And then one day it clicked…
"Carter" Jack gaped as he opened his cabin door to see his second in command standing in front of him, shivering in the cold and dripping wet.
"Can I come in sir?" she asks as she grabs her arms to stop the shivering
"Yes, of cause" Jack says opening the door and standing aside for her to walk passed. She smiles and walks in. he rushes down to a cupboard and grabs out a couple of towels and returns with them.
"Thank you sir" she smiles graciously as she accepts them and then removes her jacket and starts drying off.
"Um can I get you something?" he asks openhandedly and she smiles shaking her head "you sure? I've got a couple of Guinness in the fridge" he offers as he walks towards the fridge and then pulls out two beers. He walks back and hands one to her.
"Thanks" she smiles and then takes a mouthful
"Um Carter, if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?" Jack asks having a mouthful of his beer.
"To tell you the truth I'm not entirely sure" she admits "do you want the whole story or the shortened version" she asks with a smile. And Jack smiles back
"Why don't you just start at the beginning" he suggests as he stands up and brings her a blanket. Her smile brightens and she trades the towels for the blanket.
"Well sir, the truth is I couldn't sleep" she explained
"You couldn't sleep" he says skeptically but she nods "you couldn't sleep so you came hundreds of miles to my cabin" Jack says critically
"I guess it sounds crazy" Sam sighs
"Yah think" he smiles as he sits down on his couch
"Well actually I came here because I haven't been sleeping well for a while; I've been having a recurring dream" he nods as he ushers for her to sit down and she does
"You know, Teal'c is better at dreams than I am" Jack adds and she nods "okay so what's this dream about?" he asks having another mouthful of his beer
"Well you walk into the control room out of uniform, when Hammond asks you why you give him your resignation…" she started explaining and Jack promptly spat out his beer and started coughing "yeah I thought you might react that way"
"I resign?" he asks once he starts breathing again
"Yes but that's not the worst of it. I'm in the control room and I ask you why you're resigning and you um… you well…" she pauses as she closes her eyes grimacing at what she's about to say to her superior officer
"I kiss you" he finishes for her and she nods
"Sir I don't know why I keep having this dream" she assures him
"So you came here because you remembered this and you hoped that I might have the answers" Jack asked placing his beer down
"Remembered sir?" she asked confused
"Uh dreamt this" he corrects himself and she nods smoothing out the label on her beer bottle with her thumbs. There was a moment of silence as neither spoke. The first to break the silence was Jack "Carter" he spoke as he placed a hand on her arm. Her arm shot back and Jack exhaled a heavy breath.
"Sir I should go" Carter suggested as she stood up from the chair but Jack stopped her
"Carter that's ridiculous" Jack said grabbing her arm "it's pouring, you're miles from any other civilization and you haven't finished your beer" she sat back down
"I think it's fairly obvious what this dream is about" Carter stated and Jack nodded
"It's very obvious but not for the reasons you're thinking of" Jack stated as he finished off his beer
"Sir?" Sam asked confused and uncertain. Jack didn't reply, he wanted to but the same thing holding him back from ever doing anything with her was holding him back now, his uncertainty. "It's not just a dream is it?" she asked placing her beer down he tried not to look at her. "It's a memory?" she asked trying to see his face. He wouldn't look at her, like a stubborn child he thought that not seeing her would stop him from letting her know how he felt, hiding his emotions.
"It's something I did when me and Teal'c were stuck in the time loop" Jack explained and Sam inhaled deeply as she registered this
"The looks, I should have known" she exhaled and then stood up "I'll see you at the base sir" she said walking towards the door
"It's raining Carter" he reminds her and she stops just short of the door
"I'm already wet sir" she assured him as she opened the door and he got up and followed her
"What about the beer?" Jack asks from the door front
"It wasn't all that much" she shrugs
"Don't be ridiculous Carter, you can stay in the spare room and go home in the morning" Jack orders
"Sir do you feel anything for…"
"Carter" he says warningly
"Goodnight sir" she frowns as she shuts the door behind her and then runs out to her car. She closes the car door behind her and she sits in the driver's seat. She doesn't start the car; she punches the steering wheel and then rests her head against it as she cries. Not wailing, not sobbing, just gentle tears falling in silence. Tears she isn't even aware of.
Jack watches from the doorway. He expects the car to start and her to drive off. The car doesn't start so he goes out into the rain and climbs into the passenger side. He closes the door behind him.
"I'm sorry Carter" he apologizes but she ignores him
"Me coming here was a stupid idea," she says leaning back in her chair "I'm sorry sir, I don't know what came over me"
"There's no need to apologize Carter" Jack says reassuringly "come on" he waves for her to come in side as he leaves the car and walks in side. She watches him scowling. "He's so audacious" she mutters to herself before climbing out and rushing into the cabin.
When she comes inside she finds him in the spare room making the bed.
"Are you sure about this sir?" she asks from the doorway to the spare room as she watches him take off the old sheets he looks at her warningly and she sighs walking in and helping him fit the fresh sheets onto the mattress. Her mobile starts beeping and she pulls it out of her skirt pocket and hits a button before closing it and placing it on the bedside table before turning back to continue with the bed.
"What was it?" Jack asks tucking in a corner.
"Just my alarm, I set it for PM instead of AM by mistake" she explains and he nods
"Um have you eaten yet?" he asks as they finish making the bed.
"I uh had something on the way" she nods and he nods as they stand silently. Jack looks at Sam curiously for a moment as if pondering something. She watches him do this nervously. He goes to speak but instead, steps forward and reaches for her face. His fingertips gently brush her cheek and then trace her hair. At this action, Sam leans closer and kisses him but he seems stunned as if he hadn't expected it. She pulls back and sees him holding up a leaf that had been in her hair.
"I was getting this out" he mouths and she goes bright red with embarrassment. Jack has a slight cheeky grin towards her blush. He looks at her sympathetically and then he cups her face with his hand as he kisses her. At first gently and tentatively in uncertainty but then the kiss deepens and the kiss dances as their lips jump, breaking away only for a second before connecting again in a repetitive fashion as the passion builds.
"Sir" Sam mutters breathing heavily
"What?" he asks as he kisses her neck while he lowers her onto the bed
"We can't do this" the words barely escape her lips before her lips assault his as he starts unbuttoning her shirt
"Yes we can" he whispers as his hand strokes her bare stomach and she trembles under his touch.
"It's against regulations" she reminds him as she lifts his shirt over his head and then pulls him towards her as their mouths connect and their fingers entwine
"We've already broken them," he says kneeling over her as he holds her close and pushes her shirt away.
"We will never get away with it" she whispers as she starts taking off his pants and his hand slides along her thigh as he pushes up the skirt.
"You're right" he sighs as he stops just short of her underwear and pulls away from her. She feels cold as his body heat leaves her and the loss of intimacy is unbearable. She lingers her fingers with his and pulls him closer as she kisses him.
"No, I'm wrong" she exhales as their lips part.
"When are you wrong?" he asks skeptically as she pulls him on top of her
"Let me be wrong" she says sternly as she roles him onto his back and sits on top of him as she wraps her arms around him, kissing him.
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That morning:
Sam giggles as Jack's fingertips brush over her bare, naked skin.
"Samantha" he teases as he softly kisses her breast. She smiles, blushing slightly as his kisses slowly continue up and along her collarbone. Each kiss making her tremble slightly as it tickles her senses. She runs her fingers through his hair and she smiles as their eyes lock. Both of them are smiling in awe as the adrenaline of the night before settles. His hands massage her thighs that are still embracing him.
Her mobile rings on the bedside table and they both groan at the disturbance.
"Let it ring" Jack pleads as he plays with her belly button
"Let it ring" she says mockingly as she shakes her head and picks the mobile up off the bedside table and answers it.
"Hey Sam it's Daniel, SG7 just came back from their mission to P4X 305 with an alien device which I think you would love to get your hands on" Daniel explains enticingly.
"We're supposed to be on leave Daniel" Sam says warningly
"Yeah I know it sucks, but I thought you might want to have a look at this before it gets sent off to area 51" Daniel explains obviously not picking up on her warning tone. Jacks face shows a menacing grin and his hands begin to wonder making Sam laugh and squirm.
"Okay that wasn't supposed to be funny but…" he trails off as Sam slaps one of Jack wondering hands
"Sorry Daniel, um I'd love to see it but I'm not in town at the moment" she absentmindedly told him as Jacks kisses started again.
"What?" Daniel asked shocked
"Yeah what" Jack said warningly
"Who was that?" Daniel asked curiously
"Um that was Mark" Sam strained for an excuse "because I'm at his house in Seattle. You know visiting my brother and his family, in Seattle so I'm out of town." Sam prayed he'd believe her, meanwhile Jack just laughed to himself as he continued tormenting her. She had great difficulty in trying to stop her self from giggling under his touch.
"Um okay, well when do you get back?" Daniel asked seemingly oblivious to them. Jacks kisses traced up her stomach, over her breasts and then up to her neck where they stayed.
"Uh…um on…" she stuttered as Jack massaged her hips while he kissed her neck determinedly.
"Sam?" Daniel asked confused
"Uh Daniel I have to go, one of Marks kids want's to show me something they've made. I get back tomorrow, bye" Sam hung up "are you trying to get court-martialed?" Sam snapped at Jack before kissing him.
"Hmm…you want breakfast?" Jack asked as their lips drifted apart.
"Will it be actual food?" Sam laughed and Jack grinned as he played with her hair
"That depends on your perspective on pop-tarts"
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Back at the SGC.
Daniel sat staring in confusion at the phone for a minute before hanging up.
'Since when did Sam actually go on leave?' he asked himself but shrugged it off and turned his attention back to the devise that SG7 had brought back. He studied it; there were no significant markings. A single sentence was etched on the surface of the egg shaped device. A sentence that could be best translated to 'through kindness, none can lie'. Whatever that meant. Daniel's best theory was that the devise was some kind of peace offering. What possible purpose could a solid gold egg have? His only choice was to see what the egg held; he hoped it held something of significant importance. His only problem was convincing Hammond to let him crack it open, even with him supposed to be on leave.
That aside, his main priority was finding out how the egg opened. There were two circles cut into the egg, one on each point of the oval shape. Daniel carefully touched the inside of one of the circles and instantly discovered that the circles were buttons or more accurately they were latches based on the fact that the device was most probably a simple machine. He was now fairly certain that the two buttons were the key to opening the device.
Now off to go find Hammond…
15 minutes later and Daniel was back in Carter's lab examining the egg. One of the technicians was nearby watching rather nervously. Daniel smiled at the mousy technician and then he carefully pushed the button on the top of the egg. It bounced back and nothing happened. Daniel frowned and tipped the egg over and then pushed the button on the base of the egg. The same result. The egg remained closed. Daniel's only other choice was to press both buttons simultaneously.
The egg shook violently and Daniel instantly went to drop the device but his fingers were stuck. He couldn't remove his fingers and then then a bright light engulfed the room as electricity shot up Daniel's arms. And then with a burst of energy the device shot Daniel free and he was propelled backwards, he hit the opposite wall and then dropped to the floor and lay there motionless. The light disappeared and then the buttons bounced back into place and the egg was again inactive. The now stirred technician, who was starting to recover from the shock, picked up the phone and called for a medical team and then he rushed over to Daniel. The technician swallowed hard when Daniel didn't wake.