Rating: PG13
Spoilers: NIL, it's my own smut.
Stargate as always will never ever be mine, but I ask the Lottery Syndicate to bestow upon me the winning ticket so I can buy it outright!
I warn you, I did kinda go overboard with this, (10 Pages) Sooo, those who need to pee, go now!
Chapter 5 – Riding the Waves
Jack and Sam waved goodbye to Daniel and Teal'c secretly pleased that it was just going to be them, alone for the whole day.
As soon as they were out of view of the campsite, the two of them sighed contently, then burst into laughter as they sighed in unison.
After settling down to a comfortable silence, Sam hotfooted on whether to bring up how she felt. Having him holding her last night had brought up some feelings, that she had had to put to one side over the last few years. Then thinking that she didn't want to ruin the day ahead, instead went for the safer option… for now. "So, where's this white water rafting place you're taking me?"
Jack getting all excited replied "Oh, Sam, you'll love it. The water's so blue, and the countryside surrounding it would make a perfect place for a picnic. What do you say?"
Joining in his enthusiasm she replied, "I'd love to. I've never been white water rafting, what's it like?"
"It's great, we'll be riding together, going up and down, then get real wet, and..." Jack looked quizzically over to his 2IC as she burst into a fit of hysterics. With a totally confused look on his face he simply asked, "What did I say?"
Sam was too busy wrapping her arms around her waist as if trying to stop all the giggles from escaping. Too top it all off, she couldn't believe he didn't realise how it sounded. But saying that, it could just be her own smutty mind working overtime, but that just made her laugh even harder.
Still getting no response from her he continued blankly. "C'mon Carter! What did I say?"
Trying desperately to regain her composure, she loved the innocence in his voice. Biting her lip to stop herself from losing control again, she looked at him, attempting to be all-serious, but not quite pulling it off. Clearing her throat she replied, "Um, well…I can't believe I'm having to explain this to you, sir! Think about it? Riding together...Going up and down!" She baited, her eyes twinkling against her flushed cheeks.
Jack raised one hand in gesture, his face taking on a, 'I haven't got a clue' look. Sam screamed inwardly, leaning her head on her hand she turned and looked directly at him. With a smile playing on her lips, she gestured with her eyes what she thought he had said. Sometimes, they understood each other better like this.
Finally after a few seconds, it seemed as if a light started filtering through his brain, as he softly said "Oh!" Then looking directly at Carter he saw her eyes gesture the true meaning of what he said. Then full recognition hit him. "OH, that!" Then seeing she was about to burst out laughing at his awkwardness again, he teased, "Shame on you Carter, I didn't think nice girls like you had such thoughts."
Then he saw the cheekiest grin he had ever seen her show. Her eyes sparkled in delight that she had caught him off balance once more. Sam didn't feel it necessary to explain, it was more fun to her, letting him wonder.
Settling down after their little exchange something crossed Sam's mind, confusion crossing her face for a brief moment as she said, "Sir, what about Teal'c and Daniel?"
It was then Jack's turn to show a hint of confusion asking "What about them?"
Turning inward so that she could face him, she said with a hint of speculation, "Daniel and Teal'c said they were going off exploring to some excavation, right?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Well, how are they going to get there? We've got the car?" Sam questioned.
"Sam! Did you really think Teal'c would spend the day looking at rocks?"
"No, but then why did they say they were going, if they weren't?"
"Geez carter, and you think I'm slow! Who did Daniel and Teal'c walk in on this morning?"
Sam's mouth suddenly gaped open in understanding, slowly she responded; "Aha!" at that moment it was all she could manage. Secretly she thought "Sneaky little buggers." She turned once more so that her and the Colonel were more or less face-to-face. The Colonel replied simply, "My thoughts exactly."
Not quite sure how to respond to that, she was kind of grateful as the Colonel made a quick right hand turn into a country lane. Just over the ridge, she could make out the swirling torrid river ahead. Noticing for the first time that it had started to get slightly chilly, she reached into the back and pulled out her jacket, shivering slightly at the drop in temperature.
Looking out the window she noticed dark clouds heading in their direction, thinking that the weather looming was not sunshine, as the weather forecaster had promised.
"Cold?" Jack asked, noticing, she was wrapping herself up.
"Yeah just a little. It doesn't look as if the weathers going to be that great though for a picnic though?" Sam said dejectedly.
"Don't worry, what ever happens, I promise we'll have that Picnic." Jack replied with the utmost confidence.
Sam smiled at the thought. He watching as he pulled up near an old dishevelled shack, he parked up, and asked, "You ready for this?"
"Absolutely." She replied getting caught up in his enthusiasm.
As soon as they had collected all the their necessary gear from the rental shop, and headed out to their waiting raft. Both were looking forward to it. The only thing that threatened to ruin their day was the looming clouds coming in. In the distance they could see dark rain filled clouds across the horizon.
"What was the man saying to you in shop before, Sir?" Sam asked inquisitively whilst attempting to finally secure her life jacket in place. After a bit of difficulty, Jack crossed over to her and helped her out a bit, as it needed to be a reasonable tight fit.
"Thanks." Sam replied. "They're not exactly designed for women are they?"
With his eyes moving in the direction she was referring to, he had a small smile on his lips. "Um, no, not really." Then shaking out his reverie, he remembered her asking about the man in the shop. "You asked about the conversation?"
Sam nodded as they reached the walkway to where the ramp was tied. "He was just saying that there looked to be some rain heading in our direction, and to not be out so long."
"Should we be going out then, Sir?" Sam replied now with slight concern etched on her face.
"We'll be fine, we won't be out for more than a couple of hours. One thing though, before you get in the raft."
Sam concentrated on his features as he took on a serious tone. Jack continued, "The river has some rapids that are graded 1-6," then Jack continued reeling off the names. "Well there's Cash Flow, Three blind Mice, Camp Rapid, Golf course, Roller coaster..."
Before he had a chance to finish his sentence, Sam raised her hands to stop him going any further, "What on earth is a 'three blind mice'? Do you mean we're going to have to sing nursery rhymes while we're doing it?" Sam asked in all innocence.
Jack just burst out laughing, thoroughly enjoying the fact that for once the tables were turned, and she didn't understand his technical jargon. But what tickled him even more was the fact that she thought they had to sing. After his last singing attempts, he did not want to go there.
Trying to stifle his amusement he replied, "They're the names of the types of rapids we'll come across, it's how they grade them. Don't worry though, in this river it only goes up to 'Golf Course', which means that it is difficult to manoeuvre, but well worth the ride."
Sam smiled; she thought it sounded more like Jack's personality, than describing a rapid. Jack though didn't realise that this was what she was thinking, asked, "You all set for the ride of your life Major?"
Sam's eyes sparkled as the sun bounced off the water and reflected in her eyes, her smile increasing as he took her hand and lowered her gently in the raft, saying "Don't worry Sam, I'll go gentle with you." Then realising what he'd said stuttered, "Er…on the water, that is. I won't take you to any difficult places."
Making sure she was seated comfortably, he shook his head, at the images that constantly bombarded his mind. Since him and Carter had been alone, he had been trying to restrain the thoughts that constantly cropped up. Thoughts about what he wanted to do with her when they were alone. Unfortunately, everything that came of his mouth sounded like a randy schoolboy on his first date, and it was getting on his nerves.
Looking back at his 2IC he said, "Okay, Sam. Here we go, now remember, if you get nervous, just yell, and I'll pull up somewhere. Just remember to hold on tight when we're going over the waves."
Sam beamed a huge smile in return, she was going to thoroughly enjoy this. For the next hour, Sam and the Colonel took on every rapid that came at them, the swirling of the waves crashed against the rubber raft. The weather though had started to take a nasty turn as they took on what Jack had described earlier as the 'Golf course'. The wind had picked up speedily over the last few minutes and was now turning into a heavy weather front. The Colonel had shouted back at Sam, that at the next enclave they would have to pull in.
Suddenly they heard a crack of thunder and the heavens opened. Jack shouted as a torrent of wind came at them unexpectedly and he had to hold on tight. "Sam…you Okay?"
Getting increasingly nervous, trying desperately to secure her footing under the raft she shouted, "Yeah, but I don't know how much longer I can hold on." As she said this, another gust, threatened to capsize them once more. The tameness of the river now had turned into a wild frenzy of surf colliding with the raft.
Another crack of thunder followed, and the sky decided to turn a nasty shade of black. Lightening exploded overhead, not far from their position. Whatever they needed to do, they had to do it quick as the river was becoming sinister around them.
Seeing some shelter from branches hanging not to far off the distance, Jack took a sparing glance behind him, making sure that she was properly secured. "Start paddling over to those trees on the left."
Nodding in agreement, Colonel Jack O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter paddled furiously. Both exhausted at the effort of steering the raft against the wind which was determined to send them crashing headlong into the jagged rocks in front of them.
As they neared the overhang of trees, a gust of wind caught them off balance, and Carter screamed as the raft lifted off the water for a split second. Jack hearing her terrified scream turned round to see if she had fallen out of the raft. Seeing that she was all right and just frightened, he didn't react in time to see lightening hit the bark of the tree, causing it to block their path.
Jack not able to avoid it, the raft hit it with full force, throwing Sam, and Jack out of the raft, plunging them into the cold river. Sam frantically trying to stay close to the Colonel saw his head impact with the fallen branch. Sam's screams could be heard against the thunderous applause overhead as she screamed, "Colonel!"
The torrent of water pushed up against her as she attempted to reach her CO, who now lay face down in the body of water, his limp body caught against the fallen branch. Desperately she swam with all the strength she could muster, but every time she got closer to him, the river pushed her away. She literally only had a few seconds to get to him, before the force of the river would take her down stream.
With strength she didn't know she possessed she struggled relentlessly against the water until she was able to grab hold of his jacket, and turn him over, so that his submerged face was facing upwards. Knowing that she had to reach the embankment she grabbed hold of the branch with her one free hand. Struggling wildly to hold onto the branch and the Colonel at the same time, she had two choices. She could either save herself or save the Colonel.
Sam's mind worked overtime, she needed to think quick, because she didn't think the Colonel was breathing, blood from his head flowed as rapidly as the river beneath them. To Sam, the choice wasn't difficult; she was not prepared to let the Colonel die. Trying to find a way to get them both to safety, she noticed there were several large rocks, not far from her position. Thinking that this was the only way to save him, she took a chance and let go of the branch she had been clinging to. Desperately trying to keep herself and the Colonel above the raging water, she swam with all her might to the rocks.
Not knowing how she got there, it must have been by pure willpower, she succeed. Clambering onto the safety of the boulders, she hauled Colonel O'Neil up with her, wrenching her shoulder with effort. Laying him on the rocks, she took her life preserver off in order to give herself extra leverage. Then undoing the Colonel's life jacket, she started CPR, her body shaking with a mixture of adrenaline, cold and fear, she breathed the life back into him. Then placing her interlocked fingers on his chest, she attempted to resuscitate his heart. Repeating the process again, she shouted between breaths. "DAMN IT COLONEL, COME ON!"
After what seemed like an eternity she felt a pulse, slow at first, but steadily rising, then she heard Jack coughing in an effort to remove the water from his lungs. Crying with relief, she whispered softly, "Thank God, I thought I'd lost you." But Jack didn't hear her.
Thinking frantically about what to do next, she had to get them both of the rocks, and into some shelter, before they caught pneumonia. Sam's eyes searched the horizon, searching for something. It wasn't much, but it would do, a small shelter, just ahead of them.
Precariously she balanced herself on the rocks, careful to not lose her footing, because if she did, she knew that they would both end up dead. She needed the Colonel's help if this was going to work.
Kneeling back down towards him once more, she tried to stir him. Getting no response, she tried again with more force, shaking him by the shoulder. "Sir, please you need to get up." Sam was sure she saw his eyes flutter. "Jack...please wake up, I need you." It was the most heart-rending plea that Sam had ever uttered.
Jack heard her say his name, not Sir, or Colonel, but 'Jack'. As he came back towards consciousness, he whispered her name softly, like a soft caress touching her very soul, it wasn't a CO to his 2IC, it was a man to a women. Sam shivered even more; her heart skipped a beat, as she heard the love in his voice.
"Jack, try and open your eyes, please. We can't stay here, it's too dangerous." Sam pleaded.
As Jack tried to open his eyes, he struggled for a few moments, but after hearing Sam's gently encouragement he succeeded. Something was wrong though, instead of seeing her face before him, all he could see was darkness. Then realisation hit him; he was blind.
With panic in his voice, he whispered, "Sam! I can't see...I can't see anything."
Sam went white with shock; her hands visibly shook as she touched his face. A feeling of dread washed over her. Thankful that he couldn't at least see her silent tears fall onto the rocks below, as the sudden realisation hit her with full force. Trying to sound more confident than she felt, she answered softly, "You're going to be okay. I promise."
In a voice that Sam had never heard from the Colonel before, she recognised for the first time that it was fear. Jack grabbed her hand, and said, "Don't leave me."
"I'd never leave you Sir." Sam's heart flipped, in part because he'd shown her that he trusted her implicitly, allowing her to see a side of him that she'd never seen before. He was vulnerable, and it was up to Sam to protect him.
"Sir, can you stand, we need to find shelter, before we freeze to death."
Jack nodded in agreement, sitting up slowly, his bearings were all over the place, and he needed Sam there to steady him. "Okay, Sir, grab my hands." Sam ordered leaning forward slightly. Jack reached out and grabbed the first thing that his hands came into contact with; unfortunately it wasn't Sam's hands. Reeling from shock at the Colonel grabbing her boobs, she giggled, and thought it was probably due to dire predicament they were in, nervously she said, "Um…Sir! They would be my boobs!"
Jack finally registering what he was feelings quickly pulled his hand back. Finding solace in Sam's laugh at this tense moment, he allowed himself to smile. Feeling slightly like his old self, he replied with a hint of embarrassment, "Sorry, um...got this blind thing going on."
Jack although couldn't see her, knew that she was smiling as she said, "Shall we try it again?" Sam asked with a small smile playing on her lips. "I'll grab your hands, and pull you up slowly. What ever you do, don't step away, okay?"
Jack nodded for her to take the lead. Very gently she pulled him to a standing position and placed her arms around him for support. Taking a deep breath, she tried to control her own breathing. "Okay, Sir, now very slowly turn around, don't worry, I won't let you go."
Jack wasn't so much worried about himself; he knew he could trust her with anything, including his life. His fear was that if anything happened to Carter, then he'd never forgive himself.
After what seemed like eternity, they finally made it to embankment. They were now perilously close to becoming hypothermic, as the cold wind and rain battered against their sodden clothes. Carter, was almost carrying Jack now as they neared the safety of what appeared to be the entrance of an old mine.
Not wanting to go too far into it, Sam led him down the dark opening, going just far enough to shelter themselves from the cold. Finally finding a place that just gave them adequate protection she released the Colonel from her clutches and helped him sit down. Kneeling beside him, she placed her hand on his, hoping it would provide him with some comfort and said, "Sir, you've got a nasty cut on your head, and I've got to stop the bleeding, so what I'm going to do may hurt for a minute, okay?"
Knowing the urgent need of stopping the bleeding, she ripped off the bottom of her T-Shirt to use as a bandage.
Jack's eyes widened at the sound. "Carter! What are you doing?"
With all seriousness in her voice as she concentrated on getting a decent amount to secure the dressing, she replied, "I'm ripping my T-Shirt, to use as a bandage."
"How much are you tearing?" Jack enquired becoming more inquisitive.
"Well, enough to stop the bleeding. Sir, your cold and in shock, put that together with a bad cut, and things could go downhill very quickly."
"Thanks for those comfortable words Carter, I feel much better." Jack replied sarcastically.
Looking at him intently, she didn't mean to make him worried, it was her that was worried enough for both of them, so she just replied, "Sorry, Sir."
Unfortunately due to the fact that the Colonel had distracted her, she lost her concentration on what she was supposed to be doing, and subsequently she ripped too much material. "Damn!" She shouted crossly.
Hearing her say this, caused Jack to worry, and he sat up straighter, with worry in his voice he said, "What's wrong? Something's wrong I can tell."
"Nothing's wrong, Sir." Sam responded unconvincingly.
"Sam!" Jack warned.
"I ripped my T-shirt!"
Now Jack was totally confused, and thought "wasn't that what she was trying to do?"
"I know that already!"
Toying with deciding whether to tell him or not she hummed and erred for a few seconds and said with a note of embarrassment, "I er…ripped too much."
"Oh!" Was all he could muster, then teasingly asked, "How much is too much?"
"Colonel! You can't ask me that!" Sam shouted indignantly, and then swatted his leg for effect. Though she had to admit it, the cheek of him asking did make her smile.
"What! What did I say! I mean it's not like I can see anything." He baited. Then added, "More's the pity!" He replied enjoying the silliness of a desperate situation.
Sam rolled her eyes in the darkness, and knew how to stop him in his tracks, she pressed the makeshift bandage to his head, and Jack quickly forgot about Carter's exposed body…at least for the moment.
"Ow, Carter! You did that on purpose." Jack whined, shifting himself slightly against the coldness of the floor, and the pressure that was being placed upon his wounded head.
"Did not!" Sam countered.
"Did too."
"Not!" Sam said quietly.
"Did too!" Jack replied, leaning back against the stonewall. Jack closed his eyes for a moment enjoying her touch as she stemmed the flow of blood, which was now only trickling out.
Smiling contently, she secured the bandage in place. She was exhausted, the adrenaline finally leaving her body. But she knew they weren't out the woods yet, she needed to sort the deep cut she had sustained on her arm, which she had got from hauling herself out of the water. Then she'd have to try and get a fire going, before they froze to death in this abandoned mine.
Jack had now gone quiet on her as the seriousness of the situation finally took hold. Before she could let her guard down, she needed to search this abandoned place for something she could light with, but she had to leave Jack here alone. Taking the bull by the horns, she said softly, trying not to disturb him too much. "Sir, I've got to go find some things to start a fire with, will you be okay for a few minutes?"
Jack nodded; his head was now pounding with the strain of the day. Sam shifting herself slightly leaned over to him. With her hand on his thigh she said, "I won't be long."
What happened next though was completely unexpected to her as he grabbed her hand as she saw his face frown slightly. He knew that there wasn't any other option than to let her go alone; he just didn't want to let her go. Holding onto her hand like a lifeline, he whispered. "Be careful Sam, please."
"Hey." Sam said softly, her hand cupped his face. "I'll be fine, trust me."
Jack reciprocated by placing his hand on top of hers, and felt her lean into his touch. Using his free hand, he placed his arm around what he felt to be her shoulder and pulled her closer to him, until they were barely inches apart.
He could feel her hot breath on his skin, and although he couldn't see her face or expression, he knew that she was looking at him intently. Sam felt breathless, her heart pounded in anticipation. She knew that this was the right time and place, for both of them.
Feeling his hands on her bare skin, she shivered at his touch. Jack knew it was against regulations, but at this moment in time, he didn't care. All he knew was that he needed to feel her lips against him; and it felt like the most natural thing in the world.
Leaning in to his touch more, Sam guided her lips towards his, but even in the dark, they could sense each other. Jack's heart leapt into his throat, as their lips met. The kiss was soft, slow and sensual, both wanting and needing this moment together.
End of Chapter 5
