time of effectiveness. Something Dr Kellar is currently mass-producing the vaccine. They should be ready in the next few days and will be sending some to Midway Station, where we have people waiting there. She's recommending treatment there, so that way it's already safely in their systems when they arrive here.”
“So in a few days, maybe I could come–” he said, and she looked up with a smile gracing her face, while he shrugged. “You know, for a review of your first couple of months.”
“Almost three.” She admitted, downplaying their time apart.
She saw him physically swallow, “Yep, three.” He confirmed, before they were silent for a beat, as they looked at each other, speaking with their eyes as they wanted to do in person.
“Yes sir, it'll be a pleasure.” She broke the silence, though she wished she could say more.
“See you soon, Colonel.”