Title: Hope Fades

Author: Secret Art

Date: 5^th February 2005

Category: angst, romance,

Pairings: Sam/Jack

Spoilers: none

Summary: The world has ended and they're all alone

Feedback: can only make me better

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author.

Author’s note:

Sam looked over the barren wasteland, choking slightly on the dust being thrown around by the cold wind. The air was dry, and if she didn’t know where she was she’d have been convinced they’d landed on one of the desert planets.

Holding the rag up against her mouth again as the wind blew another dust cloud towards her she stepped back into the cargo ship, staring blankly outside as the door closed. And then looking blankly at the door, praying that she would wake up, find it to be some kind of dream.

"Did you find anything?" He sounded desperate, still clinging to hope she had lost as soon as they landed.

She simply nods, not trusting her voice, handing him the backpack she had been wearing as he handed her one of their few remaining water bottles.

She waited in silence as he emptied the pack, inspecting every item, making the occasional pleased noise when he came across something he thought might be useful. "Where did you find these?"

She opened her mouth, trying to speak, but all that came out was a harsh croak. Coughing slightly she tried again, knowing that all the dust she had inhaled was starting to affect her breathing. "I found a camp about 2 clicks north, it was well hidden under a cliff, I only spotted it as one of the tents had been moved into view by the wind. There weren’t any survivors, but it looked like they’d died from exposure rather than the attack. I took as much as I could find, it didn’t look like anyone or anything else had raided it before."

His smile faded, but she saw the sparkle of hope in his eyes increase. " If they survived the attack then it’s possible others did too. Ones better equipped to survive in these conditions, I won’t believe that we’re the only ones left."

She walked over to the command console, feeling his eyes on her back. " We won’t find them if they have. They’d have travelled as far away from the Stargate as possible, we don’t have enough supplies to try and follow, even if we did know what direction they went in."

"And as the ship is broken, and can’t be fixed we’re stuck here, hoping that someone will find us."

"There isn’t anyone to find us Jack." She wiped away at a tear that fell unbidden, furious that she was crying, she had to be strong, she had to fix the ship, yet she knew she could do neither.

She jumped slightly as he pulled her into a hug, quickly relaxing into his comforting embrace. They stayed like that for a few minutes, both lost in thought.

"Maybe if we had been here…"

"It wouldn’t have made a difference. We would simply have died along with everyone else at the base."

"We would have died fighting, not slowly fading away in this horror."

He didn’t reply, just pulled her tighter against him. She knew there was no argument against what she had just said, and he wasn’t going to pretend there was.

"We did the best we could Sam, we checked in on the people at the Beta site and volunteered to come searching for survivors. We couldn’t have known what had happened, what effect it would have on the ship."

"We should have known, we should have had warning. We failed Jack, our mission was to protect Earth, save it from threats and we couldn’t do it, we can’t even save ourselves."

He holds her as she sobs quietly, unable to cry himself, still in shock from seeing Earth, he couldn’t believe it was actually Earth, two weeks ago when they had arrived to search for survivors.

"I’m glad you’re here with me," she whispered, "I couldn’t do this alone."

"I know."

"I love you."

"I love you too." He kissed the top of her head, staring out of the ship to the emptiness beyond, clinging desperately to the hope that someone would come for them, for her sake if not for his own.