Dear Readers,

Thanks for the lovely reviews! Due to the bunch of you who had the misconception that this was a multi-chapter story and not a oneshot, I changed my mind and decided to make it a multi-chap anyway. It won't be too long, I don't think, but I hope you enjoy anyway. Just a quick note: This chap will make no sense given the context of the previous one until the very end of the chap. So just read through it and I think you'll get it. Anyhoo, thanks again:D

Best Regards from a Bookworm (and SGA fan),

Miss Pookamonga ;-P

"Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake." --Henry David Thoreau

Chapter 1: "...In Dreams Awake"

Sam huddled in the corner of the cave, hugging her knees to her chest and rocking back and forth to keep warm. It was terribly cold and uncomfortably damp in the godforsaken hell-hole they had gotten themselves into. Why was it that every time she went off-world with the team she always ended up getting trapped somewhere? Especially somewhere sealed off underground with a limited air supply and wavering under the constant threat of earthquake, cave-in, or collapse? It was almost as if she was cursed in that respect.

She rubbed her hands vigorously against her legs as he re-entered their "camp-out" chamber of the cave, tapping voraciously on the keys of his laptop. Sam looked up hopefully upon seeing him.

"Find anything, Rodney?"

Rodney sighed anxiously and shook his head, lines of worry etching their way across his face like a rapidly spreading disease. "No. I have absolutely no idea how far we are from the surface, nor have I been able to detect any possible exit routes. Something in this damn cave keeps messing with my laptop." His voice rose with an edge of desperation as he spoke each word.

Sam heaved a sigh along with him as he sighed yet again. "Well, for now I think we should at least just try to keep warm," she suggested firmly, trying to remain calm. She knew Rodney well enough that letting her own anxiety show would only induce a panic attack in him, and that was about the worst thing that could happen to the both of them at that moment.

He wheeled on her furiously. "What! Are you crazy!" He cried, staring at Sam in incredulous shock at her statement. "We've got to figure out a way to get out of here, and fast...who knows what the hell is in this place...we could get attacked by some...creature...or-or-or lose oxygen...or be trapped under here forever until we either starve or freeze to death—"

"Which is why we should stop wasting energy for the time being and try to keep warm," Sam reiterated, fiercely directing her gaze on Rodney.

He opened his mouth to argue, but he looked at her face, reconsidered, and gave in surprisingly quickly. "You're probably right," he sighed heavily.

Sam scooted to the side as Rodney lowered himself to sit down next to her. He laid his laptop on the ground. "Did you happen to bring a blanket in your bag, by any chance?" Sam asked hopefully, shivering.

"As a matter of fact..." he began rummaging hastily through his backpack, "I think I actually did...ah! Here it is!"

Rodney gave a sharp tug and procured a large, thick (and rather itchy-looking) military blanket from his backpack and started unfolding it.

"Oh, thank god," Sam remarked in relief, hurriedly helping Rodney unfold the blanket so they could drape its large expanse over themselves. Sam gratefully wrapped the material tightly around her body, reveling in its immediate warmth. She unconsciously snuggled closer to Rodney in attempt to generate more heat. Rodney himself did the same (but perhaps being a bit more aware of what he was doing), and by the end of the minute, the two of them were touching arms.

It was then that Sam suddenly realized how close she had gotten to him, and a sudden wave of fear shot through her body. Or maybe not fear...maybe something else just as powerful, with an electricity that made every fiber of her being tingle tremendously. Whatever it was, she had no idea where it had come from, and that did scare her, more than she wanted to admit.

She thought, almost childishly, that she should probably scoot away a bit to calm her nerves. But then she abruptly realized something else as she felt the contact with his arm send electric tingles through her body. Rodney was incredibly warm.

She pressed a tiny bit closer and felt a soothing heat pass through her own arm. It sent more tingles through her body, but the kind one feels after walking inside a heated house after spending hours playing in the freezing snow. The two types of tingles intermingled, creating a thrilling sensation in her stomach, and for some reason, that made her want to snuggle even closer.

The cold must be messing with my brain, she thought sarcastically to herself. Why else would she want to snuggle up with Rodney McKay of all people?

"Warm yet?" Rodney suddenly asked, his voice sounding unusually subdued given his near panic outburst just a few minutes earlier. Maybe he was reveling in the fact that he'd finally gotten an excuse to cuddle up with Sam Carter. Or maybe he was trying to woo her by sounding demure. Or both.

The calmer tone in his voice prompted the spread of even more tingles. "Yeah," she answered, trying her best to control her voice so she sounded like her normal self.

"I feel kind of...um...sleepy, y'know?" Rodney remarked, the "McKay" tone edging back into his voice.

"Huh, me too," Sam chuckled.

There was a silence, awkward at first, but one that gradually grew more comforting as the seconds passed. At first they just sat there somewhat tensely, artfully avoiding each other's gaze. Sam could feel Rodney nervously twiddling his fingers next to her hand, and she couldn't help but smile to herself at the thought of him being jittery just because they were sharing a blanket. His thumb inadvertently brushed against her skin, and she felt the tingles intensify a notch. Without warning, a sudden compulsion dragged her hand forward, and before she knew what had happened, her hand was curled around his, and he was staring at her with a half-befuddled, half-enamored expression on his face.

I really must be ill or something, Sam thought worriedly, before turning her head to look embarrassedly at Rodney.

"You're really warm," she blurted out quickly in an attempt to save herself.

"Really?" he asked, his face suddenly beaming brightly in what appeared to be genuine delight.

"Uh...yeah," answered Sam a little uneasily, blushing. This was definitely the most awkward conversation she had had in a long time.

"Oh." He suddenly grew calm again and turned away, oddly to Sam's disappointment.

Another awkward silence.

Minutes...

...hours...

...days...

Please say something, Sam pleaded after what seemed like an infinite number of agonizingly quiet moments. As if cuddling under a blanket with Rodney McKay wasn't weird enough, now she had to endure spontaneous tingles and a terribly heavy silence which was doing absolutely nothing to calm her nerves.

As if he had read her mind, Rodney suddenly spoke up. "You're...um...really cold."

Sam immediately wished he hadn't spoken. The awkwardness was now flourishing in enormous leaps and bounds.

To her horror, he only continued, while she resisted the tempting urge to fidget and/or snap at him to keep his mouth shut.

"Sorry."

Sam's eyes widened in surprise, and her head snapped toward him. "For what?" She immediately bit her lip afterward in an attempt to not betray the fact that she melted hopelessly every time he said "sorry" in that..."cute little Canadian way."

"For getting you in this mess. You didn't have to come...but I made such a big deal about power sources and Ancient weapons and all that crap that you thought you had to—"

"I made the judgment on whether or not to come. Not you," she replied firmly.

He didn't relent. "Still! If I hadn't...and now...now w-w-we're stuck in this damned cave with no way out, having accomplished absolutely nothing we set out to do on this—"

"Rodney."

He screeched to a stop mid-sentence and chanced a quick nervous glance at her. Seeing the concern weighing down every contour of his face and mournfully darkening his normally sparkling eyes twisted the tingles into a terrifyingly breathtaking dance. Suddenly, Sam realized how vulnerable and helpless he looked like that, how much he resembled a small and scared child, and she could swear she could feel her heart literally melting into a pool beneath her chest.

It was then that she realized she was still holding his hand. And tighter now, even.

Oh, god, what's happening to me?

Before she had time to properly consider the ramifications of that question, her face broke out into a wide, genuine smile that lit up every corner of her countenance, and she kissed him lightly on the cheek.

Rodney's jaw dropped.

She had to laugh at that. It was too much.

At first he sat there in shock and utter confusion, staring at her with his mouth gaping wide open and his eyes larger than what seemed humanly possible. Then, slowly, the edges of his lips began to curl into a gleeful smile until he was laughing along with her.

They laughed for what seemed like hours until all their breath was stolen away, and Sam's stomach ached painfully from heaving up and down non-stop. She gulped air into her lungs as she tried to calm down, and she let her head collapse onto Rodney's shoulder. He, gasping for breath as well, turned his head to look at her and lay his chin against her hair.

"You're terribly cute when you're out of it," he whispered when he had finally caught enough air to speak.

" 'Out of it'? I'm not out of it," Sam replied indignantly.

"You kissed me on the cheek and you're holding my hand and your head is on my shoulder." He was beaming with genuine McKay-ness again. More unstoppable electric tingles.

"That doesn't mean I'm out of it," Sam argued hopelessly.

"What does it mean then?"

His voice suddenly dropped, and she felt him staring at her with an uncharacteristic air of tenderness. She moved her head against his shoulder so she was looking him straight in the eye and so that their foreheads were touching.

"I have no idea," she whispered seriously. Honestly, she didn't.

To her surprise, he suddenly chuckled. "You're lying."

Sam glared at him. "I'm not lying."

"How can you have no idea? You know everything." Rodney smirked.

"Oh, so you're acknowledging my superior intelligence now?" Sam grinned smugly as Rodney's face abruptly fell.

"I—uh...I never said that!"

"You implied it."

"Oh, come on!"

"Admit it, Rodney, you can't win this."

"I—oh, yes I...don't start that with me...I mean..." he trailed off. Sam giggled at the pathetic expression on his face.

"You're cute when you lose arguments," she whispered after a few moments.

Rodney beamed once more. "I am? I mean...of course..."

Sam rolled her eyes. Rodney leaned forward so his nose touched hers, his face softening again.

"You're so damn beautiful," he whispered, gazing dreamily into her eyes.

The tingles intensified to a deadly voltage as she felt his breath brush against her lips while he spoke.

"What the hell am I doing?" she thought out loud, the exhilaration mounting by the second as they edged closer to each other.

"Looks like you're letting me do this—"

He kissed her.

Burning. Euphoria burning in her body's core, radiating its power in waves through every part of her. There was no possible explanation or description that could sum up the feeling of his lips moving against hers—so softly, so passionately slowly. She felt herself melting away, and she grabbed a hold of his neck as if that would stop her from falling into a spiral cyclone of repressed emotions. But of course, it was to no avail, because he continued to pull her into that blissful vortex until she was completely and totally immersed in it. His hands were everywhere, caressing her until she let go of every inhibition and leaned against his chest, kissing him harder. It felt so good—better than it was supposed to, better than she ever thought she would allow it to be...

It was almost too good to be true.

Suddenly, she felt a jolt zap through her system—like a lightning bolt of electricity, but nothing like the electricity she had been feeling from Rodney's embrace. It was incredibly painful, so much so that she cried out in shock and snapped backwards, away from Rodney.

Rodney's face immediately twisted into one of terror and concern, and his hands instinctively tightened around Sam's waist. "What? What is it?"

"I—"

She screamed.

There was a searing pain driving its blade straight through her, splitting her head in two. She fell to the ground, wailing in agony as a blurred image of Rodney floated around her, anxiously trying to help her, revive her, comfort her...crying out her name. But with every cry, his voice drifted farther and farther away, his face blurred into darkness, and the pain only intensified until she heard a sickening crack and felt herself falling swiftly into a black void.

Then, she felt a dragging force sucking her into a tornado of nothingness until she heard a thud and she was no longer falling. For what seemed to be the longest moment, stretching into eternity, she heard nothing, saw nothing, felt nothing. A deep fear surged through her—a fear that could come for only one reason: she was probably dead. Dead and lost forever in this blackness devoid of everything, devoid of air, light, life...and...Rodney.

Rodney.

Rodney? Rodney? Where are you? Please don't leave me, can't you see that I really don't want you to...

Her eyes snapped open.

As the muddled view above her gradually came into focus, she made out the shape of a face hovering over her. Her heart skipped a beat with the fervent hope that the face belonged to Rodney, but as the seconds passed and her vision cleared, her heart sank deep into her stomach with an overwhelming feeling of dread.

It wasn't Rodney.

A low, hollow laugh emerged from the daunting figure looming above her as she recoiled in horror and flattened her prostrate form against the damp wall behind her.

"Intriguing," it chuckled menacingly as it leaned over closer to Sam's terrified form. "Not what I had expected at all, Samantha Carter. I'm quite surprised."

With that, it let out a loud, bellowing cackle and backed away, heels pounding on the ground like drums signaling a funeral march.

Huddled helplessly in a corner, Sam Carter let out a tiny sob of despair.

But the echoing pounding of its feet all but drowned out her cry.