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COLONEL O'NEILL'S QUARTERS 0421
Jack woke up smiling from ear to ear when he heard the knock at his door. He jumped from his bed, lively and opened the door to greet Sam.
"Good morning!" Sam jumped back in surprise at Jack's obvious good mood; he was usually grumpy when she woke him up early on his day off.
"Good morning sir." She replied tentatively. Jack's beaming face definitely took Sam off guard.
"You okay sir?" she asked.
"Perfect! I know you are here to tell me about the soil acidity but, and this is an order Major, we are taking a break, you've been working too hard, we've both been working too hard." He announced.
"But sir." she began slowly, not quite understanding how he knew about the soil or his idea of going on a break when they had a mission the next day.
"No buts Major, it's an order, I'll give you 15 minutes to do what ever you need to do and meet me on the surface." Jack ordered, closing the door quickly before Sam could argue with him. He leant back on the closed door and replayed the events from the previous loop in his head in slow motion. It made him smile so much that the muscles around his mouth began to ache.
Jack stood in his light blue jeans and loud, red and orange Hawaiian shirt waiting for Sam to arrive. As she stepped out of the elevator he saw her carrying an armful of files with her. He shook his head, he knew exactly where they would be going once they got to their destination. Sam wore dark, blue jeans and had a black, short-sleeved shirt on with the words, "TOTAL GEEK AND PROUD OF IT!" printed in white. Sam caught Jack's smile at her T - Shirt, "What? Don't think it's me?" she asked jokingly. Jack rolled his eyes, "It's.interesting." He chose his words carefully. Sam shook her head,
"Chicken." She mumbled before continuing.
"So.where are we going sir?" she asked eagerly.
"Ah yes well that's a surprise, you'll like it." Jack reassured Sam. He indicated to his Land Rover, Sam gave him an uneasy look before strolling over to the car and pushing her bag and files into the boot. She jumped into the passenger seat beside Jack and her eyes slid sideways uncomfortably.
"So, we ready to go?" Jack asked optimistically. Sam shifted in her seat,
"Ready as I'll ever be, since I don't know where I'm going." Sam replied bitterly. Jack revved the engine and sped away from Cheyenne Mountain, leaving behind anything vaguely military.
P6Z 435 1220
"Daniel, have you found anything yet?" Sam radioed.
"Nah, I found some ruins but they only seem to be broken pillars and slabs of some kind of rock, no writings. But I did find a series of caves, they seemed to be a possibly used for mining, I took a closer look at the rocks and there seems to be a large quantity of Naquadah here." Daniel reported.
"We'll be able to extract some of the Naquadah for use back on Earth, meanwhile I have found some more fruits and nuts to eat but besides that it seems that this place has been deserted for a very long time. I'm heading back to camp, Carter out." She described, picking up the bag of fruits and nuts she had collected and turned back towards the Stargate.
SGC GENERAL HAMMOND'S OFFICE 1127
A knock came at the door and the General looked up from the papers he was reading.
"Enter." The door opened and Teal'c and Daniel entered looking slightly concerned about something.
"General have you seen or heard from Jack or Sam today?" Daniel asked. The general shook his head,
"No, why is there a problem?" he asked.
"I have not seen either of them today and we have a serious topic to discuss." Teal'c revealed, he wanted to find out how to stop the time loop as fast as possible, repeating the same day over and over was getting rather irritating. The General looked at Teal'c confused,
"What serious topic?" He queried, no one had told him anything about this.
"I think it would be more productive if we talked about this as a whole team, we will definitely need help from Sam on this one." Daniel guaranteed him. The General shook his head,
"Well we'll check with base security, they might have gone off base." He guessed, picking up the phone and dialling the number for the main security. He had a brief conversation before placing the phone on the hook once more.
"They left around 0430, apparently Colonel O'Neill said that him and Major Carter were "taking a break" and would be back this afternoon sometime. " Daniel gave the information a questioning look,
"Tell me if I'm wrong, but don't we have a mission tomorrow? Why are they going on a "break now"?" he asked. He caught a glimpse of the mischievous smile on Teal'c's face, Teal'c rarely ever smiled; Daniel knew something was going on.
"What? What are you smiling at Teal'c?" Daniel inquired curiously. Teal'c couldn't stop smiling, the Colonel was certainly taking full advantage of the time loop situation, but Teal'c decided to wait to tell Daniel and General Hammond until Jack and Sam returned.
"Nothing, do not worry Daniel Jackson, everything will be fine." He reassured the two very confused and bewildered men with him in the office.
SOMEWHERE IN COLORADO 1244
Jack pulled down a dirt road off the main highway towards one of his cabins, he had brought the second one as it was very close to the SGC, when he wanted to get out of their for a while, it was the perfect place. Jack and Sam had not spoken the whole trip, Jack was mainly focussed on his driving but occasionally he would sneak a peek at Sam to try and gauge her reaction to his sudden decision to drag her out of the SGC. Most of the time he found her looking out the window lost in thought, probably trying to figure out where they were going, her beautiful smile filtering through the pale sunlight entering the car. It was a forest area of Colorado where she had never been before which made her slightly uncomfortable than usual. When Jack turned the car onto the dirt road Sam stretched in her seat, yawning.
"I don't want to sound like an annoying 8 year-old, but are we there yet?" she asked mockingly. Jack smiled,
"Well you do sound like an annoying 8 year-old with a weird shirt." he commented. Sam shot him a look of "Hey! Say that again and I'll knock your head off" so Jack decided to quit joking about her shirt.
"Yes we are almost there, it's only a couple of miles up this road." Answering her original question.
"So what is this place sir? I mean this isn't your cabin because that's in a completely different direction." she observed trying to guess where she was being taken.
"No, not exactly, look can you hold on for like 3 minutes than you can see what is instead of guessing?" Jack protested.
"Alright, alright, but this better be good because I have so much work to do I'm practically drowning in reports and information for tomorrow's mission." She complained, miserably. Jack smiled to himself,
"I don't think you'll need to worry about that." he mumbled to himself. The road began to grow wider as Jack drove the car out into a clearing where a two-storey wooden house stood next to a beautiful lake between the surrounding forest. As Jack stopped the car outside the house, Sam got out and looked in awe at the beautiful home. It was built of pinewood with a pergola out the front to watch the spectacular view of the lake. Jack looked at Sam and grinned to himself.
"So I guess this means you like it?" He asked as he reached into the back of the Land Rover and pulled out Sam's bags and files.
"This is amazing sir, when did you get place?" Sam walked up the stairs onto the pergola and stroked the smooth banister of wood.
"I picked it up a couple of months ago, she was a cheapy that needed some fixing up, so I fixed her up and whala here she is!" He motioned proudly to his creation, smiling cheekily. He slipped his key into the front door and pushed it open,
"Ladies and lower ranked officers first." He motioned her inside with a smile. Sam gave him her best evil glare and punched him playfully in the arm as she walked in. As Sam walked in she took in the sights and sounds of the beautiful home. The smell of pine filled the room, the ground level was split, the lounge room was sunken into the floor, while the kitchen remained on the same level further towards the back of the house. A balcony on the side of the house led out to the lake, where Sam could just spot a small boat tied to the dock. Sam stepped down into the lounge room and saw a beautiful antique fireplace against the wall, a mantel sat above it with a picture of Jack in his Air Force Uniform looking stern and in control, it looked to be taken before he had entered the Stargate program. In the centre of the room sat two, cream leather sofas and a red Persian rug covering the floorboards. On the wall hung pictures of people fishing, holding up their catches with pride; Sam noticed there was none of Jack,
"Where's your prize catch?" she asked him inquisitively, where he was standing behind her.
"Ah yes well." he began trying to make up a feasible lie about why he wasn't in any of those pictures.
"It's at my other cabin, in my trophy room." He declared off the top of his head. Sam turned around and gave him a look of doubt, her blue eyes sparkling in the light reflected from the lake outside. Jack shrugged his shoulders as if asking, "What do you want from me?" Sam spotted a photo on a coffee table beside one of the sofas and stepped over to take a closer look.
"This is the house when you bought it?" she asked curiously, it looked very different from what it was now, it had no pergola out the front, the paint was chipping from the structure and the windows were hanging from their hinges, those being only a few of the differences in the picture.
"Yeah, I was going to take another photo after I had finished sort as a before-and-after but I never got around to it." Jack replied casually. Sam shook her head n incredulity as she looked from the photo to the structure around her,
"You did a really great job fixing this up sir, when did you get the time to do this?" she inquired amazed. Jack shrugged,
"All that holiday time we have been getting, this is where I have been spending it, finishing her up so that I have a home-away-from-home that close to base." Jack dropped his keys on to the table beside the front door,
"If you think this is good you should see the view." He pointed out the sliding glass door to the lake. They both headed out of the house and onto the dock, Sam looked over the spectacular lake surrounded by lush green trees in awe.
"This is so beautiful, I cannot believe you scored a place like this." Sam breathed, dumbfounded.
"Well you know I'm a pretty savvy negotiator." He joked. Sam looked around aimlessly,
"So what are we going to do here sir?" she asked ignoring his attempted joke. Jack grinned mischievously to himself.
"Fish." He exclaimed excitedly. Sam rolled her eyes, for who knows how long he had always tried to get her to go fishing with him, well finally he would get his wish.
"Okay fine just let me go and get my bag." Sam started to walk back inside the house and Jack called after her,
"I'll get the gear and lunch then will I?" Sam, with her back turned, waved her hand idly indicating she had heard him. Jack sighed,
"This should be interesting." He mumbled to himself as he walked towards his shed beside the lake to collect his rods and tackle for the trip.
P6Z 435 1302
Daniel stepped out of the lush forest onto the harsh desert; he strolled towards camp where Sam was already sitting busy at work. As he walked the sun was hot against his skin, he felt like he was about to cook like an egg on a hot plate. Suddenly a shadow fell over him, blocking out the harsh rays of the sun above him. Daniel stopped dead in his tracks; he knew shade doesn't just appear out of nowhere, he tentatively looked up and saw the underside of a Goa'uld Glider, facing directly towards their camp, it's weapons extended and at the ready. Daniel grabbed his radio in panic,
"Sam! Get out of there! There's a glider that's about to attack! Get out of there!" He yelled down the cracked line.
Sam jumped up in alarm at Daniel's warning, looking around and her eyes widened in fear and she spotted the Glider hovering directly above him. A pulse shot out from the glider aimed directly at her, she grabbed her bag with some supplies and immediately started to sprint towards the forest, the pulse exploding only inches behind her, where she had been sitting no more than 30 seconds before. As she ran through the soft sand, blasts continued to explode behind her, sending sand flying in every direction. Sam was finding it more and more difficult to run under the weight of her pack, each step became harder and she could feel herself slowing down and the explosions getting closer and closer to their intended target. She made a split second decision, dropping the bag to the ground and racing for the cover of the forest to avoid getting hit with the fatal electric pulse that continued to be fired from the glider. As she reached where Daniel was still standing a pulse hit the ground just under Daniel, he yelped in pain as Sam grabbed his arm and ran to the safety of the dense forest. Daniel collapsed into the dense shrubbery and held his leg in pain. Sam knelt down beside him,
"Are you ok?" she asked. Daniel grimaced and pointed to his leg, Sam reached down and rolled up the leg of Daniel's pants that was now covered in blood and examined the wound.
"It's pretty deep Daniel, I'm going to have to stop the blood loss or you won't make it." Sam clarified the extent of his injury, leaving her bedside manner for a more appropriate time. Daniel nodded, pulling off his jacket and handing it to her to use as a tourniquet. When Sam had finished strapping the wound she stood and looked around for safe place.
"If we can get to the Naquadah caves we'll be safe for while." She suggested breathlessly. Daniel nodded slowly and Sam helped him up, giving him her shoulder for support as they pushed their way through the forest making their way towards the caves as fast as they could to avoid running into any patrols of Jaffa.
SOMEWHERE ON LAKE CHARLIE 1311
Jack slowed the boat down as it glided smoothly along the waters surface, ripples parted behind them as the engine began to decelerate. Jack pulled the anchor from beside the boat's controls and heaved it over the side, the chain disappearing into the clear blue water until the anchor hit the bottom of the lake and snagged on some unknown source. He turned around, rubbing his hands together, eager to begin fishing when he saw Sam sitting in a fold up beach chair, engrossed in SGC files piled up on her lap and another stack sitting beside her on the floor of the boat. Jack knew exactly where they belonged, sneaking up carefully beside her as to not alert her to his movement and quickly snatched the files from under her nose, throwing them over the side of the boat, the pages fluttering in the wind and eventually landing on the surface of the water. He bent down and picked up the other stack and again the papers landed in the water, as they absorbed the water they began to sink to the sea floor. Sam stood up and ran over to the side of the boat in vain,
"What did you do that for sir?! There was 321 pages of research material in those files, they are important for tomorrow's mission!" She exclaimed angrily.
"Trust me, you won't need them, besides, fishing is better." He commented off hand, not giving his actions another thought, pulling a fishing rod from the storage room and thrusting into her hands. Sam took it reluctantly, but suddenly thought about the Colonel's words.
"What do you mean, "you won't need them"?" She asked narrowing her eyes suspiciously. Jack smiled mischievously to himself.
"You'll see, right now it's times for fishing." He replied happily, staying off the topic of the mission. He pulled the hook onto the line extending from Sam's rod and expertly tied a knot in the end. He then took a live worm and threaded onto the hook, Sam's stomach did a belly flop as she watched the worm wriggle around with a large hole in its tiny, invertebrate body. Jack quickly hooked up his own rod and stood on the side of the boat at the ready.
"Ever fished before Carter?" He enquired, needing to know if lessons were in order. Sam shook her head,
"No, can't say that I have sir, but I'm sure an expert like yourself could show an amateur like me how it's done, by all means please demonstrate." Sam indicated to him, trying to cover the smile coming to her face. Jack paused, hearing the sarcasm in her voice but adamant to prove himself, decided to take the challenge.
"Ok then." He responded confidently, pulling the rood back over his shoulder and casting in 20 or so metres over the surface of the water, the splash causing a ripple to cross the water. Jack waited for the line to sink under the weight of the sinker and slowly began to reel the line in, at every moment feeling Sam's eyes watching his every move judgingly. As he was reeling in the line his rood suddenly bent forward, the tip almost touching the water. Jack pulled back eagerly on the rod and pulled the line in quickly, after a 5 minutes or so fighting with the large fish that had swallowed his hook, Jack pulled it over onto the boat floor, leaning down and grasping the fish firmly by the tail, he looked at Sam proudly.
"That's how it's done." Jack commented blissfully. Sam rolled her eyes, that challenge had definitely backfired on her. Jack carefully took the hook out of the fish's mouth and threw it into the esky he had brought along just in case he did actually catch something. He wiped the scales off his hands as he closed the lid,
"Major, I believe it's your turn." He reminded her, rubbing his hands together in anticipation, he couldn't wait to see her attempt at trying to catch one as good as his if not catch one at all. Sam gave Jack a defiant stare but positioned herself carefully at the side of the boat and launched her line out into the water; she was not going to let the Colonel beat her without a fight. It took her a number of casts before she felt the strong tug on her line. Sam felt the adrenalin flow through her as she began reeling in the fish, every inch of line that she managed to pull back was soon taken back by the fish's stubbornness and tenacity. She pull back on the rod powerfully and swiftly reeled in the line, fighting the fish at every opportunity. Jack watched Sam curiously and narrowed his eyes suspiciously; she was in deep concentration, pulling the rod back sharply, the timing of her reeling was precise. After a lengthy power struggle Sam finally managed to haul her catch over into the boat as Jack leant over the fish and stared at it speechless. Sam stood tall, leaning against her rod in triumph; the fish flapping on the floor was a shark, at least twice the size of Jack's catch. Jack looked up from the fish and scratched his head in disbelief, looking around as if searching for the real person who had caught the fish.
"Well how'd I do sir?" Sam asked mockingly. Jack smiled fakely, trying to hide his disbelief,
"You know, nothing special I've caught heaps of these guys before." He stammered childishly. Sam shrugged her shoulders,
"Must be beginners luck." She guessed. Jack eyes her suspiciously before pulling the fish from the deck of the boat,
"Well time for lunch." He decided quickly, avoid his more embarrassment, picking up the esky before turning and heading into the cabin of the boat to prepare the fish. Sam shook her head and put her rod down over the seat, before following him in to help out.
P6Z 435 1357
It was a good 40 minutes before Daniel and Sam reached the caves. As they stepped inside the darkness, Daniel collapsed to the ground, unable to keep moving due to the pain in his left leg. Sam crouched next to the entrance of the cave and watched to see if they had been followed, after a minute or so she saw no sign of Jaffa Patrols and left the entrance to see to Daniel's wound.
"Hey how's it feeling?" she asked, sitting down beside him.
"Ok I guess, the pain isn't that bad." Daniel described through clenched teeth. Sam unravelled her makeshift tourniquet and examined the wound carefully. The blast had created a large circular wound on is leg; the skin around it had been badly burnt.
"How bad is it?" Daniel asked slowly, not sure he wanted to know. Sam smiled at him reassuringly,
"It's only reasonably small and you have minor burning on your skin but it'll be fine." She assured him. Sam replaced the bandage around his leg and found a large rock, placing it under Daniel's leg for elevation. Daniel sighed exhaustedly,
"So now the Goa'uld are here and we still don't know how or why we can't get home." Sam nodded,
"I still cannot understand why hasn't anyone come through the gate, General Hammond should of sent reinforcements by now or at least sent through a message to tell us what's going on." She exclaimed impatiently, it made her angry when she didn't know what was going on, she knew as much as anyone else about the Stargate, maybe even more and yet she couldn't figure out why they couldn't gate home.
"I don't know, I don't know what we are going to do, were are trapped in here with the enemy outside waiting to pounce with no food or water." Daniel examined their situation defeatedly. Sam leant against the wall of the cave in despair,
"I'm going to get some sleep, you should get some too, it's going to be a long day tomorrow." She suggested concerned. Daniel nodded in agreement and they both closed their eyes to get some much-needed sleep.
TBC
COLONEL O'NEILL'S QUARTERS 0421
Jack woke up smiling from ear to ear when he heard the knock at his door. He jumped from his bed, lively and opened the door to greet Sam.
"Good morning!" Sam jumped back in surprise at Jack's obvious good mood; he was usually grumpy when she woke him up early on his day off.
"Good morning sir." She replied tentatively. Jack's beaming face definitely took Sam off guard.
"You okay sir?" she asked.
"Perfect! I know you are here to tell me about the soil acidity but, and this is an order Major, we are taking a break, you've been working too hard, we've both been working too hard." He announced.
"But sir." she began slowly, not quite understanding how he knew about the soil or his idea of going on a break when they had a mission the next day.
"No buts Major, it's an order, I'll give you 15 minutes to do what ever you need to do and meet me on the surface." Jack ordered, closing the door quickly before Sam could argue with him. He leant back on the closed door and replayed the events from the previous loop in his head in slow motion. It made him smile so much that the muscles around his mouth began to ache.
Jack stood in his light blue jeans and loud, red and orange Hawaiian shirt waiting for Sam to arrive. As she stepped out of the elevator he saw her carrying an armful of files with her. He shook his head, he knew exactly where they would be going once they got to their destination. Sam wore dark, blue jeans and had a black, short-sleeved shirt on with the words, "TOTAL GEEK AND PROUD OF IT!" printed in white. Sam caught Jack's smile at her T - Shirt, "What? Don't think it's me?" she asked jokingly. Jack rolled his eyes, "It's.interesting." He chose his words carefully. Sam shook her head,
"Chicken." She mumbled before continuing.
"So.where are we going sir?" she asked eagerly.
"Ah yes well that's a surprise, you'll like it." Jack reassured Sam. He indicated to his Land Rover, Sam gave him an uneasy look before strolling over to the car and pushing her bag and files into the boot. She jumped into the passenger seat beside Jack and her eyes slid sideways uncomfortably.
"So, we ready to go?" Jack asked optimistically. Sam shifted in her seat,
"Ready as I'll ever be, since I don't know where I'm going." Sam replied bitterly. Jack revved the engine and sped away from Cheyenne Mountain, leaving behind anything vaguely military.
P6Z 435 1220
"Daniel, have you found anything yet?" Sam radioed.
"Nah, I found some ruins but they only seem to be broken pillars and slabs of some kind of rock, no writings. But I did find a series of caves, they seemed to be a possibly used for mining, I took a closer look at the rocks and there seems to be a large quantity of Naquadah here." Daniel reported.
"We'll be able to extract some of the Naquadah for use back on Earth, meanwhile I have found some more fruits and nuts to eat but besides that it seems that this place has been deserted for a very long time. I'm heading back to camp, Carter out." She described, picking up the bag of fruits and nuts she had collected and turned back towards the Stargate.
SGC GENERAL HAMMOND'S OFFICE 1127
A knock came at the door and the General looked up from the papers he was reading.
"Enter." The door opened and Teal'c and Daniel entered looking slightly concerned about something.
"General have you seen or heard from Jack or Sam today?" Daniel asked. The general shook his head,
"No, why is there a problem?" he asked.
"I have not seen either of them today and we have a serious topic to discuss." Teal'c revealed, he wanted to find out how to stop the time loop as fast as possible, repeating the same day over and over was getting rather irritating. The General looked at Teal'c confused,
"What serious topic?" He queried, no one had told him anything about this.
"I think it would be more productive if we talked about this as a whole team, we will definitely need help from Sam on this one." Daniel guaranteed him. The General shook his head,
"Well we'll check with base security, they might have gone off base." He guessed, picking up the phone and dialling the number for the main security. He had a brief conversation before placing the phone on the hook once more.
"They left around 0430, apparently Colonel O'Neill said that him and Major Carter were "taking a break" and would be back this afternoon sometime. " Daniel gave the information a questioning look,
"Tell me if I'm wrong, but don't we have a mission tomorrow? Why are they going on a "break now"?" he asked. He caught a glimpse of the mischievous smile on Teal'c's face, Teal'c rarely ever smiled; Daniel knew something was going on.
"What? What are you smiling at Teal'c?" Daniel inquired curiously. Teal'c couldn't stop smiling, the Colonel was certainly taking full advantage of the time loop situation, but Teal'c decided to wait to tell Daniel and General Hammond until Jack and Sam returned.
"Nothing, do not worry Daniel Jackson, everything will be fine." He reassured the two very confused and bewildered men with him in the office.
SOMEWHERE IN COLORADO 1244
Jack pulled down a dirt road off the main highway towards one of his cabins, he had brought the second one as it was very close to the SGC, when he wanted to get out of their for a while, it was the perfect place. Jack and Sam had not spoken the whole trip, Jack was mainly focussed on his driving but occasionally he would sneak a peek at Sam to try and gauge her reaction to his sudden decision to drag her out of the SGC. Most of the time he found her looking out the window lost in thought, probably trying to figure out where they were going, her beautiful smile filtering through the pale sunlight entering the car. It was a forest area of Colorado where she had never been before which made her slightly uncomfortable than usual. When Jack turned the car onto the dirt road Sam stretched in her seat, yawning.
"I don't want to sound like an annoying 8 year-old, but are we there yet?" she asked mockingly. Jack smiled,
"Well you do sound like an annoying 8 year-old with a weird shirt." he commented. Sam shot him a look of "Hey! Say that again and I'll knock your head off" so Jack decided to quit joking about her shirt.
"Yes we are almost there, it's only a couple of miles up this road." Answering her original question.
"So what is this place sir? I mean this isn't your cabin because that's in a completely different direction." she observed trying to guess where she was being taken.
"No, not exactly, look can you hold on for like 3 minutes than you can see what is instead of guessing?" Jack protested.
"Alright, alright, but this better be good because I have so much work to do I'm practically drowning in reports and information for tomorrow's mission." She complained, miserably. Jack smiled to himself,
"I don't think you'll need to worry about that." he mumbled to himself. The road began to grow wider as Jack drove the car out into a clearing where a two-storey wooden house stood next to a beautiful lake between the surrounding forest. As Jack stopped the car outside the house, Sam got out and looked in awe at the beautiful home. It was built of pinewood with a pergola out the front to watch the spectacular view of the lake. Jack looked at Sam and grinned to himself.
"So I guess this means you like it?" He asked as he reached into the back of the Land Rover and pulled out Sam's bags and files.
"This is amazing sir, when did you get place?" Sam walked up the stairs onto the pergola and stroked the smooth banister of wood.
"I picked it up a couple of months ago, she was a cheapy that needed some fixing up, so I fixed her up and whala here she is!" He motioned proudly to his creation, smiling cheekily. He slipped his key into the front door and pushed it open,
"Ladies and lower ranked officers first." He motioned her inside with a smile. Sam gave him her best evil glare and punched him playfully in the arm as she walked in. As Sam walked in she took in the sights and sounds of the beautiful home. The smell of pine filled the room, the ground level was split, the lounge room was sunken into the floor, while the kitchen remained on the same level further towards the back of the house. A balcony on the side of the house led out to the lake, where Sam could just spot a small boat tied to the dock. Sam stepped down into the lounge room and saw a beautiful antique fireplace against the wall, a mantel sat above it with a picture of Jack in his Air Force Uniform looking stern and in control, it looked to be taken before he had entered the Stargate program. In the centre of the room sat two, cream leather sofas and a red Persian rug covering the floorboards. On the wall hung pictures of people fishing, holding up their catches with pride; Sam noticed there was none of Jack,
"Where's your prize catch?" she asked him inquisitively, where he was standing behind her.
"Ah yes well." he began trying to make up a feasible lie about why he wasn't in any of those pictures.
"It's at my other cabin, in my trophy room." He declared off the top of his head. Sam turned around and gave him a look of doubt, her blue eyes sparkling in the light reflected from the lake outside. Jack shrugged his shoulders as if asking, "What do you want from me?" Sam spotted a photo on a coffee table beside one of the sofas and stepped over to take a closer look.
"This is the house when you bought it?" she asked curiously, it looked very different from what it was now, it had no pergola out the front, the paint was chipping from the structure and the windows were hanging from their hinges, those being only a few of the differences in the picture.
"Yeah, I was going to take another photo after I had finished sort as a before-and-after but I never got around to it." Jack replied casually. Sam shook her head n incredulity as she looked from the photo to the structure around her,
"You did a really great job fixing this up sir, when did you get the time to do this?" she inquired amazed. Jack shrugged,
"All that holiday time we have been getting, this is where I have been spending it, finishing her up so that I have a home-away-from-home that close to base." Jack dropped his keys on to the table beside the front door,
"If you think this is good you should see the view." He pointed out the sliding glass door to the lake. They both headed out of the house and onto the dock, Sam looked over the spectacular lake surrounded by lush green trees in awe.
"This is so beautiful, I cannot believe you scored a place like this." Sam breathed, dumbfounded.
"Well you know I'm a pretty savvy negotiator." He joked. Sam looked around aimlessly,
"So what are we going to do here sir?" she asked ignoring his attempted joke. Jack grinned mischievously to himself.
"Fish." He exclaimed excitedly. Sam rolled her eyes, for who knows how long he had always tried to get her to go fishing with him, well finally he would get his wish.
"Okay fine just let me go and get my bag." Sam started to walk back inside the house and Jack called after her,
"I'll get the gear and lunch then will I?" Sam, with her back turned, waved her hand idly indicating she had heard him. Jack sighed,
"This should be interesting." He mumbled to himself as he walked towards his shed beside the lake to collect his rods and tackle for the trip.
P6Z 435 1302
Daniel stepped out of the lush forest onto the harsh desert; he strolled towards camp where Sam was already sitting busy at work. As he walked the sun was hot against his skin, he felt like he was about to cook like an egg on a hot plate. Suddenly a shadow fell over him, blocking out the harsh rays of the sun above him. Daniel stopped dead in his tracks; he knew shade doesn't just appear out of nowhere, he tentatively looked up and saw the underside of a Goa'uld Glider, facing directly towards their camp, it's weapons extended and at the ready. Daniel grabbed his radio in panic,
"Sam! Get out of there! There's a glider that's about to attack! Get out of there!" He yelled down the cracked line.
Sam jumped up in alarm at Daniel's warning, looking around and her eyes widened in fear and she spotted the Glider hovering directly above him. A pulse shot out from the glider aimed directly at her, she grabbed her bag with some supplies and immediately started to sprint towards the forest, the pulse exploding only inches behind her, where she had been sitting no more than 30 seconds before. As she ran through the soft sand, blasts continued to explode behind her, sending sand flying in every direction. Sam was finding it more and more difficult to run under the weight of her pack, each step became harder and she could feel herself slowing down and the explosions getting closer and closer to their intended target. She made a split second decision, dropping the bag to the ground and racing for the cover of the forest to avoid getting hit with the fatal electric pulse that continued to be fired from the glider. As she reached where Daniel was still standing a pulse hit the ground just under Daniel, he yelped in pain as Sam grabbed his arm and ran to the safety of the dense forest. Daniel collapsed into the dense shrubbery and held his leg in pain. Sam knelt down beside him,
"Are you ok?" she asked. Daniel grimaced and pointed to his leg, Sam reached down and rolled up the leg of Daniel's pants that was now covered in blood and examined the wound.
"It's pretty deep Daniel, I'm going to have to stop the blood loss or you won't make it." Sam clarified the extent of his injury, leaving her bedside manner for a more appropriate time. Daniel nodded, pulling off his jacket and handing it to her to use as a tourniquet. When Sam had finished strapping the wound she stood and looked around for safe place.
"If we can get to the Naquadah caves we'll be safe for while." She suggested breathlessly. Daniel nodded slowly and Sam helped him up, giving him her shoulder for support as they pushed their way through the forest making their way towards the caves as fast as they could to avoid running into any patrols of Jaffa.
SOMEWHERE ON LAKE CHARLIE 1311
Jack slowed the boat down as it glided smoothly along the waters surface, ripples parted behind them as the engine began to decelerate. Jack pulled the anchor from beside the boat's controls and heaved it over the side, the chain disappearing into the clear blue water until the anchor hit the bottom of the lake and snagged on some unknown source. He turned around, rubbing his hands together, eager to begin fishing when he saw Sam sitting in a fold up beach chair, engrossed in SGC files piled up on her lap and another stack sitting beside her on the floor of the boat. Jack knew exactly where they belonged, sneaking up carefully beside her as to not alert her to his movement and quickly snatched the files from under her nose, throwing them over the side of the boat, the pages fluttering in the wind and eventually landing on the surface of the water. He bent down and picked up the other stack and again the papers landed in the water, as they absorbed the water they began to sink to the sea floor. Sam stood up and ran over to the side of the boat in vain,
"What did you do that for sir?! There was 321 pages of research material in those files, they are important for tomorrow's mission!" She exclaimed angrily.
"Trust me, you won't need them, besides, fishing is better." He commented off hand, not giving his actions another thought, pulling a fishing rod from the storage room and thrusting into her hands. Sam took it reluctantly, but suddenly thought about the Colonel's words.
"What do you mean, "you won't need them"?" She asked narrowing her eyes suspiciously. Jack smiled mischievously to himself.
"You'll see, right now it's times for fishing." He replied happily, staying off the topic of the mission. He pulled the hook onto the line extending from Sam's rod and expertly tied a knot in the end. He then took a live worm and threaded onto the hook, Sam's stomach did a belly flop as she watched the worm wriggle around with a large hole in its tiny, invertebrate body. Jack quickly hooked up his own rod and stood on the side of the boat at the ready.
"Ever fished before Carter?" He enquired, needing to know if lessons were in order. Sam shook her head,
"No, can't say that I have sir, but I'm sure an expert like yourself could show an amateur like me how it's done, by all means please demonstrate." Sam indicated to him, trying to cover the smile coming to her face. Jack paused, hearing the sarcasm in her voice but adamant to prove himself, decided to take the challenge.
"Ok then." He responded confidently, pulling the rood back over his shoulder and casting in 20 or so metres over the surface of the water, the splash causing a ripple to cross the water. Jack waited for the line to sink under the weight of the sinker and slowly began to reel the line in, at every moment feeling Sam's eyes watching his every move judgingly. As he was reeling in the line his rood suddenly bent forward, the tip almost touching the water. Jack pulled back eagerly on the rod and pulled the line in quickly, after a 5 minutes or so fighting with the large fish that had swallowed his hook, Jack pulled it over onto the boat floor, leaning down and grasping the fish firmly by the tail, he looked at Sam proudly.
"That's how it's done." Jack commented blissfully. Sam rolled her eyes, that challenge had definitely backfired on her. Jack carefully took the hook out of the fish's mouth and threw it into the esky he had brought along just in case he did actually catch something. He wiped the scales off his hands as he closed the lid,
"Major, I believe it's your turn." He reminded her, rubbing his hands together in anticipation, he couldn't wait to see her attempt at trying to catch one as good as his if not catch one at all. Sam gave Jack a defiant stare but positioned herself carefully at the side of the boat and launched her line out into the water; she was not going to let the Colonel beat her without a fight. It took her a number of casts before she felt the strong tug on her line. Sam felt the adrenalin flow through her as she began reeling in the fish, every inch of line that she managed to pull back was soon taken back by the fish's stubbornness and tenacity. She pull back on the rod powerfully and swiftly reeled in the line, fighting the fish at every opportunity. Jack watched Sam curiously and narrowed his eyes suspiciously; she was in deep concentration, pulling the rod back sharply, the timing of her reeling was precise. After a lengthy power struggle Sam finally managed to haul her catch over into the boat as Jack leant over the fish and stared at it speechless. Sam stood tall, leaning against her rod in triumph; the fish flapping on the floor was a shark, at least twice the size of Jack's catch. Jack looked up from the fish and scratched his head in disbelief, looking around as if searching for the real person who had caught the fish.
"Well how'd I do sir?" Sam asked mockingly. Jack smiled fakely, trying to hide his disbelief,
"You know, nothing special I've caught heaps of these guys before." He stammered childishly. Sam shrugged her shoulders,
"Must be beginners luck." She guessed. Jack eyes her suspiciously before pulling the fish from the deck of the boat,
"Well time for lunch." He decided quickly, avoid his more embarrassment, picking up the esky before turning and heading into the cabin of the boat to prepare the fish. Sam shook her head and put her rod down over the seat, before following him in to help out.
P6Z 435 1357
It was a good 40 minutes before Daniel and Sam reached the caves. As they stepped inside the darkness, Daniel collapsed to the ground, unable to keep moving due to the pain in his left leg. Sam crouched next to the entrance of the cave and watched to see if they had been followed, after a minute or so she saw no sign of Jaffa Patrols and left the entrance to see to Daniel's wound.
"Hey how's it feeling?" she asked, sitting down beside him.
"Ok I guess, the pain isn't that bad." Daniel described through clenched teeth. Sam unravelled her makeshift tourniquet and examined the wound carefully. The blast had created a large circular wound on is leg; the skin around it had been badly burnt.
"How bad is it?" Daniel asked slowly, not sure he wanted to know. Sam smiled at him reassuringly,
"It's only reasonably small and you have minor burning on your skin but it'll be fine." She assured him. Sam replaced the bandage around his leg and found a large rock, placing it under Daniel's leg for elevation. Daniel sighed exhaustedly,
"So now the Goa'uld are here and we still don't know how or why we can't get home." Sam nodded,
"I still cannot understand why hasn't anyone come through the gate, General Hammond should of sent reinforcements by now or at least sent through a message to tell us what's going on." She exclaimed impatiently, it made her angry when she didn't know what was going on, she knew as much as anyone else about the Stargate, maybe even more and yet she couldn't figure out why they couldn't gate home.
"I don't know, I don't know what we are going to do, were are trapped in here with the enemy outside waiting to pounce with no food or water." Daniel examined their situation defeatedly. Sam leant against the wall of the cave in despair,
"I'm going to get some sleep, you should get some too, it's going to be a long day tomorrow." She suggested concerned. Daniel nodded in agreement and they both closed their eyes to get some much-needed sleep.
TBC