A/N – Talk about being hit with the inspiration bug! I was up till one in the morning typing this first chapter up, so it had better be good. I didn't even use any coffee… So yeah, reviews would be greatly appreciated:D
Chapter 1: I want to stand with you…
Jack passed his hand down Sam's back, lightly touching the scars that marred her smooth skin. This was one of those moments he wished he could capture under glass, to be able to look at when they were in the heat of battle or when Sam was laying close to death in the infirmary. This was one of those moments where nothing was wrong.
The sunlight falling through the blinds seemed to make Sam's skin glow under his fingertips. She opened her eyes, turning her head to smile drowsily at him. Then the phone rang, and Jack's world seemed to speed up again.
"Hello?" Jack grumbled, hauling the receiver up to his ear.
"Hi, Jack, it's Daniel. You busy?"
Jack sighed heavily. "No."
"Well…I wanted to get together and work on our proposal…you know, for helping the Shoni rebels on P6Y-927."
"Right…" Jack squinted at the clock. "You at the base?"
"Uhuh. The guys from the Pentagon are coming in today, don't forget."
"Crap, I'll be over there in a bit."
He hung up the phone, then rolled on his back, turning to look at Sam. She tilted her head and gave him a questioning look.
"Danny needs us at work," Jack said finally, sitting up.
Sam nodded, sitting up as well and pulling the sheets up to cover her chest. Jack leaned over and kissed her lightly, then muttered that he was going to take a shower.
"…so as you can see, gentlemen, the fact that Abershu's government has Ancient technology makes it far worth our time to help the Shoni rebels overthrow them." Daniel closed his binder sharply, accentuating the end of his request.
A stern looking official folded his hands and regarded Daniel thoughtfully. "Tell me, though, what's stopping this Abershu from using this Ancient technology to help him win the civil war?"
"They don't know how to use it," Daniel replied. "Yet. The longer we wait to make this decision the more time we're giving them to learn exactly how to operate the weapons."
"Well," the official nodded. "This certainly sounds like it warrants our time and resources, and the president agrees with me. General, you've got the go-ahead."
"Thank you." Hammond turned to Jack. "Colonel, have your team ready to go to 927 within the hour and tell Kirian that we'll help his cause."
Roughly forty-five minutes later SG-1 and SG-3 stood in the gate room, watching as the chevrons encoded.
Kirian, a young, mousy-haired man, a prominent activist among the Shoni, was waiting for them on the other side of the gate, which was located in an abandoned storehouse in the Shoni capital city of Morvon. The storehouse was currently serving as a home base for the rebels, as Abershu's government had no idea the Stargate even existed.
"We are much in debt to you," Kirian said to Jack. The young man had an accent that was vaguely Russian, and an almost maniac glint in his eyes that seemed out of place on his boyish face. "We didn't your support to come so soon…let alone for you to bring supplies." He and Jack were watching as the rebels sorted through the weapons and distributed them.
"Well, I hate to tell you, kid, but our government's more concerned about getting their hands on that technology Abershu's got than helping you guys win this civil war."
"We prefer to think of it as a revolution." Kirian corrected. "Your Major Carter seems particularly interested in our technology." A faint smile played at the corners of the young man's lips, though Jack didn't notice.
"Well, Carter's a bit of a nerd," Jack grumbled. "She's smart though, I have to hand it to her."
"It is interesting how you educate your women and entrust them with weapons…" Kirian mused. "That is not the custom among the Shoni."
"Yeah, I can tell." Jack said, noting the lack of women amongst the rebels. Glancing over to the door, he saw Sam beckon to him. "Excuse me a minute," he said to Kirian, and hurried down to Sam.
"Sir," Sam turned from the rebel she'd been speaking with. "Some of the rebels are getting frustrated with Kirian, they're saying he's not planning fast enough. If we don't make a plan soon they'll either try to act on their own or else take over from Kirian."
"A revolution inside a revolution?" Jack raised an eyebrow.
Sam shrugged. She tilted her head up, and the light from one of the storehouse's high windows fell across her face. Unable to resist, Jack reached out and traced the line of her jaw then cupped her cheek in one hand. For the briefest second Sam turned into his touch. Then she opened her eyes and it was Major Carter looking at him.
"Sir."
"Right." Jack let his hand fall from her cheek. "You just…" look exactly the way you did this morning….
"Sir we need to talk to Kirian about what the plan is going to be," Sam said stiffly.
"Yeah, I'll go do that, you keep on with your…whatever you were doing." Jack's heart lifted a little as Sam flashed him a brief smile, before she turned and headed over to where people were loading up the guns.
After many hours of talking, Jack felt like they had reached no conclusions whatsoever except that something drastic needed to be done. The two SG teams were shown to the barracks that the rebels used, where most of the rebels were already fast asleep on their bunks.
"Where's Carter?" Jack asked Daniel, looking around.
Daniel sat down on an empty bunk and began unlacing his shoes. "I think she said something about wanting to get some air."
Jack turned and walked out into the hall, pausing briefly to ask the guard if he'd seen Sam.
Up a flight of rusty stairs, through a heavy door whose lock had long since rusted away, and Jack found himself on the flat roof of the storehouse. Spread out on four sides was the glittering night time city scape. Jack spotted Sam sitting down a little ways away, leaning against one of the huge ventilator shafts that sprouted up out of the tar-paper like a thick aluminum stalagmite.
"Hey." Jack sat down next to her, following her gaze out to the ocean that lay on the other side of the city. The wind blew lightly, carrying the scent of salt water with it.
Sam turned to look at Jack. "Hi." That was all they said; most often that was all they ever said. They'd made it their own personal taboo to talk about work, or to talk about if what they were doing was wrong. They would just enjoy the moment that was their's.
Jack pulled Sam over so she was straddling his hips, facing him. His hands slipped under her jacket and shirt to her bare skin as hers came up to cup his face, drawing their lips together in a passionate kiss.
The wind blowing in off the ocean was cold and salty, but nothing, nothing would take this moment away. If a goa'uld ship dropped down out of the sky Jack would have snapped at it to hang on a second while he finished. But the goosebumps on the back of Sam's neck were a harsh reality to him.
Before they went back downstairs they walked to the edge of the roof, staring out over the city with their arms around each other.
"We should go back down," Sam murmured, her first words since their initial greeting. "It's late."
Jack nodded, reluctantly, looking down at her. He wished things were simpler, that it wouldn't matter who wondered where they were and what they were up to. He wished he could just stand there forever with her in his arms.
The next day around noon there was commotion in the main room of the storehouse. Walking over, Jack found Kirian trying to console a distraught young man who looked rather beat up.
"They shot his wife, the sick bastards!" Kirian spat after the man had been taken away by his friends. "They shot his wife because he would not divulge our location to them!" There were angry murmurs from the people gathered around.
Sam appeared at Jack's side. "What's going on?" In response, Jack jerked his chin towards Kirian.
"We know the location where they held our brother, where they murdered," he spat the word out, "his innocent wife only because he stood up for what he believes in! Brothers, what should we do?"
"Show them we won't stand for it!" One man shouted. "We must take action, Kirian! They are killing innocents!"
Kirian turned to Jack and Sam, a wild fire burning in his eyes. "Do we have the forces to?"
"A small attack, maybe," Jack began. "But, Kirian-"
"Twenty of you," Kirian said to the gathered people. "Twenty of you be ready in two hours to come with me!" He turned and flounced off.
Jack and Sam exchanged a worried look.
When provoked, Kirian's usually calm and scholarly manner seemed to melt away to reveal raw, revolutionary rage. He and the twenty other rebels, along with Sam and Jack, made their way carefully to the government building downtown where their man had been held.
"Kirian," Jack muttered as they stood casually beside the fountain in the town square, watching the small trickle of late afternoon traffic pass between them and the white government building that was their target. "You still have time to call this off."
"My people are hungry for blood, O'Neill." Kirian said solemnly, checking the grenades he had strapped to the inside of his jacket. "I will give it to them." He narrowed his eyes. "I don't require you to join me."
"We'll help," Sam said. "We're just saying it's probably a bad idea."
"Maybe so." Kirian signaled to another of the rebels a little ways down the street. "But something must be done."
A handful of them entered the building. Guns were pulled, and chaos ensued. Later on Jack would find that he couldn't quite remember what happened, exactly. All he knew was that he threw the grenades, that Kirian threw grenades, that Sam was forced to open fire on some guards, and the whole marble building seemed to collapse in a pile of dust and blood.
"Carter, you're injured!"
"It's nothing, sir," Sam said as they and the rebels hurried away from the scene of the crime before troops closed in. A gash on Sam's arm showed where a falling piece of rock had cut her. "I'll be fine."
Back at the storehouse they took a head count; they'd lost three men. Daniel was furious with Jack.
"You didn't try to stop Kirian?!"
Jack held up his hands. He was sitting behind Sam on a bench, and had been trying to dress the wound on Sam's arm, but Daniel was proving to be a distraction. "Daniel, I tried, ok? He's a crazy revolutionist. Trying to stop him would be like telling Lenin to fuck the Russian revolution. Pointless."
"Three people died, Jack!" Daniel gestured wildly with his hands.
"Yeah, well," Jack rolled his eyes. "that happens in war sometimes, Danny."
Daniel opened his mouth to argue some more, but Sam let out a long, over-exaggerated sigh. With a shake of his head, Daniel turned and went to find Teal'c.
"I'm not saying I agree with Kirian." Jack mumbled, returning to the task of patching up Sam's wound.
"I know, Sir." Sam said. "Daniel's just shaken up. You know how he gets."
"Uhuh." Jack sat back a little. "There. I'm no Doc Fraiser, but that should hold you until we get back to the SGC."
Sam leaned back against him, murmuring her thanks. It was only then, feeling the delicate weight of her body, that Jack realized they were alone in the room. Everyone else was out in the main area by the stargate, no doubt discussing the days events.
Jack's arms came up around Sam, and he rested his cheek against hers, stealing another brief moment before they had to go face the crowds.
"Sir, things are getting kinda crazy here," Jack reported to Hammond via the MALP. "They're still working on a major plan, because apparently Abershu and his close associates and his family will be coming into the city in a few months. But pretty much right now all they're able to do is small insurgent activities, attacking government buildings, passing out propaganda to the workers…"
"Do they still need you, Colonel?" Hammond asked.
"Not at the moment, Sir." Jack turned to confirm something with Sam, who was standing just behind him. "We promised Kirian we'd help with the big coup when Abershu shows up, but we were wondering if we could come back home for a bit until then. SG-3 says they'll stay to keep an eye on things." As if as an afterthought, Jack added, "Oh, and Carter's injured. It's not that bad, but we should have the Doc take a look at her."
Hammond nodded. "Very well. Bring your team back in, we'll be expecting you."
"Great." Jack grinned. "O'Neill out." He ended the transmission, and the wormhole disengaged.
The first thing they all did when they got back was take showers; the storehouse on P6Y-927 didn't exactly have running water. The second thing the team did was go out to the local bar for drinks.
It always seemed slightly odd to Jack to see the team out of uniform. Teal'c was just plain amusing, with his various and assorted headgear. Tonight it was a dark bandanna, pulled down low over his forehead. And then there was Sam in a halter top and jeans.
'Holy shit…' Jack thought numbly, unable to take his eyes off her as she got a glass of beer and brought it back to their table. The smirk that twisted her lips told him this was all for him, not for the men at the bar who were staring at her with no idea that she could kick their asses in ten seconds flat. She just loved torturing Jack when they were off duty.
It was a good thing that Daniel and Teal'c were preoccupied in a discussion about Star Wars. A bad thing when they turned back as Sam sat down. Jack lowered his eyes to his own drink, trying to absorb the coolness of the glass between his hands.
It wasn't until later, nearly slammng Sam against the wall in all his eagerness, that he was able to finally release the heat that had been growing since he saw her in that halter top. The one conscious thought he had as they came together was that it was amazing how fast any thoughts of Kirian, the revolution, or the three men that had been killed that day could be driven from his mind.