"Well, this sucks!" Jack stated venomously, pulling her closer against him, zipping his coat up as far as he could with both of them inside it.
Sam agreed quietly, shivering in spite of the shared warmth as she pressed her cold nose against his chest to breathe the warmer air trapped between them. It was easier: without power, the environmental systems were offline and the air in the room had plummeted below freezing and inhaling the cold air was painful.
"Before the comm went down, Rodney said there was some kind of sub-routine that activated and started shutting power down all over the city," she murmured into his soft cotton t-shirt; he really hadn't dressed for these kind of temperatures, but then again, neither had she.
None of this was supposed to have happened.
Jack had finally achieved a measure of confidence in the abilities of his 2IC at Homeworld Security, and had taken President Hayes' suggestion that he conduct an informal tour of Atlantis: to get a feel, he said, for how things were going…without the constant filter of the IOA. Sam smiled, she hadn't been fooled for a minute: Hayes was a busybody, and a hopeless romantic; he was astute enough to know that Jack and Sam had spent the last seven months separated by galaxies and duty, and he was enough of a meddler to use his influence to do something about it. She was grateful that he was at least discreet: they hadn't really broadcast their relationship –her wedding ring was cool against the swell of her breast; secret and safe, hanging on a thick necklace inside of her shirt.
She slid her arms around him, under his jacket, and squeezed tight. He reciprocated immediately, pressing a kiss into her hair. She was struck by the random thought of her crew finding them entangled like this, frozen to death in the cold empty room of the lower levels. Oh, the gossip THAT would inspire! She banished the morbid thought and with the light brush of her lips across his, she disentangled herself from him. Without the shared heat, she began to shiver in earnest.
"Sam?"
"C-can't wait for R-Rodney to figure this out," she said, shaking from the cold. She walked to a control panel, and in one deft motion, removed the nearly seamless cover. Probing into the darkened interior, she pulled a small crystal wafer from the interior, pausing to rub her arms vigorously, trying to restore warmth.
"Jack, what are the chances you have a paperclip, or a hairpin, or an ink pen on you?" she asked as she delved into the compartment once more.
Jack patted his pockets hopefully, but after a moment he shook his head with a grimace. "Nothin'."
Sam cupped her hands and blew on them, rubbing to restore feeling, while frowning thoughtfully.
"Wait!" Jack grinned as he plucked the ball cap from his head and turned it around in his hands. There, on the back, was a fish hook pinned in the fabric. "Will this work?"
Sam grinned in response as he handed her the hook: stripping a piece of wire from the console, she used it to attach the metal hook to the crystal wafer and another wire. Standing back, she pushed a button on the control panel, and the door opened to a stairwell that was obviously the Lantean version of a fire escape, leading upward toward the main parts of the city –upward to the warmth of the pale winter sunshine.
Jack slipped and arm around her waist, and together they began the long climb upward.