A/N – I don't really know where I got the idea for this one…heck I don't even know what my idea for this one is. All I know is that it'll be something profound about Sam and Jack. And please leave reviews…reviews are my gold…reviews tell me you care :P

Chapter 1: Water, Poisoned Oasis

When she couldn't hold her breath any longer, Sam sat up, the water cascading off her face. Taking in lungfuls of air, she put one hand on the edge of the tub. The bubbles that floated on the surface of the water were almost completely gone and she could feel goose bumps rising on her skin.

She wrapped her bathrobe around her and stared at herself in the mirror, seeing the change, seeing the tiredness. The rain outside was falling heavier and she just wanted to lay back, to curl up on the couch and forget about everything. But she had a mission tomorrow and had to think about that, had to worry about that. Had no time to lay back and relax.

Briefing tomorrow. Oh-500 hours.

The toothpaste was minty fresh and the water cold on the inside of her cheeks. Cupping both hands beneath the faucet she let them fill with water, then opened them, watching the liquid roll down the drain. Shut off the knob, step into the hall. Walk to the room.

In the dark she found her pajamas and then took off her robe, letting it pool around her feet and staring at her silhouette in the mirror. The years of being in the Air Force had done her good. Sam smiled to herself, then pulled on her clothes and slipped into bed, surrounding herself with the blankets and the velvet darkness.

"P4X-133 is a primarily desert planet. There is life on it, but we don't know where. It's your job to find that life."

Sam changed into her desert camo gear, frowning a little as she methodically fastened each button, tied each tie and stuck each part of Velcro together. None of the team spoke as they went to the armory to get their weapons. It was 0600 and they were tired. But if they didn't leave now, they'd arrive on the planet in complete darkness.

And darkness could mean danger.

"Be careful, be alert, and God speed."

Some of the technicians had been up all night and Sam could see it in their faces as the gate dialed. Next to her, Jack heaved a yawn, covering his mouth with one hand. He grinned at her sleepily.

"Ready for this, Carter?"

"Always."

Jack chuckled, turning to face the gate and watching unflinching as the great blue and white vortex blew outwards towards them. "Big sandbox. Should be fun. I just hope Danny-boy remembered the sunscreen."

The air hit their faces the moment they stepped out of the wormhole, and Sam could tell immediately that this wasn't like any other planet they'd been to. The gate stood on top of a huge, flat rock, hundreds of yards in diameter. Deep fissures and holes in the rock made standing pools of water and there were even what looked like the remains of habitation.

Beyond that, the desert. The dunes, the sands, the winds.

"It looks like they left this place for some reason." Daniel said a little while later, after poking around in the ruins. "There aren't any remains of basic household items. No pots or anything. Like they…just packed up or something…"

"Why would they leave?" Jack asked, squinting even behind his sunglasses as he looked out at the desert. "This seems like the only place with water…"

Teal'c was walking the perimeter of the huge rock, alert even though they could see for miles around them. Sam went to stand on the northern most edge of the rock, staring out across the desert, the dunes, the sands and through the wind. Along the horizon she could see faint grey shapes but couldn't tell if they were mountains or storm clouds.

The wind picked up and brought with it a metallic, acrid scent that caused Daniel and Sam to cough a few times.

Jack was kneeling by one of the pools, so deep the water looked black. "It's coming from the water."

Sam was at his side in a minute, taking out a small test tube and scooping up a sample of the water. Out of her pack then, she pulled a small electronic probe and dipped the end into the vial of water, watching the readouts on the small screen.

"It's poisoned." She reported. "Not enough to be fatal, but you'd get sick if you drank too much."

"Well that would explain why the people left." Jack stood again and the sun shone off his hair. Daniel was sitting off to the side with some things he'd found in one of the houses, some remains, some clues. Sam emptied the vial of water back into the pool and watched the ripples over the surface then turned to watch Daniel.

"I want to find them." Daniel said.

Jack turned and his expression was unreadable behind his sunglasses. "Which way did they go? We can't find them if we haven't got any clue as to where they went."

"West, probably. There's something on this tablet I found about West being the way of water and if they're looking for water…"

"West it is then." Jack turned in a slow circle, clearly wondering silently exactly which way was west.

Daniel pointed to the direction that the sun was beginning to head. His reasoning was that if the people had originated on Earth, their concept of West would be where the sun set. And that would be where they were headed.

The first step off the rock was a change and Sam felt her boot sink into the sand. Wind caused the tiny particles to rush in whirlwinds around her feet and as SG-1 moved their tracks vanished only moments after their feet left them. The winds were getting stronger.

It was only when the Stargate was starting to become only a faint shape behind them that the thirst started to set in and Sam remembered why she hated desert planets so much. They had brought lots of water with them, but if they didn't find another un-poisoned oasis soon they might have to turn back.

Their shadows grew longer and the light dimmer, and Sam took up position in the front with Jack.

"Having fun yet, Carter?" there was humor in his tone.

"No." there was none in hers.

Jack removed his cap to run his fingers through his hair and fan himself with it. "How've you been holding up?" he twirled the cap off his canteen to take a long sip.

She knew what he was asking, not just about her but about Cassie too and their whole lives that had been turned upside down only a few months ago.

"We've been…getting better. Things have been getting better."

The water canteen got shoved in her direction and it was only then that Sam realized how dry her lips were, how dry her mouth was.

But it was getting colder and the sand was almost stinging their skin as it got blown at them by the winds. Sam looked around and saw only flat land, only sand as far as the eye could see with a few dunes here and there stretching up towards the darkening blue sky.

"Maybe we should set up camp, sir."

In the night shadow of one of the dunes they found some wood that was so dry Sam was surprised the sunlight hadn't set it on fire. They set up the camp in the crook of two dunes, with two tents and a fire that kept some of the on setting chill at bay.

A dry heat was often better than a wet one, more bearable, but a dry cold was something Sam hadn't really thought about, and now it was seeping into her bones.

"Funny things, deserts," Jack muttered as he poked at the fire with a long stick. "Never really liked them. To goddamn hot in the day and to goddamn cold in the night."

Daniel took the first watch and Teal'c would take the second, meaning Sam and Jack would have a few hours unbroken sleep, if they were lucky. Jack didn't seem to be at ease as they lay in their tent, curled up inside regulation sleeping bags.

Jack whispered that he didn't like the sound of sand blowing around too much. When he'd been a POW that's all he'd heard at night through the tiny window of his cell; the sound of sand. Sam was surprised that he'd admitted this, he rarely admitted anything, especially fears.

She reached out to lightly touch his hand in the darkness, comfortingly, both of them smiling slightly. She remembered the way he tended to hug her when she was upset and only wished that she could somehow return the favor…

Loath as she was to leave her sleeping bag, Sam dutifully took third watch. The sky was crisp and black and she spent some time sitting against the side of the sand dune and staring up at the heavens, trying to pick out constellations that she recognized from the stargate, or to make up a few of her own.

Shivering, she held her hands out over the dying embers of the fire, then took a sip of water from the canteen at her side, taking only as much as was necessary and no more. They had to be careful.

There was a noise and Sam was alert before she even realized she was. But it was only a small mouse like creature with wide feet and short fur, a long tale that had a paddle like end. And ears that seemed almost disproportionately large. It came up daringly to her and peered at her with wide black eyes, like it wanted something.

Curiously Sam poured some water into the lid of her canteen and held the lid out to the creature. But it came no closer. She replaced the water and shifted, stretching her legs out in front of her. The creature jumped back a little at the sudden movement, then hopped over to her boot, sniffing at the sole, then climbing up so it was perched on her toes.

Sam laughed and the small creature scurried away into the night.

Jack came a few hours later, and the sky was still giving no sign of lightening. Sam got to her feet and brushed the sand off her fatigues, then was surprised as Jack took her hands between his.

"You're freezing, Carter." He admonished, rubbing her hands a little. "Get back in the sleeping bag."

"Yes sir." Sam said, smirking a little. They looked down at their hands and wondered if this was crossing the line, or just walking it. Jack released her hands, and she walked back to sleep.

The next day when they were walking they found another one of the strange outcroppings of flat rock that provided a break from the sands. Running down the middle of the long piece of rock was a stream, clear from where it bubbled up out of the sands.

"How is this even possible?" Jack wondered aloud, sounding almost annoyed at the fact that this stream was existing where it shouldn't. He still filled his canteens from it, however.

"No idea." Daniel was running his fingers over the small plants that sprouted up near the stream's source, some small, stubbly grass.

There were signs that people had stopped here, some garbage, a few earthenware cups laying where they'd fallen to the bottom of the stream. SG-1 traveled on as the not unbearable dry heat of the day started once again.

"O'Neill." Teal'c was coming down from the top of one of the sand dunes, and he handed Jack the pair of binoculars he'd been using. "I can see shapes far on the horizon that I believe to be trees."

"How far?"

"Perhaps another day's journey."

Jack looked to Sam and Daniel, seeking confirmation. They nodded, it would be worth it to find these people, they supposed, they hoped. They'd traveled this far, why not walk a little farther?