A/N: So this one kind of took a direction I was not expecting. But I like it and hope you guys do too. Enjoy!
The 'gate room came alive with the silvery blue light of an incoming wormhole. The sirens wailed as SG-1 stepped through the watery surface and onto the ramp. The team was bedraggled and sunburnt – it had been a long hard mission on a planet with two suns. The days had been long and despite their best efforts to cover themselves up, the team had all suffered from the bright suns.
The communal sigh of relief from the team was obvious to all the other staff in the room. The four people went about unburdening each other of what they were carrying; Teal'c helping Doctor Jackson and Colonel O'Neill helping Major Carter. The colonel was being especially gentle when removing the major's back pack, not wanting to aggravate the her sunburnt back.
As they all proceeded out of the room to medical exams and debriefings, the staff wondered at how they all seemed to draw strength from each other. The leader Jack O'Neill cracking jokes and his second in command smiling gently while walking beside him, the tall Jaffa who walked ahead of the team clearing their way and the civilian, Doctor Jackson who walked quietly behind the two officers, a slight smirk on his face as he listened to his friends.
The nurses were amazed that the major had been able to carry a back pack at all. She'd been working on the broken DHD in a t shirt and despite the factor 50 sun block as well, she'd still managed to get horribly burnt where her back had been facing the two suns.
The long hot days and short nights spent nursing their sunburn had meant that none of the team had slept well during the entirety of their trip. A burnt out crystal in the DHD had also lengthened their exploratory mission by a few days. Hammond went through the debrief efficiently, not wanting to keep them for longer than necessary – it seemed to him that they were all hanging on just long enough to speak to him. Even Teal'c seemed to be struggling. After checking with the doctor that their would be no lasting damage he sent them home, knowing that they would look after each other and make sure they made it there safely.
Jack looked over again from the driver's seat as Sam's head dropped to her chin. As soon as it did, it shot back up again and she moved slightly in her seat to keep herself awake.
"Carter, you can sleep you know." He said with a slight grin.
"No sir, I'm fine." She shot back at him.
'Fine' he thought. At least he'd got her to agree to him driving her home. He couldn't understand how her eyes were still open, she'd stayed awake for nearly 48 hours in the blazing sun ('suns' he reminded himself) to get the DHD fixed. And she'd also not said a word about the sunburn on her back until she'd finished and had nearly collapsed.
"Thanks, by the way, sir." She said quietly.
"For what?"
"For catching me when I collapsed."
Sam was obviously embarrassed by the (he thought) very ladylike way she'd fainted pretty much into his arms when she'd finally managed to dial home.
"No problem Carter. What are COs for?" He smiled at her and she smiled back at him weakly. The smile turned into a yawn and Jack couldn't help but think how cute she looked when she yawned and how much he'd enjoyed the weight of her in his arms when he'd caught her.
Jack looked back to the road, turning his mind to the route to Sam's house. The next few minutes passed in silence. Eventually he pulled up outside of Sam's home and glanced across to ask if she needed any help but instead found a very asleep Carter, her head propped up on her arm on the door.
He fought back a laugh and then marvelled at how cute she was, even with a burnt and blistered face, she was heaven to him. He allowed himself the luxury of just staring at her face for a few seconds; something that he could never normally do. After the seconds had turned into minutes, he realised that he needed to get her into the house. Jack stepped out of the truck and went around to the passenger side. Opening the door carefully so he didn't wake her, he took Sam's sleeping form into his arms and started walking towards her front door. He marvelled at the heat coming from her burnt back and tried not to think about how right it felt to carry her in his arms. He stepped lightly up the steps and used the key she'd given him years before to open her front door (with some difficulty). Jack moved quickly from the hall into her sitting room and placed Sam gently onto the sofa on her back but rolled her onto her side when a grimace of pain crossed her sleeping features. His heart almost stopped when he thought that he'd caused her pain and he sighed when he remembered that he shouldn't think like that about his second in command. This was definitely becoming a problem.
Jack thought about how worried he'd been when she'd sunk into his arms on the planet. Yes, Daniel and Teal'c's faces had been wearing the same expression but his mind had immediately gone to the worst scenario. He should have been able to keep a cool head, his decisions detached from any personal feelings towards his second in command. But mostly, he found that he couldn't keep his thoughts clear of her. Sam was everywhere and in everything. He needed to get away, to clear his head and get her out of his system. Jack's eyes drifted to her from his position on the edge of the sofa and found a pair of blue eyes looking back at him.
"Sir?" Her voice was soft and almost sultry.
"Sorry Carter, I was just leaving."
"It's okay sir, actually could you just check the dressings on my back? It feels like one of them might have come off." She asked carefully, keeping her eyes from his.
"Sure Carter." The reply had left his mouth before he'd had chance to stop it. He grimaced to himself as she turned around, his heart rate seemed to have doubled. He felt like a teenager. Sam pulled her light t-shirt up from either side to reveal the large white dressing pads that covered her back. The tape holding one corner at the bottom right of her back had come off, the pad falling back to reveal the large angry blisters beneath. He blew a breath out through his teeth and muttered "Oh Carter."
"It's fine sir. Really. Nothing I can't deal with."
"Why didn't you say anything when you were fixing the DHD?" He should be angry with her, as her commanding officer she needed to tell him if something had affected her performance while on a mission. He'd known that her back must have been burnt – they had all been burnt – but she hadn't told him the extent of it until he'd caught a glimpse in the infirmary of her back through a gap in a curtain.
"There was a job and it needed to get done." Her tone was matter of fact and there was no bravado in her voice. She was simply stating facts. He had no retort, no clever reply or reprimand that he could say to the tough soldier in front of him. Instead he took hold of the tape and gently reattached it to the skin on her hip, smoothing it against the red skin beneath. Jack told himself that he was just helping a fellow officer, that he definitely wasn't enjoying the feel of Carter's smooth skin beneath his rough fingers. Was it his imagination or was her skin raised in goosebumps? It must just be the pain he told himself firmly. He removed his hand quickly before he could place his palm fully against the curve of her hip. He looked up to see her watching him over her shoulder. Her gaze was open - she looked at him like she knew exactly what he'd been thinking and he thought that he saw a hint of his own desire reflected in her eyes.
Jack looked away and got up to leave quickly. Sam pulled down her top and lay down on the sofa facing away from him. Both of them seemed to be determined to forget the moment as quickly as possible even though Jack was sure that it would haunt him for a very long time.
He heard a vague "Thanks sir" before he left the house of his second in command. He paused briefly once he'd climbed into his truck before he turned the key in the ignition. 'What the hell just happened?' he said to himself. Maybe he wasn't the only one in trouble.