Daniel adjusted his glasses and looked out over the white landscape. He traced his finger in the air, taking note of several rocky outcroppings he would need to avoid. As the wind whipped his hair back, he reached in his pocket and pulled out his black stocking cap.
Could he risk the added friction? He weighed his options carefully. Lack of friction could add time, and once he started downhill, every second would count. Eventually, the practicality of added warmth won out (Being laid out with flu would do no one any good, he thought), and he pulled the cap down just below his ears.
With that decision made, he narrowed his focus to the hillside and below. His breath slowed to match his heartbeat as he mentally finalized the approach to the target.
He was almost ready. He was almost…
"Not that I'm not enjoying this obvious stalling tactic, but is this going to take much longer?" Daniel whipped around, almost tripping on the sled at his feet. Sam waved a stopwatch at him and said, "It's getting cold out here, you know."
Looking back, Daniel was sure it was all Jack's fault.
The original mandate had come from Hammond. All teams were required to attend a team-building seminar that would, so the theory went, help them appreciate each other's diverse strengths. Any team that was offworld the day of the seminar was allowed to participate in a make-up day or, as an alternative, their team leader could create a team-building project of their own.
To his credit, Hammond only slightly rolled his eyes when Jack announced SG-1's Weekly Team-Building Through Hockey Appreciation project.
This week's challenge was "beer and chips," so Daniel was already a few down as he worked on munchie distribution. He was in the kitchen when he heard Jack snort at a commercial in between the Avalanche's first and second period.
"Excuse me, sir?" had been Sam's reply.
Daniel juggled two large bowls of tortilla chips and two smaller bowls of salsa as he headed into the living room. Teal'c snagged a set with his long reach as soon as Daniel was close enough.
"Did you just snort, sir?" Sam pulled herself up from her position on the floor and snagged the pillow she had been using into her lap. Having opted not to participate in the "beer" part of the challenge, she was already in an odd mood. Daniel tracked his eyes up her body as she stretched out her long legs and leaned back.
"Snort? Me?" Jack slouched back in his recliner and pulled his hat down a bit further over his eyes.
"Indeed, O'Neill. You emitted a vocal sound of incredulity when the announcer mentioned ticket prices for the event in question." Teal'c dipped a chip into the salsa bowl and raised it to his mouth.
"Aw, come on," said Jack. "Do they really think anyone is going to pay that much money for women's hockey?"
Aaaaand, here we go, thought Daniel. He positioned himself on the couch and looked at Sam, who was clearly agitated. Daniel admired the long fingers knuckling the pillow in her lap.
Knead, release. Knead, release. Daniel got caught for a moment in the rhythmic tension of it.
Um, yeah. He was buzzed.
"And what, sir, is wrong with women's hockey?" Sam's tone was even, but the look on her face spoke volumes. And if Daniel didn't do something to diffuse the situation quickly, her voice was going to speak volumes, too.
Mediator. This was Daniel's team strength. He was sure of it.
"Well, Sam, there's nothing wrong with women's hockey, per se." Sam turned her attention in his direction, Jack momentarily forgotten.
Team-Building Lesson No. 1: When an argument with sexist connotations is brewing between a very female military officer and her CO, avoid self-insertion. Daniel will remember this lesson for years to come.
"Per se?" Her tone cooled, and Daniel suddenly felt the need to tread lightly in his negotiation.
Unfortunately, he couldn't make himself shut up.
"I think all Jack means is that men's hockey is decidedly different from women's hockey, and he prefers the quicker pace." He glanced at Jack, hoping to get some intervention from the recliner's direction, but Jack just sat further back and grinned.
Team-Building Lesson No. 2: When Jack O'Neill grins, it's never a good idea to be the person who is the cause of his amusement. Daniel already knows this lesson, but he's damned if he ever remembers it when the time is right.
Sam was glaring at him now.
Shit.
Daniel closed his eyes for a moment. He reopened them to see Sam nearly ripping the pillow open with her fingers.
"It's just... It's like tension," he said, suddenly inspired by the pillow. "The quicker the pace, the greater the tension." Her fingers jerked to a stop. Oh, God. Did he just say that? Really?
Team-Building Lesson No. 3: When Teal'c repositions himself as if he's watching a tennis match, someone is doomed.
"Oh, the pace," said Sam. "I see." She didn't look like she saw what he meant at all. "So what you're saying is that men are faster than women?"
Shit, shit, shit.
Daniel looked back towards Jack's truck, looking for some type of miracle reprieve. "It's snowing now, you know," he said. Sam smirked, tossing the stopwatch from one hand to another. "We should probably get back in before..."
"Like hell," she said.
"What?" Daniel looked back at Sam, who picked up the sled and headed in his direction.
"I said, 'Like hell.'" She shoved the sled into his arms and turned him to face the hill. "The colonel gave us a sled. We drove out here. I went. I was fast. I rocked. Your turn."
Giving over to the inevitable, Daniel placed the sled on the snow, gently testing it with his weight and adjusting his outer limbs to prevent separation from the rest of his body.
Daniel felt the shove on his back a split second before the sled jolted down the hill. He had just enough time to think it unsportsmanlike before wiping out in the first snowbank a third of the way down.
Shit.
Three more takes (and possibly shoves, though he couldn't be sure) later, and Daniel was fascinated with the physics that seemed to be mocking him from the slopes. He thought about Sam's descent – her long legs stretched out in front of her, her lean body fluid as she guided and adjusted the sled's path. Daniel had always admired her grace, and as he reached the top of the hill, he came to a decision.
"I concede," he said. Sam grinned. "On one condition." Before the grin could turn to irritation, Daniel continued. "Please show me what the hell I'm doing wrong."
After some slight gymnastics, Daniel was on the sled with Sam tucked between his legs. She reached around and pulled Daniel's arms around her midsection and leaned back into his neck. The wind caressed his bare skin where her hair, slightly damp from the snow, came into contact. Her body was a warm bundle against his, and he couldn't help but enjoy the feeling. Was he still buzzed?
Sam's breath tickled his neck as she spoke. "When I lean, you lean," she said. "It's about resistance, and finding the path with the least amount." He nodded. "You ready?" she asked.
"Let's do it."
And they were off.
As they barreled down the hill, Daniel thought this must be a little like flying. Their bodies found rhythm together as they hurtled. Daniel marveled at the intimacy of it and let his mind wander to fantasy: Sam's body curled back against his chest, her mouth tilted upwards with a mysterious smile, her long, lean legs wrapped around his...
They were tumbling in the snow now.
Shit, shit, shit.
"Miss a turn?" she said. She had landed on top of him and didn't seem inclined to move anytime soon.
"Oh, not me," he cracked back. He did a quick mental check on his body parts to make sure everything was intact. "You're obviously okay," he said.
"Yeah." She shifted her arms to make herself more comfortable on top of Daniel. What was she doing?
"Well?" he said, not understanding why she hadn't moved off of him yet.
"Well, what?" she said. "I win." She shifted her hips on his, and predictably, his body reacted. He moved his jaw, started to speak, and then closed his mouth again. Oh. OH. Obviously, torture was considered proper penance for idiocy.
"Thinking before you speak?" she said. "You know, I'm used to the colonel saying sexist things just to set me off, but I really expect better from you." Sam stretched against Daniel, and he groaned a bit.
"All I was trying to say was..." He knew she could feel what she was doing to him. "What I mean is... was that your knee?" Shut up, Daniel. Shut up. Shut up. "Oh, screw it."
Before he could think better of it, Daniel was kissing Sam. Shit, shit, shit.
Wait. She was letting him. And... was she kissing him back? She did something with her tongue against his lips and his brain shut off.
When they came up for air, Sam grinned down at him. "So what you were saying, then, is I win."
He nodded and reached for her again with a mental note to thank Jack. Best team-building activity ever.