Sam couldn't sleep. She had finished her watch over two hours ago, but none of the usual tricks seemed to be helping. She had flexed all her muscles in turn in an attempt to relax her, she had hummed lullabies in her head and she had even tried meditating like Teal'c to see if it helped, but to no avail.
It had been such a long day that Sam was sure she would be able to sleep. They had been off-world for almost a whole day, which was close to thirty six hours on this planet. They had been in search of the Pol'kar, a creature of this world that had been detected on the MALP. According to the telemetry, these creatures were somewhat like those on the planet of the Nox, only it seemed that their power to appear and disappear at will was a power of their own, and not of another species altogether. They had been ordered to observe or capture one of these animals in order to better understand their physiology. Jonas and Sam had been quite interested in the animal's unique abilities, however Sam knew that if it was Daniel, not Jonas, who was with them, they would have been caught in an ethical battle. Daniel would not want to have captured the beasts. He would have rathered SG-1 go into the villages to ask for histories and records that might shed light on the strange creatures, rather than capture the beasts against their will. Knowing this, Sam had suggested it herself, noticing the glint in her C.O's eyes that told her he knew her motives. He had said nothing though, and so SG-1 had done as she suggested.
In fact, Jack hadn't spoken to her much at all during the mission. They hadn't been ready to return to their usual banter and Sam was beginning to worry that perhaps they should have continued talking about this thing between them before they had gone off-world again. It was never good to be on a mission with someone that you were hiding something from. Sam needed Jack's complete trust on every mission and vice-versa; otherwise things could take a very downward turn if anything went wrong.
Still, if Jonas and Teal'c had noticed anything different about their team-mates, they hadn't mentioned it, so Sam had figured that this minor discomfort was in her head. However, the fact remained that it was now little over an hour until they would pack up their camp and begin searching for the Pol'kar again, and Sam had only had a few moments of good sleep.
She poked her head up above the sides of her makeshift bed and looked up to see the Colonel sitting on a nearby stump. Figuring it was his turn to guard the camp, she got up to sit with him. Maybe she would be able to get some sleep if she talked to him. Goodness only knew that the mission would be a lot easier if she had some finite closure on the events of the last few days.
"Hey Carter," Jack whispered as he noticed her coming towards him.
"Hi sir," she said and sat down next to him.
"Couldn't sleep?" he asked, moving over so that she could fit comfortably.
"No sir," she said, feeling unnaturally shy.
"You sure you don't want to try and get some shut-eye?" he asked, his face etched with concern.
"No sir," she repeated, rubbing her eyes. "Do you want me to take over the watch?" she asked.
"No, only another hour to go."
Jack and Sam sat in a shy, yet somewhat comfortable silence. Sam felt an overwhelming urge to rest her head on her C.O's shoulder, but refrained.
"Seen any Pol'kar?" she asked, after a long moment.
"No," Jack replied. I'm beginning to think they don't even exist."
"They were on the MALP telemetry, sir," Sam said earnestly.
"Yeah, well maybe the ol' MALP's got an overactive imagination," Jack drawled. Sam giggled softly. Jack turned to chide her about it when he heard a twig crack. He darted off the stump, P-90 in hand, but returned moments later, empty handed.
"Must have been an animal or something," he said, sitting down.
"A Pol'kar?" Sam asked.
Jack shook his head. "Pol'kars fly. That twig was on the ground. Besides, I set up a perimeter alarm that will sound if anything taller than ten inches approaches the camp. Smart, huh?" he said with a boyish grin.
"Lisa Simpson smart, or Carter smart?" she teased with her own grin.
Jack said nothing, but Sam could see that he was still smiling. "You read it?" he asked quietly, conscious of the fact Teal'c and Jonas were not too far away. Sam nodded.
"Why did you give it to me?" she asked. So he had meant to give it to her. She had wondered if perhaps he had meant to give hers back to her, but picked up the wrong file.
"I saw yours. It was only fair," Jack answered with a shrug. It was more than that though. He had wanted her to know all of the things he thought about her, without having to cross the professional line that had kept them apart. It was pathetic and cowardly, and he knew it. He couldn't count the number of times he had wished that regulations didn't exist so he could waltz up to her and kiss her, but in truth, after so many years, those regulations had started to become more of a security blanket than an actual reason not to start a relationship.
Jack broke himself out of that train of thought and back to the list he had written her. He racked his brain to try and remember the other points he had made on his list. He was sure he had mentioned some things that could probably be taken insultingly, such as his comments on her looks, with and without a P-90. He looked over at the Major, and noticing that she was smiling quite sheepishly, stopped worrying.
"Thank you," she said, looking him in the eye. Jack noticed that the blues of Sam's eyes reflected against the planet's three moons like beacons and it was all he could do to keep his distance from her.
"You're welcome," he said, not turning away.
"You know, if any other man had written a woman a list like that, they'd just…get on with it, you know," she said with a melancholy smile. Jack nodded.
"Yeah, but if any other person had written me a list like the one you wrote, I'd probably never speak to them again."
Sam laughed.
"It's just the way it is, Sam," Jack said, more seriously. Sam smiled sadly at the use of her given name.
"If we were any other two people on Earth…" she began.
"I know. But we're not."
"We're not even on Earth," said Sam and it was Jack's turn to give a small chuckle.
"So that's the way it's always going to be?" Sam asked, butterflies swarming through her stomach.
Jack was somewhat startled at how defeated she sounded, how feeble. He threw all caution to the wind and put his arm around her. He was amazed at how readily she eased into his touch. She rested her head on his shoulder and he kissed her on the forehead, not even realising what he was doing. She turned to face him again and he was once more hypnotised by her eyes. He edged closer to her and she brought her own face up to his. They looked at each other for a few moments, warnings raging through their minds, but steadily their faces continued to tilt closer until their noses were touching. Sam rubbed her face against Jack's cheek, feeling the rough stubble against her own, softer cheek. She took a deep breath in. She could smell him every where around her. She was drowning and knew that if she didn't stop, she would never be able to come up for air. Every brain cell in her head was screaming for her to stop, but every fibre in her body was egging her on. Her lips were dangerously close to his neck and she revelled in the thought of kissing him. She could feel his breath upon her own neck and shivered.
"Aaachooo!"
Sam was so startled that her head banged against Jack's and she gasped in pain. Jack turned around and saw Jonas, still asleep, rubbing his nose. If looks could kill, Jack's would have. Sam, still rubbing her forehead, took one look at her C.O and laughed.
"How's that for a cliché?" Jack grumbled, nursing his nose where Carter had bumped into it.
Sam silently thanked Jonas' interruption. She knew she was getting sucked in too far. She looked up at Jack and somehow felt less nervous. She once again placed her head on hill shoulder, but remained calm this time; relaxed. He rested his head on top of hers and together they waited for the sun to rise.
"This is nice," Sam said, looking out to the new morning sky.
"In a 'top of the morning', clichéd, Audrey-Hepburn-movie kind of way," Jack teased. Sam poked him in the ribs, but nestled her head further into his chest.
"Did you hear that?" Sam asked after a few moments. There was a rustle in the tress.
"Yeah," said Jack. "Not for the first time."
He picked up his P-90, and surveyed the immediate area. Sam crouched back to her gear and took out her own gun. She watched as Jack disabled the alarm system and followed him out of the camp perimeter. He hand signalled her to investigate to his left and she quickly disappeared behind a group of trees.
Jack quietly moved through the foliage, careful not to make to much noise. There could be a Pol'kar out here somewhere.
From somewhere very close, Jack heard a staff weapon fire.
Blood raced through his veins as he raced toward the source of the sound; to the direction he had sent Sam. As though answering to his very thoughts he heard the rapid fire of a P-90 and a scream.
"Major!" He yelled and picked up the pace. He could hear Teal'c and Jonas, the latter obviously scared awake, rushing towards him with their weapons. Jack continued to run to Sam at an unbelievable pace.
He ran directly into Teal'c.
"Sorry T," he said, absentmindedly.
"What has transpired?" Teal'c asked.
"I don't know," Jack said in a rushed voice. "Carter heard a sound and we went after it. Did you hear that staff blast?"
"Indeed. It emanated from this direction, O'Neill," Teal'c said, his face dark with concern. Without the need for words, Jack and Teal'c split up. Moments later, Jonas caught up with them, saying he had found no trace of Major Carter or any Jaffa.
After several minutes of searching, the three members of SG-1 met again in the camp.
"What did you find?" asked Jack, urgently.
"Remnants of a base camp about a mile away," said Jonas, just as hurriedly. "Four Jaffa, maybe five."
"The disturbance of the foliage around the camp appears to indicate that we were being watched," said Teal'c.
"Any sign of Carter?"
Jonas shook his head and Teal'c's face remained set. Fear pulsed through Jack's blood.
She was gone.
Just to add some adventuring flavour to the story - a kidnapping! What did you think? REVIEW ME!!!
...and have a lovely day!
