Summary: Memory tampering yet again, but not quite what you might expect.
Pairing: Jack/Sam ish
A/N: We all know the drill; I don't own them and am not making any money off this. It's just for entertainment. Please don't forget to review: we writers need our sustenance. :o)
Also, thanks to those of you who reviewed chapter one.
Not Again! by Oz Lovi
Last time: "It means I would be someone that you can talk to, that isn't political, simply a friend. I can keep you company. And you don't have to worry that I have another agenda."
"Other than getting you and your friends set free." He said with a grin. "Someone I can talk to and be me with, who doesn't have to agree with me. Someone who'll be honest and be herself with me."
"Sounds like what I was talking about. And you already knew about my friends."
"I did and I consider the fact that you still want to free them a true sign of loyalty and honor."
"Deal?" She asked.
Chapter Two
"Deal." He grinned at her. "Come on. We'll need to get you some other clothes, unless you want to wear the same things every day and night." He said as he walked toward the doors to him room.
She followed him, stopping, outside the open door. "You want me to stay with you?"
He turned toward her. Seeing the unsure look in her eyes he stepped toward her. "There's plenty of room, and the bed is big enough for a huge group of people. I mean it stretches close to the length of the room. It's not like you have to worry about sleeping too close to me. You can have your own half of the bed if you like for crying out loud." He said with a smile.
She couldn't help but see his point, and when she heard him say 'for crying out loud' she had to smile.
"What?" he asked amused.
"Nothing, I see your point. And I'm not worried about you putting the moves on me. If that's what you were thinking." She said as she walked by him into the room. Casually sitting on the pile of pillows that sat on the platform in front of the big bed, she looked at him. "How did you wind up the new leader here?"
"Good question, and long story." He sat down next to her. "I'm a military man. They needed someone to take over, who wouldn't get easily pushed around by the bureaucrats. The old leader disappeared without a trace, though I have my doubts about that. They looked through the military for somebody who could lead without being a pushover and wouldn't be so militarily minded that we'd be at war all the time. They didn't want a dictator, they wanted somebody the people would trust and like."
"And so they picked you. But why?"
"I follow orders, usually. I have experience in tactics and combat, but I don't like it when innocent people get run roughshod over. I'd rather find a way to solve the conflicts before they get so bad that fighting is our only option. Also, though, I don't let people push me around. If you have something to say, say it. If I agree cool, if not sit down and shut up."
"Sounds familiar," she said quietly. "You seem to be a natural leader." She stretched as she leaned against the pillows behind her. The look in his eyes told volumes about his appreciation of her shape. She sat up again and crossed her arms over her belly, hiding it.
He laughed quietly at her actions. "A bit self conscious?" When she straightened and put her hands in her lap he laughed again. "You don't have anything to worry about with me. I'm not going to lie, I find you very beautiful, but I'm not after you."
Part of her wanted to question him as to why he wasn't, the part of her that grateful that he wasn't won. Keeping her mouth shut about that she decided to change the subject. "You mentioned that I would need other clothes."
"What was I thinking? Of course, I'll have somebody bring them here as soon as they can." He said as he headed out the door.
As soon as he left the room, she stood up and walked the perimeter of the room. No sign of an exterior door, and no kind of hidden listening devices, that she could find. Feeling a slight chill in the room as she peeked out the windows, she decided to pull his robe on over her 'dress'. He'd been gone for a while and she decided to sit on the pillows again. She had to give him credit; this was a very comfortable room. Deciding to close her eyes for a moment, she realized how tiring working in the mine had been. She vaguely heard the sound of the door opening. When she realized that he was picking her up she opened her eyes.
He looked down at her, as she picked her up. "Hi there."
"Hello." She said quietly, as she fought to keep her eyes open.
He gently laid her on the bed and slipped off her shoes. Watching her, he grinned as she snuggled against the pillow. There was something very innocent about her behavior. She wasn't on edge with him, even when he picked her up, she seemed to trust him without any question. Since he wasn't ready to sleep this early in the evening, he decided to simply sit and watch her. As he sat down he moved a discreet distance from her, so as not to invade her personal space.
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She slowly opened her eyes, and looked around. Almost instantly she looked into the very dark, soft brown eyes of her commanding officer. He was simply looking at her as she slept. That seemed to bring her mind back to the fact that, at the moment, he wasn't himself. She sighed. Realizing that he heard her she flushed slightly with embarrassment. "How long have you been sitting there?"
"Since I put you on the bed about an hour ago." He leaned back on the bed and straightened out his legs. Wincing, he sat up again quickly. "Guess I should've moved at some point." Cringing again, he rubbed his knee.
She recognized this behavior. On a number of occasions she'd seen him do the same after sitting with his knees bent for too long. He'd always tried to hide it from the people around him, especially off world. They all knew about his knees, but letting on to any possible weakness in front of enemies was never a good idea. She sat up and looked at him. Without thinking she moved next to him and gently put her hands on his knee. She tried to work out the small knots that made it difficult for him to straighten it. He never said a word, just looked at her with a little grin. After a moment she let go of his knee and leaned away from him. "That should make it easier when you stand up."
Carefully he moved to the edge of the bed and cautiously stood. He flexed his knee and smiled. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." She turned at the sound of the door opening. A young girl about Cassie's age stepped in carrying a stack of clothing.
"The clothing you asked for, Highness." She held them out as he stepped over to her. Very briefly she glanced at Sam and smiled lightly. When she returned the smile the girl beamed an incredible smile. After handing the clothing over she left.
Curious, she asked, "What's her name?"
He turned sitting the stack on the edge of the bed by her. "To be honest, I don't know. She is very nice though." Glancing at her he asked, "Well?"
Puzzled she stared at him. "What?"
He motioned toward the stack of clothes. "You going to try them on?"
"Uh…" She couldn't keep from looking a bit uncomfortable at the idea of 'modeling' them. Conceding that there were some things here that she would have to do, even if they seemed out of the ordinary for a normal mission, she picked them up and headed behind the dressing screen.
As she stepped behind the screen he said, "You don't have to show me how they look, but I want you to make sure they fit."
"It's not that I mind showing you, I'm not very into the modeling thing." She put on the first outfit and glanced around her, noticing that there wasn't a mirror nearby, she stepped out toward the large mirror on the other wall. "Not bad, but I can't figure out why some worlds think that a woman has to show her belly."
"In most cultures the shape of a woman's belly is considered a sign of fertility and as a result over the generations showing it off becomes part of their normal fashions, even if they don't remember that's why they started showing it off." When she whipped around and stared at him he thought he'd offended her. "Sorry, I didn't mean…"
"No, no. I'm not upset just, uh, thinking that my friend Daniel would be grinning from ear to ear of he heard you going on about cultural history." At his bewildered look she added, "He's an archaeologist. Ancient cultures fascinate him."
"I see." Looking her over, he commented, "Looks like it fits."
She grinned then went behind the screen to change again. After going through a number of outfits she picked up what she was guessing was a nightgown of sorts. It was very loose and very light and soft. When she slid it on she decided almost immediately that she would leave it on, since it was so comfortable and she was still tired. As she stepped out from behind the screen she couldn't stop the grin on her face as she saw his eyes widen and he smiled. As she walked toward him she glanced in the mirror and froze. Even though it was loose, the gown seemed to follow her shape rather than staying loose as she guessed it would. There wasn't anything seductive about it, but she now felt very self-conscious. Her mind gave her a little slap. What was bugging her, the clothing she was wearing earlier had a lot less fabric and showed her curves a lot, not to mention showing a lot of skin. "Ahem. I think this is a nightgown"
"I'm pretty sure it is." That was about all he could say without squeaking. His tongue was definitely tied when he saw her. "You…it, looks gorgeous."
"Thank you." She was slightly embarrassed by his little slip up. Setting on the edge of the bed she glanced at him. Thinking for a moment she asked, "What do you sleep in?"
Heading toward the screen he said, "This," as he picked up a pair of pajama like pants. When he stepped out from behind the screen he saw that she was almost asleep curled up at the edge of the bed. He leaned very close to her. "Why don't you move up where you can use the covers?" Sleepily she looked up at him. Nodding, she slid her way up to the edge of the covers. After a moment she was sound asleep. He watched from a few feet away. There was something about her that seemed so familiar to him. He fell asleep with thoughts of her bouncing around in his mind.
She woke, momentarily unsure of where she was. Sleep shaken away her memory filled in the information. The question was what had woken her up; she hadn't been asleep very long she thought. A movement not far away caused her to turn. Her answer was the man tossing and turning nearby. From what she could tell he must be having some kind of nightmare. Cautiously, she moved closer to him. Waking somebody from a nightmare could be dangerous to your safety if they didn't fully wake up right away. She placed her hand very lightly on his shoulder. "Sir?" Giving him a gentle nudge, she tried again. "Sir?" He sat up quickly, causing her to jump slightly. "I'm sorry. You looked like you were having a nightmare."
Shaking a little he glanced at her. "Nothing new about that, Carter." When he saw the look on her face he asked, "What?"
"What did you call me?" It was a subconscious slip of the tongue, but it was a sign that something of his memory was breaking through. He didn't answer her for a moment.
"I don't remember."
"Never mind." She leaned back on her hands. "What were you dreaming about?" Please, tell me it was something from his real life, she thought.
Giving her a sideways grin he said, "You." Seeing her blush slightly he added, "You were there. We were running from something. I remember seeing glowing eyes and lots of gaudy looking gold decorations." He sobered with a frown
"What is it?" she asked.
"A name kept popping up in my dream, but I can't remember it now. I think it was important, because every time I heard it in the dream I felt an intense chill." He looked at her questioningly. "You wouldn't have any idea what this dream was about would you?"
"To be honest I think it sounds like you were dreaming about the Goa'uld. Their eyes glow and they like to decorate with lots of gold."
"Their voices sound funny too, kind of vibrato right?" He sat up straighter and eyed her expectantly. "How the heck would I know that?"
"It sounds like you've met them at some point." She watched as the thoughts warred in his mind. How could he have met them if he was always on this world, but how else could he have known? She knew these thoughts might help push him in the right direction. "Would you like to try to get back to sleep?" She was a little surprised when he edged closer to her before replying.
"Not yet. I think I'd like to learn more about you instead." He noticed that she shifted somewhat uncomfortably. "If my being this close bothers you I'll move."
"No it's fine." She tried to make it sound nonchalant. It wasn't him being close; it was the idea of talking about herself. Somehow she didn't think he would let her get away with a short summary. He already knew allot more about her than some of her other close friends and family, partly because they were close friends, but partly because they had been together for years to experience allot of things together.
"You sure about that?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't talk about myself much, that's all." After sitting up a bit she asked, "What do you want to know?"
"Let's start with how you wound up here."
"We already talked about that."
"No, I mean how you wound up on this planet."
"We were trying a new address that was in the system. See that's what we do, we explore. This should have been a simple get to know the locals type of meeting, which it was at first, but suddenly we found ourselves imprisoned in the mine with no sign of Colonel O'Neill." She turned to look at him pointedly. "Do you have any idea, what so ever, why they did this?"
"I give you my word that I don't." He stared at her openly for a moment. "You have such passion when it comes to your friends." With a smile he added, "Man I wouldn't want to get between you and your friends."
"Can I ask again if you'll help me get them out?"
With a sigh he said, "You can keep asking, but I told you it's not just up to me in this case."
She gave him the benefit of the doubt. If he could help her he would; she could tell. "What about you? How did you get here?"
"Like I told you earlier, I was in the military and rose my way up through the ranks. I guess I impressed a few people because they picked me to replace the old leader. Don't tell anybody, but I don't necessarily like all this pampering and over eager acquiescence I get from half the people around here. Sure I'm the leader now, but do they have to agree with me all the time. I mean for crying out loud I can make mistakes like anybody else." He noticed how she grinned at him. "Ok, what's with the grin?"
"It's just that I could sense that about you. You don't like having people bow to you or jumping to every time you say a word. It's not you you're a man of action."
"Very perceptive." Giving her an appraising look he said, "You seem to know me pretty well for someone I just met." With a smile he looked her over. "Let me guess, I remind you of somebody you know. Your Colonel perhaps?" Seeing the look in her eyes he quickly apologized. "I'm sorry, that wasn't fair. I know you're worried about your friend and I shouldn't have brought him up in a joke."
She could see the sincerity in his eyes as well as hear it in his voice. "It's all right, really. I'll get them out of here eventually. You can count on it."
Reaching out he lightly brushed a piece of hair away from her face. When he realized that she was staring at him he said, "I guess that was a little invasion of personal space. Sorry about that; I'll keep my hands to myself."
Carefully choosing her words Sam replied, "I'm just not used to anybody being that way with me." With a wistful look she added, "It's been a long time since anyone has wanted to…., well, a long time since I've let anybody get that close that is."
With a nod he leaned away from her. "I know what you mean. It's not easy to distance yourself from the people you care about; emotionally that is. Especially if you happen to care about one of them a little more than you're supposed to."
"Who is she?" She gave him a knowing and sympathetic look.
With a sad smile he shook his head, "Nice try." When he saw the disappointed look in her eyes he added. "There isn't anything to tell."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Somehow I get the feeling that isn't true. Why don't you want to tell me?" When he hesitated she pointed out a fact to him. "You got me to talk about the Colonel."
"Oooh, ouch, guilt trip time then huh?" With another pause he stared in her eyes. "She's very smart, kind, tough when she needs to be, and beautiful inside and out."
Her curiosity was peaked, what were the odds that they would give him a memory so close to the truth? He had to be pulling from his own memories. Wanting to see how far this followed the truth she had to ask, "What happened?" She couldn't help the little spark of hope that it would be a real memory.
He looked at her for a moment before her replied. With a sigh he let his posture slouch a bit. "She's in love with somebody else." Sitting up and trying to get things back to a more pleasant conversation he asked, "Would you like to see some of the palace grounds?"
She gave him a very sad look when he said the woman he was talking about loved someone else. That was not a real memory, she knew that because they'd been tip toeing around their feelings for each other for years and there certainly wasn't anybody else in either of their romantic lives. As for his question she simply nodded. As he stood he reached out his hand to her. Taking it she slid off the edge of the bed and stood looking him in the eyes. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."
"It's all right. You didn't know, Sam." Without letting go of her hand he walked toward the huge windows along the wall. "The gardens are beautiful at night."
As he let go of her hand and walked behind the screen to change she grinned. "Do you sneak out a lot at night?"
As he stepped out again he smiled. "It's a good time to get away and think. Most of the politicians around here wouldn't expect me to handle affairs of state in the middle of the night, but sometimes that's when it's easiest because nobody is bugging me ever few minutes about political issues."
After she changed they walked quietly through the royal hall and to the outer doors. Once outside he motioned for her to follow him as he made his way stealthily along the edge of the palace. He held up his hand signaling her to stop. This is familiar, she thought. Ingrained military operations protocols, when sneaking around use hand signals to avoid detection. When he started moving again she followed closely, not sure of where exactly they were. Apparently he knew this area of the palace grounds very well, moving through the darkness without much trouble.
Turning toward her he said, "This is it." As he stepped out of her way he motioned for her to walk ahead of him. He liked the fact that she gave him a small smile as she stepped into the archway in front of them.
She stopped in her tracks, it was beautiful. The archway led into an open garden with lots of flowers and small bushes. There was an elegant little bridge going across a small stream that wound its way through the garden. With an appreciative look she turned toward him as he stepped next to her. "This is incredible. Thank you for showing me this." As he smiled she hesitated only a moment when he offered her his elbow.
Walking arm in arm around the garden he pointed out many of the flowers that seemed to prefer blooming at night, giving off an intoxicating smell and picking up various hues from the moonlight. He smiled broadly, giving her an appreciative look of his own.
Feeling a little out of the loop she asked, "What?" She thought she would have given a month's pay to see that kind of look from him when he was himself as he stared into her eyes.
"The moonlight makes your eyes sparkle and gives you an enchanting look." He grinned as she ducked her head slightly. "You don't like it when people admire you like that, do you, Sam?" When she started to open her mouth he stopped her. "Don't worry, I get it. It makes you feel self-conscious. Don't you think you're beautiful?"
"I guess I don't think of myself that way. I'm in BDUs and military gear so much that it's not easy to feel very feminine sometimes, even in street clothes." Stopping on the little bridge she leaned against the rail. "I guess that I'm just not use to anybody pointing out the fact that I am a woman under all the military training and camouflage."
"I think that people see it but they don't say it because they don't want you take it the wrong way or get you in trouble with your superiors."
She eyed him. That seemed a little too insightful, she thought. Deciding to turn the tables on him a little she said, "You know you are very attractive yourself."
"Why thank you, I am quite the hotty." When she rolled her eyes at his antics he added, "Come on, an old soldier like me is not..."
She put up her hand to interrupt him. "Why do you do that? First of all, you're not old; and secondly, you are very attractive." This is going to come back at me later when he's himself again but it's too easy, she thought. With a mischievous twinkle in her eyes and a grin on her lips she added, "Some might even call you sexy." The look on his face was priceless.
"All right, now you're just teasing me. Sexy? Me? You maybe, but not me."
That caught her a bit off guard. Did he just say...? She shook the question out of her mind before she accidentally said it out loud. "Don't sell yourself short, Sir."
A change pf subject was in order he decided. "I'd like it if you called me by my name instead of sir and please, please don't call me your highness."
"All right," she paused a moment before adding, "Colin." The smile that lit up his face was soul warming. He didn't smile like that very often. She always liked the thought that maybe it was her special smile. "Well, now what?"
"Now we sneak out the other side of the garden." He led the way to a small archway covered in little vines. As they walked through they came into a densely forested path. "Watch your step here," he said as they walked over some large tree roots.
Following him she had to smile as he held branches out of her way. "Do you mind if I ask where we're going?"
Pointing toward a small clearing up ahead he said, "There's a nice little pond up here."
"Is it a good spot for fishing?" She had a suspicion that's why he went there. When he grinned and raised his eyebrows at her she knew she was right. "Doesn't anyone ever notice that you're not in your room at night?"
Without turning he said, "Are you kidding? You don't bug the boss at night unless it's very important and even if they noticed I snuck out most of the sentries in the palace wouldn't dare say anything to me about it."
As they reached the edge of the glassy pond she gasped in awe. There were beautiful flowers floating on part of the surface. They were luminous like they had some kind of internal lights and sent an intoxicating smell over the water. At the other side of the pond a small group of bird like creatures floated lazily on the water seemingly uninterested in the humans watching them. Sam looked at him briefly before turning her attention back to the creatures and flowers. In a whisper she said, "They're beautiful. Do the flowers always do that?"
In an equally quiet whisper he answered, "Only at night. The birds over there are bioluminescent too. They'll switch on when the moon sets off the edge of the pond." He pointed toward the moon hanging low in the sky.
She didn't think the scene before her could get much more beautiful but as she watched the moonlight hit the edge of the water and it seemed to shimmer like silver. As the moonlight moved across the water it began to disappear behind the trees and, as he said they would, the birds' feathers began to emit an array of glowing colors. "I wish I had a video camera, though I'm not sure it would do this justice."
"It's almost beyond description. There's only one other thing that I've seen since I came to the palace that's this beautiful."
Keeping her attention on the birds she asked, "What's that?"
He looked at her with a small smile of appreciation. "You."
Her eyes widened and she dared a look at him. When she turned her eyes locked with the deep brown ones staring at her intently. "I….I don't know what to say to that."
"Don't say anything, Sam. Just accept the compliment." She nodded ever so lightly and he made sure he kept her eyes locked on his. "Come on." He held his hand out to her and she hesitated a second before placing her hand in his. Stepping around the edge of the water he led them to a small log that looked like it had been there for some time. Sitting on the ground in front of it he pulled her to sit next to him. "You can see them better from over here." Using his free hand he pointed toward the birds which were now swimming among the glowing flowers.
She followed his gaze to the animals on the water, acutely aware of that fact that he was still holding her hand and that the atmosphere between them had shifted ever so slightly. As the birds swam through the water the flowers around them seemed to shimmer. Slowly she drifted off to sleep, leaning her head on his shoulder as she did. A few hours later she woke to the feel of a hand lightly brushing her hair away from her face. As soon as she opened her eyes she saw him staring at her. Lifting her head from his shoulder she gave him an awkward smile. "Did you get any sleep?"
He opened his mouth to answer but then thought better of it and just shrugged. "We should probably go in before anybody comes looking for me."
As she followed him back inside she took note of how dark it still was outside. "How early do you usually get up?"
Once they were back in his room he plopped down on the edge of the bed, "Not this early, but I was about to fall asleep out there." Leaning back on the big bed he stretched his arms above his head and yawned. Glancing at her as she sat down near him he saw the look in her eyes.
"Why don't you get some sleep, Colin."
"What about you? Are you still tired?"
She shrugged, "A little." She saw an uncertain look in his eyes as he sat up next to her.
"Why don't you lie down too then?" He saw a hesitation in her eyes as she looked at him before she nodded and laid down, pulling a pillow close. There was something about her from the moment he saw her that made him feel like he shouldn't get too close, but at the same time made him want to get closer to her. Her Colonel, that's why I feel like I shouldn't get close even though she does seem to like me, he thought. Giving her some space, he laid down a little farther away. He couldn't sleep he realized after he'd laid there with his eyes closed for many minutes. Suddenly his attention was pulled to the woman a short distance away. She was tossing and turning as if trapped in a bad dream. When she woke up she was shaking a little he could tell even from a distance. She quickly sat up and turned away from him. From what he could tell she probably hadn't even realized he was up. His senses were on edge as soon as he realized she was crying. Her shoulders shook with her quiet sobs.
With her knees pulled up and her arms wrapped tightly around her legs she tried to cry as quietly as possible to keep from waking him up. As she felt him shift closer to her she realized that he wasn't asleep anyway. Refusing to turn and look at him until she got her tears under control she was a little surprised when he settled behind her and slid his arms around her shoulders. Turning slightly she wrapped her arms around him and let the tears out.
Planting a light kiss to her forehead he ran his fingers through her hair. "You know, even strong soldiers cry sometimes." Looking her in the eyes he saw how beautiful they were even when she'd just been crying a moment ago.
Pulling away from him a little she gave him a grin. "It was a bad dream, but it just pushed my buttons. I haven't even seen Teal'c and Daniel since I left the mine and I want them to know that I'm safe."
"I can arrange that."
"Thank you." Looking deep into his eyes she saw a glimmer of something like hope. "You really are a good man, I hope you realize that."
With a small smile he leaned a little closer to her. "I hope you do, Sam."
After he moved back to his earlier sleeping position she smiled. I figured that out many years ago, she thought.
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Ladies and gentlemen, chapter two as promised. Please review and feel free to give suggestions.
