Author: Jojo
Email: randomleaves@yahoo.co.uk
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Season: 5
Spoilers: None
Summary: In which Danny and Teal'c are conveniently elsewhere.
A/N: I'm not entirely sure how this happened. I mean... I really didn't intend to write anything for at least a month. Thanks to Melly and Emry.
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There's a dress in the shop window that Sam really, really wants.
Not that she's going to tell anyone that, obviously, because this shop is off-world, she's a very professional Major in the USAF and all her companions are men who would definitely mock her shopping inclinations.
She just can't stop looking at it.
It's seriously pretty.
Damn.
She turns her attention back to her CO who is making some, no doubt, witty comments about their surroundings and the lack of trees and the generally busy environment. He's grinning; he likes this place.
Subtly, Sam leans back to check the window again. It's a really pretty dress. She would look pretty in it. She even had pretty shoes that would be *perfect* with it.
Aw, man, she really wants the pretty, pretty dress.
"Carter? Is there some problem?"
"Nope. No, sir, no problem here, no, siree," she says, maybe going a little overboard on the whole denial thing.
He looks at her oddly.
Yeah. Maybe just a tad overboard.
Colonel O'Neill looks in the general direction that she's been staring for the past ten minutes but between the store carts, the people and the several shops on that side of the street, he can't tell what she was looking at.
Thank God for that.
He gives her another odd look. "Right, Daniel, you wanted to..."
"Check out the book stores," he says, grinning toothily. He looks a little evil – as if he knows how much this part of the mission pains the Colonel.
"Right." The Colonel puts a couple of fingers to his temple and rubs in slow circles. "Um, I guess I'll... no, Teal'c, I'm sorry. You're going to have to do that with him."
"I would be pleased to do so, O'Neill," Teal'c says, raising an eyebrow as if to say 'I am so much more patient than you are, buddy'.
"And Carter and I will... wander around and be tourists."
Guess that means they'll be walking away from the pretty, pretty dress.
Damn.
Daniel and Teal'c walk off in search of ancient texts and stuff and she and her Colonel stand in the street and don't do anything for a while. Sam tries very hard not to look at the pretty, pretty dress-shop and he's frowning at the top of her head. She's used to him staring at her; she doesn't mind.
"Come on, Carter, let's go people watch."
So they people watch. Which basically means they walk around... watching stuff. People. Stores. The animals that look almost like dogs but... not. The kids standing by the candy carts looking up hopefully. Kids with green hair. Blue. Red. Almost human... but not.
There's no talking but it's a comfortable kind of no talking. The type she'd gotten used to having with him recently.
They lean against a wall and drink from their canteens.
"There's a guy over there staring at you," he says finally, narrowing his eyes.
Sam turns and looks in the direction he's staring. There is a guy. A cute guy. Probably in his thirties – blue eyes, blonde-white hair, big smile. Really no longer her type.
To amuse herself, she teases him, "Actually, sir, I think he's staring at you." And she gives him a big, cheeky grin.
The Colonel screws the cap back on the canteen and clears his throat. Under his tan, Sam suspects that red color is embarrassment. "Time to go now, Major."
She grins still further and follows him.
They walk side by side, shoulders bumping, hands occasionally – accidentally, of course – brushing. Once his little finger wraps around hers but only to tug her in a certain direction. And if their fingers stayed together for longer than was entirely necessary, it was only because both of them were distracted by the jugglers in the corner of the market place.
Both of them try to count how many of the colorful balls are in the air but the jugglers are doing it too fast.
"Must be easier to do that with three hands," he comments, looking a little weirded out by the extra limbs.
"I don't think they're natives, sir," she says, weirded out too but really, really curious. Janet would like this place, Sam thinks.
Janet would probably figure out a way for Sam to buy the pretty dress.
"I think it's cool."
She glances up at him. He's still watching the jugglers intently. "Having three arms?"
"No. This whole... interstellar trading place." Looking around, the Colonel gestures at all the people, the carts, the shops, the smells, sounds and atmosphere. "I think it's cool."
He looks a little embarrassed to be admitting an appreciation of something that's not on Earth.
Boldly, Sam unwraps her little finger and slides her hand into his. "It's cool," she agrees, casually.
He clears his throat and nods and when he thinks she's not looking, he looks down at where their hands are intertwined and hanging between them. But he doesn't break the contact.
The jugglers break for lunch and so do the military half of SG-1. Finding a wall to perch on overlooking a river where children are paddling, their pants rolled up to their knees, they eat their MREs, both privately thinking they'd much rather be eating whatever it was the large woman opposite them is sharing with her three children.
The river isn't particularly wide and the wind is blowing gently towards them so they can both smell the fresh food. It has a tantalizing scent of cookies and warm chocolate.
Sam thinks about the pretty dress and brushes crumbs off her thighs while the Colonel checks in with Daniel and Teal'c. Apparently, Daniel has found an entire bookstore, several stories high, with books from most worlds that visit this trading planet.
Teal'c sounds weary. Sam imagines he's had difficulty reining Daniel's excitement in.
"We don't have enough of the local currency for him to go wild, Teal'c," the Colonel points out, looking at Sam who's bouncing the heels of her boots against the wall and tilting her head up to catch the sun rays.
"The occupier is most willing to trade. He seems inordinately fond of our sunglasses."
"Who wouldn't be?" the Colonel quips.
They arrange to meet later at the hostel where they'd stored their things – not wanting to lug large packs around in this crowd – and Sam and Jack hop off their wall and wander back into the busy town. They take things slower, going into shops and looking in windows. There's some kind of children's game going on in one of the side streets and quite an audience of adults grouped at one end to applaud and cheer the kids on. The Colonel loiters against a corner and watches them, a small smile on his face.
He tugs on her elbow and draws her close so he can whisper, "That one there," his breath tickles her ear, "looks just like Skaara."
She follows his arm to see one of the boys does indeed bear a striking resemblance to Skaara. The kid isn't involved in the game, standing against a wall and talking to a pretty green-headed girl wearing a green dress.
A pretty green dress.
Sam sighs.
The Colonel kisses her right under her ear.
Her eyelids flutter and she breaths out slowly, trying to contain the shudder that runs through her body. "Oh... man."
"Er, something wrong?"
She pauses. "I can't feel the whole of the left side of my body," she admits, slanting him a look.
He grins and puts an arm over her shoulder. "Let's go find the stuff that smells like cookies."
They find the stand that sells the cookie thing and buy two pastries, fresh and warm, the chocolate still warm and gooey. Backing behind a line of stores and into an empty alleyway, they feast on the delicacy. It's messy and they need some kind of a napkin. Instead, they use each other's shirts to wipe the chocolate from their fingers.
"It's kind of like... chocolate and hazelnut spread," he says, objectively, licking his fingers and backing her up against the wall.
She swallows her mouthful rather abruptly as he places his palms on either side of her head.
"Are you going to kiss me?" she asks, curiously, half wondering why this was happening on this mission today, on this particular planet.
His eyes are very, very dark now. Dark and watchful. She likes this look. "Yes."
"Wait." Hurriedly, she licks her fingers one last time and then wipes them on his shirt. She catches her fingers on his belt loops and yanks his hips closer to her. Oh yeah. Just right.
Lifting her head, she opens her mouth to tell him she's ready, but he's already there.
His lips are sticky, but that's okay because so are hers. Plus, his tongue more than makes up for that and soon they're doing what Cassie would qualify as 'seriously making out'.
It would be embarrassing if she was actually thinking properly. Instead it's all instinct and remembering to try and breath when the occasion arises and that he's really ticklish behind his ears and that if he kisses that spot right... there. Yeah. Her knees... it's okay, he's holding her up. No, they're sliding down. Down. Ground. Yeah. Oh yeah. Good thing he has his shirt already untucked because her hands are so already up his T-shirt, her nails lightly tracing patterns on his back, while he's still yanking hers out. She really appreciates his foresight. Judging by that noise he just made he really appreciates his own... oh God he's already doing that. That's... very nice. Very... very...
Oof. Lying on the ground now. If she moves her hips just a little... Aaah. Moves them again. Now, he definitely liked that. Quite a lot. *God!* Please do that again...
".... O'Neill. Come in. O'Neill? Colonel O'Neill?"
He pulls his head up and shakes the fog from his brain. Kneeling up, his legs either side of her, he grabs his radio with one hand and gives his other hand to her to help her sit up. "This is O'Neill."
"We are finished earlier than expected O'Neill."
Damn, Sam thinks, licking her lips and carefully trying to fix whatever he's done to her bra. Has he... twisted it around or something? She's not sure. Maybe she'll have to take her T-shirt off and see what's happened. Where's her shirt? Where's his?
She notices his fly is undone. She didn't remember doing that. Whoops. Neatly, she reaches forward and zips it up and he jumps nearly two feet into the air.
Sam makes a sound that might be a giggle and he glares at her. "Did you run out of currency?"
"And sunglasses, belts, canteens and MREs, O'Neill."
Yes, Teal'c definitely sounds weary. Daniel can be very tiring.
Jack blinks. "I guess we should go home then," he says, sadly, tugging at Sam's T-shirt.
"Indeed."
Clambering up, they tidy each other up, hands lingering just a little more than they ought. Out of the corner of her eye, Sam notices a couple of teenage girls are standing suspiciously on the corner of the side, whispering at each other, eyes wide.
*Now* Sam finds it in herself to be embarrassed.
"We got an audience?" Jack guesses, looking over his shoulder and sending the girls scurrying.
"Looks like."
"They're just jealous."
She smiles and decides his neck deserves... just... one... last...
Hey! Hickey. Wow. She hasn't done one of them in a while. Makes her feel slightly nostalgic.
His hand goes up and touches the mark. "I can't believe you just did that," he says faintly.
Sam smirks. Then quickly tries to be innocent. "It might fade by the time we get to the Stargate."
"That's true." Jack smirks. "The one on your neck probably won't."
Suddenly, she can feel exactly what he's talking about and it's throbbing pleasantly. Damn.
He tilts his head to the side and kisses her again. Less tongue but slower than before. She likes this way as well. "We'll finish this at home?" he asks tentatively.
"Hell yeah!"
"Cool." Jack kisses her throat, just above and then below the hickey. She strokes her fingers behind his ears. "You know, if we used the currency I pilfered from Daniel's wallet, we could probably get you that dress you were eying up in the shop."
Pulling back, she holds his face with her hands. "Really?!?"
"Are you kidding? Hammond would have my ass. I can't buy my 2IC a dress off-world."
Her shoulders slump in disappointment. "Oh."
"Nothing that says we can't buy it and say it was *given* to us."
Sam's expression brightens. "Oh!"
"Yeah. I made Colonel just so I could make these kinds of decisions, you know." He pats her back lightly and frowns. "But first we have to figure out a story to explain why we have hickeys on our necks."
Oh yeah.
Whoops.