Disclaimer: Not mine…don't own anything…yadda…
Procrastination
Chapter 3: Waiting
The storm raged continuously for nearly eight hours, during which time all manner of pointless topics were discussed…or, more accurately, yelled over the noise of the wind.
Unfortunately, the tents covering SG1 proved to provide little protection against the sand that ruthlessly battered their tired, aching bodies. Despite this, each of the three cowering humans made it their personal mission to keep up the general morale. Jack told countless bad and, for the majority, entirely un-PC jokes until Sam was forced to give him a glare scary enough to bring Apophis himself to his knees; Daniel explained (in excited detail) about SG11's latest archaeological discovery, and Carter - well, Carter babbled. Judging by the sparkle in her eyes, and the way she kept expressing herself animatedly with her hands, Jack believed what she was saying was, in all likelihood, incredibly interesting.
If only he could understand a damn word of it.
Still, she was nice to watch, which was the main reason he allowed her to continue discussing the latest Astrophysics arguments surrounding Dark Matter and Wimps*. (What the *hell*…?!). Suffice to say, that over the years Major Carter had not been the only person attending the 'Janet Frasier School of Evil Glares', but whereas he was more than happy to silence Daniel with a single scowl, he actually *enjoyed* watching his Major ramble incoherently for a while.
But if anyone repeated that little epiphany, he would deny all knowledge.
Then kill them.
Eventually (and thankfully) Sam ran out of steam and instead contented herself with surreptitiously watching her CO from the corner of her eye, whilst gallantly feigning interest in a rather futile argument he was having with Daniel about Colonel Simmons and the merits of well-placed grenade.
Not that either believed the idea to be a bad one, you understand, it was just a question of *where* exactly the best place was for said artillery to cause maximum damage. Daniel was entirely convinced that Simmons' office would be most advantageous, whereas Jack, who argued both superiority and experience, truly and vehemently believed that a single grenade would not be powerful enough to break through the man's oversized ego. Therefore an entire launcher would be more advantageous - especially if placed somewhere a lot more personal…and *a lot* more painful.
You get the idea.
Soon enough, Daniel relented and came around to Jack's way of thinking (though in all likelihood, it was just done for a quiet life), and subsequently, conversation ran dry and silence ensued.
Sam winced as a strong gust of wind battered another ton of sand against her back. "I don't think it's gonna let up any time soon, sir." she stated as she tried in vain to shake off the sand dune forming against her rapidly collapsing spine.
Jack nodded grimly in agreement before turning to the Daniel, concern marring his handsome face as his friend slumped forward a little further, his body slowly giving in to the pressure of sand against his back. "How you doing there Danny?"
"Fine." came the strained reply as the Archaeologist tried to push back against the onslaught.
Suddenly the temperature dropped once more and Sam shivered involuntarily. And, of course, Jack noticed. "Cold?" he asked pointlessly.
Sam looked at him for a moment. When SG1 was first formed she had done everything to ensure she was seen as nothing more than 'one of the boys', right down to hiding anything that could have been seen as a moment of weakness. Now, however, five years later, she had seen past her CO's bravado, just as he had immediately seen right through hers, and was now more than comfortable with their blatant honesty.
Honesty, at least in some respects. Others, well, neither of them were prepared to discuss.
An unbidden image flashed into her mind and she closed her eyes against the mental anguish. She shook her head minutely, desperately trying to banish the memory of the Za'tarc machine and smiled warmly at her commanding officer. "A little Sir." she replied.
"Yeah, me to." He looked about himself. "Danny, where's your pack?"
The archaeologist grimaced in reply. "Outside." he muttered apologetically. "There wasn't time to grab it. I…"
"It's alright." Jack placated soothingly. "We still have two blankets." With that, he and Carter made a grab for their respective rucksacks and pulled out the requisite thermal blankets. O'Neill tossed his to Daniel, who caught it without hesitating.
"Who are you gonna share with?" he asked as he wrapped the blanket around his shivering torso.
Sam was the ideal candidate, not only smaller than the Archaeologist, but closer to her CO, and would therefore require less manoeuvrability, but still he hesitated.
"Sir." The voice of his Second in Command, quietly affirming her consent with a single word was enough to tip the balance and he scooted closer to Sam, quickly placing both backpacks in his place to weigh down the tent.
Internally, Sam was grinning like an adolescent with a crush, but externally she remained the professional. Quickly and efficiently she unravelled the blanket and placed it over them.
But it wasn't enough.
Five minutes later they were both still incredibly cold. The temperature was still dropping and Sam shivered violently. Jack had had enough. He grabbed the blanket and pulled it off their bodies. "Move forward." he muttered in frustration.
"Sir?" Sam asked, bewildered.
"Do it Carter." he growled. Desperately trying to retain his composure. Still confused, Sam shuffled forwards, under the ever-watchful eyes of Dr Daniel Jackson.
She had to bite back a gasp as she felt Jack slide behind her and pull her back against his body. He folded the blanket around them both and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Not a word." he cautioned Daniel who just grinned in response.
After a moments hesitation Sam settled back more comfortably into her CO's unexpected hold and had to fight to keep her eyes open, her body willing her to lose herself completely in his warm embrace.
The sand storm seemed to ease up and Jack settled himself more comfortably. Sam's head was rested against his collarbone and he could smell her hair. It was almost his undoing.
Daniel looked at his watch. It was going to get dark soon, and if this planet was anything like the Deserts back on earth, night time meant it was going to get a whole lot colder. He pulled his blanket tighter around his body and closed his eyes, exhaustion washing over his face.
Soon enough he was asleep.
Sam giggled slightly as Daniel began to snore. "That boy can sleep through anything." Jack murmured into her hair, evoking an involuntary shiver from his companion as she felt his breath stroke her cheek.
"Mmm." she smiled in reply, too tired to form a proper verbal response. Jack tightened his arms around his major and she snuggled unthinkingly into his warm embrace.
Jack smiled quietly, ruthlessly pushing down the urge to grin like an idiot. He tilted his head and looked down at Sam's face. She'd fallen asleep and was looking so peaceful. Like an angel. For once Jack didn't ignore the feelings welling deep inside him and he gently placed a chaste kissed on her crown before closing his eyes and succumbing to the gentle pull of unconsciousness.
Outside of the warm cocoon the three friends had created, the storm raged on.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
* W.I.M.P.'S = Weakly Interacting Massive Particles
Chapter Four to come soon, but only if you think it's worth continuing. Please let me know what you think. I'm not above begging…
Procrastination
Chapter 3: Waiting
The storm raged continuously for nearly eight hours, during which time all manner of pointless topics were discussed…or, more accurately, yelled over the noise of the wind.
Unfortunately, the tents covering SG1 proved to provide little protection against the sand that ruthlessly battered their tired, aching bodies. Despite this, each of the three cowering humans made it their personal mission to keep up the general morale. Jack told countless bad and, for the majority, entirely un-PC jokes until Sam was forced to give him a glare scary enough to bring Apophis himself to his knees; Daniel explained (in excited detail) about SG11's latest archaeological discovery, and Carter - well, Carter babbled. Judging by the sparkle in her eyes, and the way she kept expressing herself animatedly with her hands, Jack believed what she was saying was, in all likelihood, incredibly interesting.
If only he could understand a damn word of it.
Still, she was nice to watch, which was the main reason he allowed her to continue discussing the latest Astrophysics arguments surrounding Dark Matter and Wimps*. (What the *hell*…?!). Suffice to say, that over the years Major Carter had not been the only person attending the 'Janet Frasier School of Evil Glares', but whereas he was more than happy to silence Daniel with a single scowl, he actually *enjoyed* watching his Major ramble incoherently for a while.
But if anyone repeated that little epiphany, he would deny all knowledge.
Then kill them.
Eventually (and thankfully) Sam ran out of steam and instead contented herself with surreptitiously watching her CO from the corner of her eye, whilst gallantly feigning interest in a rather futile argument he was having with Daniel about Colonel Simmons and the merits of well-placed grenade.
Not that either believed the idea to be a bad one, you understand, it was just a question of *where* exactly the best place was for said artillery to cause maximum damage. Daniel was entirely convinced that Simmons' office would be most advantageous, whereas Jack, who argued both superiority and experience, truly and vehemently believed that a single grenade would not be powerful enough to break through the man's oversized ego. Therefore an entire launcher would be more advantageous - especially if placed somewhere a lot more personal…and *a lot* more painful.
You get the idea.
Soon enough, Daniel relented and came around to Jack's way of thinking (though in all likelihood, it was just done for a quiet life), and subsequently, conversation ran dry and silence ensued.
Sam winced as a strong gust of wind battered another ton of sand against her back. "I don't think it's gonna let up any time soon, sir." she stated as she tried in vain to shake off the sand dune forming against her rapidly collapsing spine.
Jack nodded grimly in agreement before turning to the Daniel, concern marring his handsome face as his friend slumped forward a little further, his body slowly giving in to the pressure of sand against his back. "How you doing there Danny?"
"Fine." came the strained reply as the Archaeologist tried to push back against the onslaught.
Suddenly the temperature dropped once more and Sam shivered involuntarily. And, of course, Jack noticed. "Cold?" he asked pointlessly.
Sam looked at him for a moment. When SG1 was first formed she had done everything to ensure she was seen as nothing more than 'one of the boys', right down to hiding anything that could have been seen as a moment of weakness. Now, however, five years later, she had seen past her CO's bravado, just as he had immediately seen right through hers, and was now more than comfortable with their blatant honesty.
Honesty, at least in some respects. Others, well, neither of them were prepared to discuss.
An unbidden image flashed into her mind and she closed her eyes against the mental anguish. She shook her head minutely, desperately trying to banish the memory of the Za'tarc machine and smiled warmly at her commanding officer. "A little Sir." she replied.
"Yeah, me to." He looked about himself. "Danny, where's your pack?"
The archaeologist grimaced in reply. "Outside." he muttered apologetically. "There wasn't time to grab it. I…"
"It's alright." Jack placated soothingly. "We still have two blankets." With that, he and Carter made a grab for their respective rucksacks and pulled out the requisite thermal blankets. O'Neill tossed his to Daniel, who caught it without hesitating.
"Who are you gonna share with?" he asked as he wrapped the blanket around his shivering torso.
Sam was the ideal candidate, not only smaller than the Archaeologist, but closer to her CO, and would therefore require less manoeuvrability, but still he hesitated.
"Sir." The voice of his Second in Command, quietly affirming her consent with a single word was enough to tip the balance and he scooted closer to Sam, quickly placing both backpacks in his place to weigh down the tent.
Internally, Sam was grinning like an adolescent with a crush, but externally she remained the professional. Quickly and efficiently she unravelled the blanket and placed it over them.
But it wasn't enough.
Five minutes later they were both still incredibly cold. The temperature was still dropping and Sam shivered violently. Jack had had enough. He grabbed the blanket and pulled it off their bodies. "Move forward." he muttered in frustration.
"Sir?" Sam asked, bewildered.
"Do it Carter." he growled. Desperately trying to retain his composure. Still confused, Sam shuffled forwards, under the ever-watchful eyes of Dr Daniel Jackson.
She had to bite back a gasp as she felt Jack slide behind her and pull her back against his body. He folded the blanket around them both and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Not a word." he cautioned Daniel who just grinned in response.
After a moments hesitation Sam settled back more comfortably into her CO's unexpected hold and had to fight to keep her eyes open, her body willing her to lose herself completely in his warm embrace.
The sand storm seemed to ease up and Jack settled himself more comfortably. Sam's head was rested against his collarbone and he could smell her hair. It was almost his undoing.
Daniel looked at his watch. It was going to get dark soon, and if this planet was anything like the Deserts back on earth, night time meant it was going to get a whole lot colder. He pulled his blanket tighter around his body and closed his eyes, exhaustion washing over his face.
Soon enough he was asleep.
Sam giggled slightly as Daniel began to snore. "That boy can sleep through anything." Jack murmured into her hair, evoking an involuntary shiver from his companion as she felt his breath stroke her cheek.
"Mmm." she smiled in reply, too tired to form a proper verbal response. Jack tightened his arms around his major and she snuggled unthinkingly into his warm embrace.
Jack smiled quietly, ruthlessly pushing down the urge to grin like an idiot. He tilted his head and looked down at Sam's face. She'd fallen asleep and was looking so peaceful. Like an angel. For once Jack didn't ignore the feelings welling deep inside him and he gently placed a chaste kissed on her crown before closing his eyes and succumbing to the gentle pull of unconsciousness.
Outside of the warm cocoon the three friends had created, the storm raged on.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
* W.I.M.P.'S = Weakly Interacting Massive Particles
Chapter Four to come soon, but only if you think it's worth continuing. Please let me know what you think. I'm not above begging…