It had been raining for days. The Springs had experienced so much rain over the past few days that the city was starting to struggle.
For the most part, the SGC hadn't had too many issues, but since it was so far underground and there had been so much rain, there had been a few damp issues develop, although nothing too serious thankfully.
The main issue was the roads around the mountain, a lot of them had flooded, and as such Hammond had made the decision to reduce the mountain staff to a minimum, he didn't want to be responsible for any accidents that his staff had on the way in. He had been given the all-clear by his superiours, and as such gate operations had been reduced, with a lot of the planned missions being rescheduled for a few weeks later when the weather was supposed to have improved enough to allow the road condition to improve.
As such all research and basic exploration trips had been postponed, and only necessary trips were being made. Research within the mountain had also been reduced, although there were a few people who had decided to come in anyway.
The members of SG1 had all made this decision, well Teal'c didn't really have a choice, but Sam and Daniel had decided to use the opportunity to get caught up on some of their projects that had been neglected a little of late. Jack had debated staying at home but then had realised that he also had paperwork to catch up on, and this was the perfect chance to do so.
There was also the added benefit of having the whole team in the mountain, if an issue did arise off-world, they were all present to go and sort it out, without Hammond having to wait for missing members of other teams to arrive.
The three of them had all spoken to neighbours and asked them to keep an eye on their homes, and to let them know if there were any issues, and were now all staying on base until the weather improved.
But even though they were here voluntarily they had started to get a bit antsy, which was why Sam was currently pacing the hall, trying to burn off some energy. Her pacing brought her to Jack's office. She thought about just walking on but then she had an idea and stopped at the door and knocked.
"Come in," a muffled voice replied.
Sam pushed the door open. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything, sir."
"Ah Carter," Jack said, his face splitting into a wide smile, "You're never interrupting, you know that."
Sam beamed back at him and then walked into the room, letting the door swing shut behind her. "How's the paperwork coming sir?" she asked.
"It's getting there," Jack answered, "I'm sure one day I'll catch up on all of it."
Sam laughed. "Might be easier to catch up with you weren't playing with toys instead of working, sir," she teased.
"I have no idea what you're talking about Carter."
"Sir," Sam said, "I can see the yo-yo you're currently trying to hide with your elbow, and also the Game Boy that you've oh so cleverly hidden under that folder." She nodded in the direction of the folder.
Jack followed her gaze and then sighed. "Yeah, you got me."
"You could just go home sir," Sam suggested.
"No, I want to be here, I'm just no good as sitting still for this long," Jack admitted, "It's been a while since I've been outside is all and I'm getting twitchy."
Sam nodded, she could understand that, after all, she'd been pacing the halls for the same reason.
"Come with me sir," Sam suddenly said, an idea forming in her head.
"Carter?" Jack questioned.
"You trust me right?" Sam asked.
Jack nodded. "Of course I trust you."
"Then come on."
Jack slowly got to his feet and walked around the table. Sam smiled at him but didn't say anything. Jack stared at her but then followed her out of the room and through the hallways.
"Where are we going Carter?" he asked her.
Sam just smiled at him over her shoulder and kept walking. They reached the elevator and got on, and Sam pushed the button to take them to the NORAD floor. Jack wanted to ask her what she was planning, but he managed to stay quiet. He even stayed quiet as they changed elevators and headed up to the surface. He did trust Sam and was interested to see what she was planning.
The two of them headed through security, nodding to the guards, and then Sam lead the way out of the mountain.
Once outside they stood under the shelter around the doorway, looking out at the rain.
"Holy Hannah it's coming down hard," Jack commented, raising his voice so Sam could hear him over the noise.
Sam nodded. "There's something peaceful about it though," she said, "I've always loved the rain."
"Yeah?" Jack asked, leaning up against the wall and staring at her.
Sam nodded. "I love curling up with a hot chocolate and a good book by a window and just watching it fall." Her back was to him as she leaned against one of the support pillars and stared out at the rain.
Jack smiled at her back. "Well I don't have hot chocolate or a good book," he said with a laugh, "Best I can do is mission reports."
He heard Sam laugh and his smile widened. The laugh was completely free of anything other than happiness, and it had been a long time since Jack had heard Sam so carefree.
"Hey Carter," he said, pushing himself off the wall and moving to stand beside her, "I love the rain too, but for a different reason."
"Oh?" Sam asked, turning to face him. He had come to a stop a lot closer to her than she had been expecting and she shied back slightly at his closeness.
"Sorry," Jack muttered.
"It's ok," Sam assured him. The two stared at each other for a moment, just staring into each other eyes. "So what is it you love about the rain sir?" Sam asked him, breaking the charged silence that had fallen over them.
Jack glanced over his shoulder, out at the rain, and then back to Sam. "Trust me?" he asked, parroting her words from earlier.
Wordlessly Sam nodded. Jack smiled at her then grabbed her hand and pulled her into the rain.
She yelled in surprise as the cold rain hit her skin and tried to pull her hand away from Jack's. He however held on tight, not wanting to let go. "Let's have some fun," he said.
Sam wiped a hand through her hair, pushing it out of her eyes, and stared at him. "It's soaking out here sir."
"Well since you're wet already," Jack said with a smirk, "You might as well make the most of it."
Sam looked hesitantly over her shoulder, back towards the door. But then she squared her shoulders and looked back at Jack. "Sure thing sir, what you got in mind."
Jack beamed at her and then used his free hand to push his wet hair out of his eyes, much like Sam had done earlier.
"Come on," he said, tugging on her hand.
Sam went with him and the two of them started to run through the rain.
Their feet slipped every now and then in the rain-soaked ground, but the grip they had on each other's hand kept them from falling. Soon Sam was laughing wildly, as was Jack.
The laughter stopped however when Sam put her foot down wrong and fell backwards, taking Jack with her. They both hit the floor with a soggy splat, Sam going down harder than Jack. When she stopped laughing Jack looked at her. "You ok Carter?" he asked, he was worried that his silliness had ended in Sam getting hurt.
Even though it was the middle of the day, the rain clouds were so thick they blocked out nearly all of the light so the two of them were sitting on the ground in the twilight. Jack could see that Sam's shoulders were shaking, and he was worried that she had hurt herself so much that she was crying.
Their hands were still joined, and given that they'd fallen, were now slightly trapped under Sam's legs, so Jack reached out with his free hand and gripped Sam's shoulder.
"Are you ok Carter?" he asked again.
Sam didn't answer but her shoulders started shaking even more and Jack got really concerned for a moment before she suddenly burst out laughing. It was a full-body laugh and every inch of her was shaking.
"I'm fine sir," she managed to gasp between laughs. She pulled their joined hands out from under her legs and dropped his hand as she wrapped her arms around her stomach and continued to laugh.
Jack stared at her incredulously for a few moments before he too started laughing.
They had had a horrible couple of weeks, and even when they were having a good week their job was still hard, and both of them now lay back on the ground, ignoring the rain and the mud as it soaked into their clothes, and just laughed, letting it all out.
Sam started hiccupping, she was laughing so hard, which only made Jack laugh longer.
Eventually, though the laughter died away and soon the two of them were both just lying on the ground, their eyes closed against the rain that was falling on them.
Sam felt blindly for Jack's hand and took it again. Jack squeezed it and then the two of them turned their heads to look at each other.
"Thank you," Sam said, "I really needed that."
"Yeah I did too," Jack replied. He reached out and brushed Sam's hair out of her eyes with his free hand. He let his hand linger on her face and she lent into it.
"We should get back inside," Jack then said, "Before either of us catch a cold."
Sam nodded and slowly got to her feet. She didn't drop Jack's hand however and Jack didn't comment on it, just got to his feet beside her.
He stared at Sam as she tilted her head back and let the rain wash over her face. She looked so happy, so peaceful, that Jack smiled softly. It was moments like this that made him realise waiting to take it out of the room would be worth it.
As Sam's head came forward Jack carefully schooled his features. As a tremor ran through Sam's body he tugged gently on her arm. "Let's get inside, you're starting to shiver."
Sam looked like she was going to argue but then she nodded. "Let's go."
They walked back towards the entrance to the mountain hand in hand, but once they reached the area where the street lights started Jack dropped her hand after giving it one last squeeze. Sam smiled softly at him and then the two walked back into the dry.
They both ignored the looks that they get from the security as they walked past them towards the elevator, but once the doors had slid shut they both started laughing again.
"What a pair we must look like," Sam said between chuckles.
Jack nodded mutely. They were both soaked to the skin and were both dripping all over the floor, leaving considerable puddles on the floor of the elevator. Their clothes were plastered to them, as was their hair, but they were also both covered in mud. Sam had it all over her arms and her back, as well as streaks across her face, and he knew that he probably didn't look much better.
They stopped laughing as the elevator stopped and they changed over to the one that would take them down to the SGC levels.
"We need to get you cleaned up," Jack muttered, reaching out and pulling some leaves from Sam's hair before holding it up for her to see.
Sam looked down at herself and nodded. "Probably not a bad idea sir," she accepted, "But you probably could do with getting tidied up to."
"Are you saying I look scruffy, Major?" Jack demanded, "That is not something you can say to your commanding officer you know."
Sam just laughed at him, after all these years she knew he wasn't going to write her up for anything so she knew she was safe teasing him now. "I'm not sure scruffy actually does how you look justice sir," she said.
"Well Carter," Jack huffed, "I found myself incredibly offended."
"Sorry sir," Sam said, ducking her head. Her look would have been believably contrite if it hadn't been for the smirk on her lips.
Jack glared at her but Sam just kept her chin tucked against her chest and held his gaze. Before they could start laughing again though the elevator doors opened. The two of them got out of the elevator and headed towards the locker rooms, but before they got too far Daniel appeared around a corner.
"Jack, Sam," he greeted. He then looked them up and down. "You look like drowned rats," he then said bluntly.
"I'm offended again Carter," Jack whined.
"Yes sir," Sam said, trying not to laugh, "See you later Daniel."
Daniel watched in silent surprise as the two of them walked past him and carried on down the hall, leaving a trail of water in their wake. He then shook his head. He had no idea what they'd been doing, hell he wasn't sure if he wanted to know, but they sure were making a mess. He then sighed and moved to the nearest phone. He picked it up and dialled one of the numbers. "Hi Walter, Daniel Jackson. Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter have just come in from outside and are dripping all over the hall, you might want to get a cleaning crew down here before someone slips." He listened for a second before answering. "I have no idea what they were doing outside sorry Walter." He listened again. "Yes, looks like the hall between the elevator and the locker rooms and then elevator two, no idea which one they used to get through NORAD though." He paused again. "Cheers Walter, have a nice day."
He replaced the phone in its cradle and looked back down the hallway. He shook his head again. Sam and Jack had left little puddles all over the place. Still, he had reported it to someone who could deal with it so it was no longer his problem. He resumed his walk towards the mess hall, he wanted some coffee.
-/-
A few hours later Sam was sitting in her lab. She had showered earlier and had gotten rid of all the mud and rainwater that had soaked through her clothes, and was now sitting in her lab in clean BDU's working on her projects.
She had had a lot of fun out in the rain earlier, a good laugh with a good friend had been exactly what the doctor had ordered. There was a smile on her face now as she remembered how it had felt to have her hand in Jack's and rain pouring over her face. For a short while, she'd been able to forget all her troubles, all her responsibilities, and had just been able to be Sam.
Her head snapped up as someone knocked on the door to the lab. "It's open," she called out.
The door slid open and revealed Jack.
"Hey Carter," he greeted, coming in and pushing the door shut button. As the door slid back into place he walked over to her bench and put one of the mugs he had been carrying down in front of her.
Sam beamed at him as she realised that it was a mug of hot chocolate. "Thank you, sir," she said as she picked up the mug and cupped the warm mug in both her hands.
"Hope you're not too cold from our little outing earlier," Jack commented as he sat down.
Sam shook her head. "My shower really warmed me up," she told him, "How about you sir?"
"The same," Jack said. The two of them sat in companionable silence for a moment, sipping at their drinks before Jack spoke. "I had a lovely meeting with Hammond," he said.
"Oh?" Sam asked.
"Yeah," Jack said, "He was waiting for me when I got out of the shower." He shook his head. "Not who I wanted to find when I'm stood in nothing but a towel."
Sam fought the blush that attempted to rise up her cheeks at his words and took another drink.
"He has asked that we don't traipse that much water into the base again," Jack told her, "He said he did not appreciate having to clean up after us."
"Sorry sir," Sam said.
Jack shrugged. "I don't think he was too serious," Jack told her, "He was smiling when he was talking to me, and I don't think he's the type to enjoy me in that state of undress."
Sam, who had just taken a sip of her drink, spat it out at her words and started laughing. This time the blush made its way to her cheeks as she thought about him in only a towel.
Jack just watched her with a soft smile on his face. "Really Carter," he teased, "I mean, what's not to like."
He ran his free hand down his body and wiggled his eyebrows at her. Her laughter redoubled and she had to put her drink down for fear of spilling it.
"Either way," Jack said as Sam's laughter turned to quiet giggles, "If we do that again we need to make sure we don't leave as much of a mess when we come back into the base."
"Are you intending to do that again then sir?" Sam asked.
Jack shrugged. "Maybe," he said, "But probably not. Hopefully, the rain will stop soon, even so, I don't think he'd find it as funny if either of us did that again in the near future."
Sam nodded her understanding.
The two fell into a companionable silence as they finished their drinks. As Jack gathered up his mug and hers, to take them back to get washed up, Sam smiled at him and said, her voice soft, "Now I've got two reasons to love the rain."
Jack smiled back at her. "Glad I could help."
"Thanks, Jack," Sam said, her voice quiet.
"Always Sam."