Title: The First Time Jack O'Neill Saw Samantha Carter Naked
Author: LexKitten
Summary: Daniel, alcohol, and a game of truth or dare, conspire to reveal one of Jack's long kept secrets.
Status: Complete/One-shot.
Words: 2,350.
Characters/Pairings: Original Team; Sam/Jack
Set: Season 7ish, and Season 1
Spoilers: None really.
Rating: Older Teen - for some light perving.

AN: A little ficlette inspired by this week's Fic Rec theme "Looking Back" over at sj_everyday at LJ.

Because there is a first time for everything…

o0o … o0o … o0o

"That's it, I'm out," Jack announced, getting roughly to his feet. "I'm not playing anymore."

"Jack, that's not how the game works," Daniel chided, yanking violently on his arm and pulling Jack back to the ground. He slurred his words as he continued. "It's truth or dare. You picked truth, and now you have to be truthful."

"Your word is your bond," Teal'c intoned stoically, supporting Daniel.

Jack peered accusingly at his half empty bowl of ceremonial soup, now resting by the fire. He was starting to think there might be something alcoholic in it– which would explain why the Cialan villagers had all passed out or fallen asleep, leaving their new allies alone around the celebratory bonfire. It would also explain why Jack's world kept spinning, and how he had ended up getting himself caught in this very embarrassing game – with a very difficult question to answer.

"Don't worry, Sir," Sam said, as if she were placating a small child, not addressing a senior officer. "I'm not embarrassed."

"Yeah, c'mon, Jack," Daniel prodded. "Sam doesn't mind. Tell us all – when was the first time you saw the lovely Major Samantha Carter Naked?"

He was just going to check on her. That was all. That cut had gone pretty deep – deep enough to score through the back of her vest and draw blood – and Jack just wanted to make sure it wasn't too serious. And someone should keep an eye on her, in case they were ambushed again. That was a commanding officer's job, to watch over his team - nothing untoward in that.

Still, he slunk quietly through the undergrowth, carefully calculating each step to avoid disturbing any dry sticks or fallen leaves. His footfalls barely made a sound, even in the dense woodland. He could easily see Carter's trail through the bush heading off towards the sound of running water. She hadn't bothered to cover her tracks. He was only being quiet, so he wouldn't surprise her, that was all. It wasn't like he was sneaking after her or anything.

She wouldn't even need to know he was there. He could stay hidden by the river-side – at a polite distance of course – and keep a look-out without disturbing her at all.

"She wasn't a Major then," Jack said gruffly, picking up his alcoholic soup and taking another sip. He tried to push the memories out of his head, but they kept coming anyway.

"Nono," Sam agreed. "I used to be a Captain. Wasn't it on P3R942- that time we were kidnapped by a mad scientist? And he stripped us all down and put us in goo." She giggled, irresistibly drawing Jack's eyes to her face. "Jack woke up first, and when he came for me he kept his back turned and tried to hand me my clothes without looking over his shoulder." She laughed again, delighting inthe memory of his awkwardness. "Very chivalrous." From all the giggling and blushing, it was clear she was a little drunk.

Jack made a non-committal grunt in response, and tried to look away. He didn't want to risk saying anything more. Sam seemed perfectly content to reminisce about this old inconsequential mission – none the wiser that this wasn't actually the story of the first time Jack had seen her naked.

She stopped by the edge of the river, sitting down on a wide-flat rock to pull off her boots. Ever the soldier, she unclipped her side-arm and set it down beside her, close at hand.

Jack crept as close as he dared, hunkering down in the long grass beside the river, just a few yards from where Carter sat. He was close enough that he could hear the dull thud as she threw off her boots, and the soft rustle as she reached around her body to unstrap her vest. He could see her white teeth gently graze her bottom lip as the movement of coarse cloth across her wound caused her to wince. He felt his stomach churn uncomfortably, as he watched her flinch with pain.

Vest off, she began unzipping her jacket. This was probably the point that Jack should have looked away, but he didn't. The regs didn't even cross his mind. He stared, transfixed, as Sam slowly peeled off her BDU's, casting them aside like an unwanted skin. Below, she was wearing a thin standard issue cotton tank top, and a similar pair of plain cotton underwear. Sensible, practical and yet still somehow alluring – kind of like the young captain herself, Jack mused.

Daniel took another deep slurp of soup, throwing Jack a side-long glance and a smirk of pure evil. "That's not actually the incident I was thinking of…"

Damnit, Jack cursed to himself. Daniel still remembered – and now he was going to tell Sam too. "How much soup have you had?" Jack asked suddenly.

"Don't change the subject," Daniel chided. "C'mon Jack, tell the girl the truth…"

Sam cocked her head to the side, her brow knotting in confusion. She looked at Jack, a question bubbling up behind her bright trusting blue eyes.

Carter cast a furtive glance over her shoulder, but Jack was well hidden in the grass and easily avoided being spotted. She wasn't really checking that well – she didn't expect anyone to follow her. This time, Jack did let the regs cross his mind, as he watched his second in command slide her fingers slowly under the clingy cotton of her tank top. He knew he shouldn't be watching. But he had come this far now… she might hear him if he got up to sneak away. He kept his eyes on her as she slipped out of her singlet, pulling off her bra with it. Her entire back lack exposed before him, from slender neck down to the very hem of her white underwear.

She reached a hand up to her shoulder and felt the top of the long laceration snaking down her body – the coarse leather whip had caught her from shoulder to hip. Jack noted with relief that it wasn't a deep cut – thought it probably hurt like hell.

Suddenly, Carter shivered in the cool air, sending little ripples of movement over her exposed skin. From his vantage point, Jack could see the goose-bumps appearing all over her pale skin.

Clapping her hands together, she stood up readying herself to wade into the water. Carelessly, un-self-consciously, she slunk out of her underwear and dropped them on-top of the pile of discarded clothes. Now, she was completely naked.

"Yeah, I'm thinking of a time a little earlier," Daniel prompted, looking meaningfully at Jack. "Maybe only six or seven months after we all joined SG1 -when we were ambushed by that tribe of tree-dwelling Polynesians."

"P37X9," Teal'c added helpfully. "They used leather whips from the trees – a most successful tactic."

Jack yawned dramatically. "Anyone else notice our hosts all went to bed? Do you think maybe we should follow their lead…"

Daniel gave him a sly – if sloppy – wink, as if to say he knew exactly what Jack was thinking.

Jack could't help it. His eyes had a mind of their own. Try as he might, they refused to look away and slunk lower and lower down Carter's back, drinking in the full effect of her bare skin. It was like she had become an entirely different creature without her stifling over-sized uniform. Gone was the level-headed, bright and endearing genius. She had become something alluring, powerful and seductive. Jack wondered briefly which one was the true Carter - or did he just not understand how both of these creatures could exist in the one woman.

She walked slowly and carefully towards the water. It must be cold, because Jack saw her flinch as her toes touched the tide-line. She sucked in a deep breath and stepped forward anyway. Jack watched as her footfalls displaced flurries of water, sending splattering droplets splashing up her calves.

When she was halfway out, she suddenly ducked under the waterline, disappearing beneath the surface. Jack could see a pale glimmer where she swam, just below the water like a fish, waiting for the bait. When she surfaced, her short gold locks were slicked back against her cheeks and neck. Water droplets trickled down over her skin.

Suddenly Daniel's voice broke the silence. "Jack?" he shouted. "Jack - I know you came down this way."

Jack froze like a savannah cat before a hunter's rifle. His eyes darted to the undergrowth, scanning for Daniel. He was just cresting the hill, still half-hidden among the trees. But if he came much further forward, he would have a clear view of Jack - and of Sam.

Jack scrambled back into the woodland and made a dash for Daniel.

"Jack?" He called again. Suddenly, Jack was at his side, pushing him roughly to the ground and putting a hand over his mouth.

"Shh," Jack instructed.

Daniel pulled Jack's hand roughly away from his face. "What are you doing down here?" He looked over Jack's shoulder and his eyes suddenly narrowed suspiciously - he had no doubt caught sight of the little pile of Carter's clothes on the river bank.

"Come on," Jack said, pulling Daniel roughly to his feet. "Camp's this way," and he pushed him forward away from the river. He cast one last glance over his shoulder, but Sam was out of sight.

"I think you've had enough soup for one night," Jack said, taking the empty bowl from Daniel's hands.

"And I think I should have some more," Daniel countered. "C'mon, we're having fun here, Jack."

"Oh yeah, I can see that." Jack gave Teal'c a little nod, giving him a silent command.

The Jaffa got to his feet and circled around behind Daniel, suddenly lifting him up under his arms and hoisting him over his shoulder. "It is time we retired, Daniel Jackson. Before you say anything you will regret."

"Say anything Jack will regret, more like," Daniel slurred looking up at Jack from his slumped position over Teal'c shoulder. But thankfully, he was too drowsy to say anymore, as Teal'c carried him off towards the tents.

Jack offered a hand to Sam, which she took with a smile, allowing him to pull her to a standing position. "Daniel really can't hold his liquor," Jack noted, as they followed their friends away from the fire. "All that junk about some old mission – when he probably can't remember his own name right now." Jack forced a laugh to punctuate his cover story. He stole a side-ways glance at Sam, reading her expression. She was smiling. But it wasn't her usual blithe innocent smile. It was a calculating smile.

"He's right though," Sam replied, "about the first time I mean." Her eyes were sparkling dangerously in the fire-light.

Jack shrugged his shoulders, doing his best to play dumb. "Huhn, I don't really remember…"

"I do," Sam said, her voice was an uncharacteristically low purr. "I was down by the river, and you were in the grass. I'm sure you thought you were very well hidden. But y'know I'm a trained solider too. I know how to tell if I'm being followed."

Jack felt his whole face burning up. His throat went dry, choking off any feeble protests. So she knew all along. She had known he was watching her the entire time - and never said a word. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Sam flushed red, looking a little bit abashed. "Why did you look?" She countered.

Jack clicked his teeth - she had a point. Of the two of them, he had committed the worse crime. Still, he wondered if she had know he was there, why she had still undressed so slowly and deliberately… "Y'know, I didn't mean to see…" he mumbled uncertainly. "I was just trying to…"

"To watch my six," Sam finished for him. "I know, Sir. Thanks"

Jack swallowed, gulping back his apprehension. Somehow, impossibly but thankfully, she wasn't mad. In fact, the way her mouth was curling up at the corners, she looked kind of pleased.

"Too bad Daniel didn't ask me," she mused.

"Huhn?" asked Jack, trying to follow her line of thought.

"Too bad he didn't ask me, about the first time I saw you naked," she explained.

"Why?" Jack asked, furrowing his brow. He tried to think back over the many unfortunate situations that had ended with SG1 being stripped naked - there were quite a lot of them, and he couldn't really remember which would have been the first.

"Because I didn't have a good excuse," Sam replied with an absolutely devilish grin. "But I watched you anyway."

Jack's jaw dropped open. It was such an un-Carter-like thing to do. For a moment, he didn't believe her. But the faint blush on her cheeks convinced him she was telling the truth. "Wait- when…?" he asked, the wind driven out of his lungs.

Sam just winked. "That's my little secret," she replied, and frustratingly disappeared into her tent.

Jack made a resolution as the tent flaps swung closed: if Sam knew his secret, he would have to find out hers. They were going to have to play truth or dare again…

End.