This chapter is a real Sam/Jack one, feelings and emotions and stuff. Just
thought I'd inform you and don't worry Chapter 4.BIG ACTION TIME!!!
I'M FINALLY GETTING TO THE GOOD STUFF SO HANG ON TO YOUR HATS!
SOMEWHERE IN COLORADO
The rest of Jack and Sam's relaxation time flew by quicker then they expected. After a lunch of grilled shark and potato salad, Jack turned his boat around and headed slowly back to civilisation. As he drove his Land Rover towards Cheyenne Mountain, Sam was talking excitedly about a convention on the Physics of the Universe: The New Discoveries of the 21st Century that she had been asked to speak at. As she spoke Jack glanced at her and his heart ached with guilt. In the back of his mind the knowledge that she was trapped on an alien planet but he couldn't save her tore him apart. Suddenly it hit him like a bullet through his stomach; he had let himself be consumed by his apparent helplessness and guilt about not being able to save Sam that he had wasted valuable time in the loop. He had just lost control and had not even considered that he could have tried something to save her. He cursed himself for being so weak, to allow his emotions to get the better of him. He immediately pushed down further on the accelerator, startling Sam from her train of thought.
"Why the sudden hurry to get back to base?" Sam asked, curiously, it was his idea to get away from the SGC is the first place. But Jack did not answer her, instead his eyes remained closely fixed on the road ahead, his face show intense concentration. Sam looked over at him concerned; he was acting very different than he had been no more than an hour before. But Jack was determined to do everything he could to save Sam, even if it meant disobeying orders and possibly ending his career in the military.
AN HOUR LATER.
SGC CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN BRIEFING ROOM 1551
"Colonel O'Neill what is this about?" General Hammond asked as he took his seat at the head of the table, Jack, with an old yellow classified file in his hand, and Teal'c stood at the front of the room waiting to start their briefing.
"Yes well sir we have some important issues to discuss." Jack started more seriously than usual. Sam glanced around at the confused faces of both Daniel and General Hammond; they had never seen Jack so serious.
"Years ago we experienced a time loop, when an alien archaeologist, Malikai on P4X 639 was experimenting with a time machine in order to go back to the past. " Jack began reading from the file; quickly glancing around the table to make sure that everyone knew what incident he was referring to. All of the people at the table nodded so Jack continued.
"Well unfortunately we are stuck in another time loop." Jack broke the news, Sam immediately opened her mouth to ask millions of questions but Jack stopped her.
"Hold on for a second Major." He requested, Sam closed her mouth slowly and leaned forward to listen closely.
"It started when we were about to go through the Stargate to P6Z 435, Major Carter and Daniel stepped through the Stargate first and Teal'c and I followed. For some reason, which we will get later, Teal'c and I were thrown out of the Stargate back in the Gate Room and that is when the time loop began." Jack stopped to take a breath; he quickly looked at Teal'c for confirmation that he telling the story correctly, Teal'c nodded.
"So then we woke up and the day was repeating itself and at 0954 on the mission day it would begin all over again, Teal'c and I were again the only ones who were aware of all this happening, the same as the previous time this happened." Jack described bitterly. Teal'c decided to continue the briefing.
"What we did manage to find out with the assistance of Major Carter was that when Major Carter and Daniel Jackson went through the Stargate they proceeded straight to the planet."
"But then some planet or something moved into the way of the connection and pushed myself and Teal'c back to Earth. The time loop was created because something caused something. Teal'c?" Jack said quickly, regressing into his usual "non scientific" state and realising he had dug himself into a hole, calling in back up on the subject
"The connection caused a shift in the moon's gravitational field and thereby causing a large interruption to the subspace field around the planet." Teal'c finished off Jack's explanation.
"Right." Jack ended his report suddenly; the room was filled with silence, expecting Jack and Teal'c to continue their report.
"Questions, thoughts, comments?" Jack asked.
"What happened to Daniel and I?" Sam asked uncomfortably, Jack, not mentioning anything about them after going through the Stargate worried her. Jack sighed, he had feared this question.
"We don't know. We tried dialling to the planet before but we could not get a connection so we assume that the planet is not in the time loop." Jack answered solemnly but then continued on.
"That is reason we have called you here, Teal'c and I want SG1 to go on a mission to recover Carter and Daniel." He explained his purpose for calling this emergency meeting.
"But if we can't gate there how are we going to rescue us, them." Daniel inquired confusing himself. Jack decided to just drop his suicide plan on them, no holding back.
"We want to gate to another planet in the bubble, steal a ship and fly to P6Z 435." He answered matter-of-factly. Sam gave them both a look of disbelief,
"Are you serious?" she enquired, thinking it was another of the Colonel's jokes.
"Oh we're serious but there is just one slight problem, Teal'c." Jack added, letting Teal'c do the dirty work.
"The planets in the subspace bubble are all planets with a large presence of Goa'uld forces, they have subsequently been classified "off limits" for gate travel." Teal'c described their present problem. Daniel and Sam dropped their shoulders and sighed at the news, the General had not said a word the whole time and he sat with an expressionless face until finally he spoke.
"It's out of the question Colonel, I cannot knowingly send an SG team through the Stargate when there are large amounts of Goa'uld forces on the other side of the gate."
"But sir, Daniel and Carter are going to starve on that planet if we don't do something and do it fast." Jack protested. The General stood from his chair,
"I'm sorry Colonel, but I cannot allow it." He ended the discussion, leaving the room abruptly. Jack's hands fell to his sides defeatedly,
"Well that went well, I think it went well, don't you?" he queried in his typical sarcastic tone.
"I'm sorry Jack but I can see the General's point of view on this, those worlds are labelled "off limits" for a reason, it would be suicide." Daniel commented. But Jack wasn't hearing a word of it, there was no way he was going to sit back and waste more time then he already had, it would be his fault of they died on the planet and it was up to him to do something about it.
"I'm going to talk to General Hammond, knock some sense into him." Jack decided, racing out of the room.
"Sir!" Sam stood and yelled after him but he was already out of the room and on his way to the General's office.
"Leave him go Sam, he has to do this." Daniel responded thoughtfully. Sam stood from her chair, ignoring Daniel's plea and left the room in a flurry of anger and desolation, jogging her way towards Hammond's office to try and talk to Jack before he got himself court marshalled. As she turned the corner, she spotted the door to the General's office slam shut. Sam tip toed slowly up to the door and strained to hear the conversation inside.
"General please, we need to at least try to recover Carter and Daniel from the planet, they would do the same thing if it was me on that planet." Jack pleaded his case actively; he was not going to back down for a minute until he agreed to the mission. Hammond stood beside his desk, his arms crossed over his chest in a defensive position.
"I'm sorry Colonel, I just cannot risks the lives of any other SG member when we know that the team that goes through will face mass resistance." Hammond affirmed, standing his ground on the issue.
"But sir." Jack began to protest but the General cut him off.
"Now Jack, I know you have other reasons for wanting to go on this mission but your strong romantic feelings concerning Major Carter are clouding your judgement, you know full well that I am bound by my judgement. Unless the President gives me orders otherwise, I'm sorry but I cannot in all good conscience allow this mission to go ahead and you know that." He ordered, sympathising with Jack's position. Jack closed his eyes slowly, the General was right about Sam but he knew that he could never back down; Jack decided in that crucial moment that if General Hammond would not support his mission then he would go without his authorisation.
"Fine sir." Jack replied, his tone expressing that the General had beaten him on the subject.
"You're dismissed Colonel."
Sam jumped when she heard footsteps coming towards the door, she silently scurried towards the closest door and stepped inside to avoid being caught listening in on Jack's person conversation. Sam kneeled in a storage closet, trying to slow down her breathing. The conversation she had overheard replayed over in her mind. "Your strong romantic feelings concerning Major Carter." that phrase repeated over and over like a favourite song that never got old. As footsteps trailed past the door, Sam pushed the door open a fraction and saw Jack walking towards the elevator, she waited until the doors of the elevator closed before slipping out of the closet and making her way back to her lab to do some serious thinking.
P6Z 435 0721
Daniel awoke with a start as he felt a strike of pain shoot straight up his leg.
"Ow." He fumbled on the ground beside him for his glasses, pulling them onto his face. Daniel looked down at his leg; it had fallen from its perch and hit the ground hard. Sam stumbled from her dream after hearing Daniel's cry. She slowly stood up, stretching and yawning away her night's sleep.
"Hey, what happened?" she asked, sitting down next to Daniel on the ground.
"Oh my leg just fell while I was sleeping." Daniel waved off her concern.
"Just let me check that make sure it hasn't gotten worse." Sam insisted, pulling away the tourniquet carefully to avoid any more unnecessary pain for Daniel.
"It looks ok, you should be right as long as it doesn't get infected, make sure you stay off it." Sam observed cautiously. Daniel sighed,
"Great, this should be fun." Sam walked slowly out of the cave entrance and intently stared around the forest, trying to spot any Jaffa lying in wait. When she was convinced they were alone she walked back in.
"Daniel, I'm going to see if I can find out where the Goa'uld base is, try and find out who it is." Sam said, deciding to do some recon.
"Okay, stay in radio contact though." Daniel said adamantly. Sam smiled, grateful for Daniel's concern,
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Exiting the cave and raising her zatgun, ready to defend herself if necessary.
BASE COMMISSARY 1739
Jack sat at a table with a black cup of coffee resting aimlessly in his hands. The whole situation with the time loop began to take its toll on him; barely able to keep his eyes open out of fatigue, sheer boredom and the draining effect of helplessness. He heard a group of footsteps behind him but didn't bother to turn to meet his company. Sam, Daniel and Teal'c all took seats at the table, Teal'c sitting beside Jack with Sam and Daniel sitting down on the opposite of the table. Jack put down his cup reluctantly,
"What's up?" he asked wearily.
"We wanted to know if you were interested in going off base with us to a new restaurant that's just opened." Daniel asked, wiping his glasses with the bottom of his shirt as he spoke.
"Thanks Daniel but I don't think they let basket-cases out in public." Jack joked in a flat tone.
"Sir, you need to get away from here, we asked General Hammond if it was alright and he said that you deserved it after all the hard work you've been doing." Sam explained, trying to brighten Jack's mood. He looked up from the table straight into Sam's eyes and was about to refuse but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't say no to those gorgeous twinkling blue eyes.
"Oh alright." Jack caved, draining the rest of his coffee. Sam smiled,
"Well meet at the surface in 15 minutes." She affirmed to everyone at the table, standing from the table and jogging towards her room to get changed.
TWO HOURS LATER.
Once Jack had gotten away from the base his bad mood almost instantly lifted. The restaurant they drove to ended up to be a Steak House where Jack proceeded to have one of the biggest steaks any of them had seen. Sam, Daniel and Teal'c all watched on in awe as Jack ate every last bit of the meat and then took on a plate of fries afterwards. They had been sitting at the bar chatting for over an hour when Daniel began to yawn.
"I got to go you guys, I've got to get some sleep, Teal'c, you coming?" Daniel offered him a ride back to base. Teal'c nodded,
"Indeed." He replied, as they both walked out of the restaurant leaving Sam and Jack by themselves at the bar. Jack drained the remainder of his beer, placing the bottle back down on the bar heavily.
"Just wanted to say thanks Major, for getting me out of there before I went completely insane." Jack commented.
"No problem sir, anytime." Sam replied, feeling herself getting light headed from the Breezers she had been drinking. She tried to slide off her stool and stand but her legs gave way, she felt Jack catch her around the waist and pulled her back up to the stool.
"Hey, hey, hey watch out, I still need you back at the SGC to get me out of this time loop." Jack joked, helping Sam back into a sitting position.
"I'm sorry sir, I must've had too much to drink, I'll be fine." Sam convinced herself, trying to shake the dizzy feeling she had from her head. Jack took her hand,
"In that case, let's get out of here, I'll drive to my cabin and you can sleep it off there." Jack insisted but Sam wouldn't back down.
"You don't have to do that sir, I'll call a cab and go back to my house." Sam asserted as Jack helped her walk from the bar, holding her elbow for support, picking up her purse on the way out.
"Nonsense Carter, I'll take you back to my place, that's an order." Jack stated firmly. Sam smiled audaciously,
"Can't win a fight against me without making it an order can you?" She teased. Jack opened the passenger door and helped her into the seat. The drive to his cabin was silent as Sam fell asleep in the seat beside him. When he reached their destination, Jack carried the still sleeping Sam from the car and laid her down in his queen size bed, taking off her jacket carefully to avoid waking her and pulled the doona up to her shoulders for warmth. He sat on the bed beside her and watched for a moment as she slept, pushing away the strand of hair that had fallen into her eyes. He sighed deeply,
"One day Sam, one day." He whispered tenderly, leaning down and kissing her on the cheek softly. She stirred slightly at Jack's touch, mumbling his name in her sleep. He smiled and silently snuck away from the room and headed for his office, he had to start organising how he was going to go through the Stargate in the next loop without being caught.
P6Z 435 0951
Sam was crouched behind a line of shrubs that grew from the harsh sand of the desert. She shifted her body weight and peered through the branches. A large Goa'uld ship was sitting on the surface of the planet, about thirty or so Jaffa stood at strategic defensive positions around the vessel. Lines of chained prisoners could be seen shuffling towards a series of caves on the western side of the ship with picks in hand, Jaffa with whips keeping them in line. Others could be seen carrying heavy sacks of material, what seemed to be Naquadah from the mines towards the ship.
"Sam? Sam? You there?" A voice came over her radio. Sam jumped slightly at the voice, quickly scanning the area around her to make sure that she hadn't been spotted.
"Yeah Daniel what's up?" Sam asked whispering.
"What's going on up there?" Daniel inquired, it was clear he had already become bored with sitting in the cave by himself.
"I've found a Goa'uld ship with around forty or so Jaffa, they have slaves mining the Naquadah for them." Sam reported.
"Any indication who it is?" Daniel queried.
"No, but I'm going to get a closer look b-" Sam's voice suddenly cut out as she was hit from behind with a zatgun.
"Sam? Sam? Sam, are you all right? Sam!" Daniel yelled his radio but all he could hear was static. Two Jaffa guards picked up her motionless body from the ground and began to carry her towards the ship.
THE NEXT DAY JACK'S CABIN 0716
The first rays of the morning sun crept in through the window stirring Sam from her peaceful sleep. She opened her eyes and instantly tensed up when she realised she wasn't in her own bed. Sitting up slowly, she held her head in her hands; it was aching from the night before. Her hand came to her cheek as she felt a tingling sensation on her skin.
"Weird." She mumbled, stroking the spot as if to wipe away whatever was there. As she glanced around the room she saw her CO's keys and wallet sitting on the bedside table and her leather jacket draped over the chair in the corner of the room. Pushing back the doona, Sam made her way out of Jack's bedroom quickly; the smell of bacon and eggs filled the house beckoning Sam towards the kitchen where Jack was flipping eggs in his frying pan, whistling contently to himself. Jack heard footsteps entering his kitchen he looked up and smiled,
"Good morning Major, sleep well?" he asked cheerfully, taking in all Sam's features from her dishevelled hair to her sleepy, baby blue eyes. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes before she replied,
"Good morning sir, surprisingly well considering." She replied, trying desperately to make herself look presentable in front of him, pulling at her hair and clothes in a bid to make them sit the way she wanted them to. Jack smiled to himself as he watched her,
"Considering what?" he queried, the butter in the pan sizzling as he flipped the bacon while he spoke. Finally after a few minutes Sam gave up on her hair, besides Jack had seen her with worse hair than this.
"Oh, it just usually whenever I don't sleep in my bed at home I usually end up staying awake all night." She responded, not giving the question a second thought. Jack couldn't help but smile,
"Maybe it's trying to tell you something Major." He remarked, keeping his head down to avoid her shocked expression. Sam's head snapped up at hearing Jack's comment.
"Excuse me sir?" she asked, as if she hadn't heard what he said but she really had. Jack went over to a cupboard on the other side of the kitchen and pulled out two plates, carrying them back over to the breakfast bar and placing eggs and bacon evenly on each one.
"Nothing Carter, but I do need your help." Jack said, diverting the conversation away from his spontaneous remark. He slid a plate over to Sam with a knife and fork in tow. Sam eyes him suspiciously but then dismissed it.
"With what sir?" She asked as calmly as possible, her nerves slightly unravelled.
"Plans I've been making for the next time loop, how I'm going to get through the Stargate without being caught and court marshalled, how I'm going to steal a Goa'uld ship without being caught and killed, maybe not in that particular order but hey." Jack rambled on, sitting down beside her to eat.
"Well, what have you gotten so far?" Sam asked curiously. For the next two and a half hours Sam and Jack worked on his plan, refining the little details to make sure everything went smoothly to avoid anything going wrong. A diversion had been created with Janet being elected the patsy for the whole thing; Sam guaranteed Jack that Janet would do it, once they explained the whole situation to her. Jack yawned for what seemed like the thousandth time that two-hour period. Sam looked up from the paper she was working and shook her head at him.
"You didn't get any sleep last night did you?" She asked in a demanding, motherly tone. Jack wiped his eyes as if to wipe the fatigue away.
"How could I? Someone was sleeping in my bed." He commented teasingly with a real Three Bears theme to his reply. Sam smiled,
"I said I would catch a cab back to my place, it was your decision." She reminded him. Jack sighed deeply,
"No, I liked having someone else here besides just me, it gets lonely you know." He admitted. She looked at him sympathetically.
"It must be." Sam replied, trying to comfort him, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"You should go and get some sleep, I can finish this off for you." Sam offered. Jack smiled wearily, looking at his watch as he had so many times in the past few days.
"No, the loop begins again in 8 minutes time and then I'll find myself in bed back at the SGC being woken up by you knocking at my door telling me about the soil sample from that planet where you are trapped without food or water." Jack described sullenly, his sudden feeling helplessness suddenly flowed from him like a river after driving rain. Sam's heart broke seeing him so upset and vulnerable. Her hand transferred from his shoulder, tentatively moving to rest on his hand, Jack glanced up at her, immediately becoming lost in Sam's sparkling, caring blue eyes and reassuring smile. It instantly lifted his spirits, just to have her there with him, someone to talk to for once. Suddenly the beeping of the alarm on his watch interrupted their seemingly perfect moment, something always did. The alarm reminded Jack he only had a minute until the time loop began again and he sighed at it, wanting time to be frozen for just a few minutes longer so that he could enjoy it. Sam looked down slightly embarrassed.
"What does the alarm mean?" she asked softly, not wanting to spoil the real emotion of the moment.
"I have one minute until the time loop begins again." Jack grumbled. Sam suddenly made a decision that would change the way Jack would relate to her in the future but it was something she had been dying to do for so long. In the heat of the moment she leaned in slowly and kissed him. Jack jumped at the unexpected touch but did not pull away, letting it continue until the blinding, white flash consumed the scene, leaving the moment to the past.
**************************************************************************** ******************************
I'M FINALLY GETTING TO THE GOOD STUFF SO HANG ON TO YOUR HATS!
SOMEWHERE IN COLORADO
The rest of Jack and Sam's relaxation time flew by quicker then they expected. After a lunch of grilled shark and potato salad, Jack turned his boat around and headed slowly back to civilisation. As he drove his Land Rover towards Cheyenne Mountain, Sam was talking excitedly about a convention on the Physics of the Universe: The New Discoveries of the 21st Century that she had been asked to speak at. As she spoke Jack glanced at her and his heart ached with guilt. In the back of his mind the knowledge that she was trapped on an alien planet but he couldn't save her tore him apart. Suddenly it hit him like a bullet through his stomach; he had let himself be consumed by his apparent helplessness and guilt about not being able to save Sam that he had wasted valuable time in the loop. He had just lost control and had not even considered that he could have tried something to save her. He cursed himself for being so weak, to allow his emotions to get the better of him. He immediately pushed down further on the accelerator, startling Sam from her train of thought.
"Why the sudden hurry to get back to base?" Sam asked, curiously, it was his idea to get away from the SGC is the first place. But Jack did not answer her, instead his eyes remained closely fixed on the road ahead, his face show intense concentration. Sam looked over at him concerned; he was acting very different than he had been no more than an hour before. But Jack was determined to do everything he could to save Sam, even if it meant disobeying orders and possibly ending his career in the military.
AN HOUR LATER.
SGC CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN BRIEFING ROOM 1551
"Colonel O'Neill what is this about?" General Hammond asked as he took his seat at the head of the table, Jack, with an old yellow classified file in his hand, and Teal'c stood at the front of the room waiting to start their briefing.
"Yes well sir we have some important issues to discuss." Jack started more seriously than usual. Sam glanced around at the confused faces of both Daniel and General Hammond; they had never seen Jack so serious.
"Years ago we experienced a time loop, when an alien archaeologist, Malikai on P4X 639 was experimenting with a time machine in order to go back to the past. " Jack began reading from the file; quickly glancing around the table to make sure that everyone knew what incident he was referring to. All of the people at the table nodded so Jack continued.
"Well unfortunately we are stuck in another time loop." Jack broke the news, Sam immediately opened her mouth to ask millions of questions but Jack stopped her.
"Hold on for a second Major." He requested, Sam closed her mouth slowly and leaned forward to listen closely.
"It started when we were about to go through the Stargate to P6Z 435, Major Carter and Daniel stepped through the Stargate first and Teal'c and I followed. For some reason, which we will get later, Teal'c and I were thrown out of the Stargate back in the Gate Room and that is when the time loop began." Jack stopped to take a breath; he quickly looked at Teal'c for confirmation that he telling the story correctly, Teal'c nodded.
"So then we woke up and the day was repeating itself and at 0954 on the mission day it would begin all over again, Teal'c and I were again the only ones who were aware of all this happening, the same as the previous time this happened." Jack described bitterly. Teal'c decided to continue the briefing.
"What we did manage to find out with the assistance of Major Carter was that when Major Carter and Daniel Jackson went through the Stargate they proceeded straight to the planet."
"But then some planet or something moved into the way of the connection and pushed myself and Teal'c back to Earth. The time loop was created because something caused something. Teal'c?" Jack said quickly, regressing into his usual "non scientific" state and realising he had dug himself into a hole, calling in back up on the subject
"The connection caused a shift in the moon's gravitational field and thereby causing a large interruption to the subspace field around the planet." Teal'c finished off Jack's explanation.
"Right." Jack ended his report suddenly; the room was filled with silence, expecting Jack and Teal'c to continue their report.
"Questions, thoughts, comments?" Jack asked.
"What happened to Daniel and I?" Sam asked uncomfortably, Jack, not mentioning anything about them after going through the Stargate worried her. Jack sighed, he had feared this question.
"We don't know. We tried dialling to the planet before but we could not get a connection so we assume that the planet is not in the time loop." Jack answered solemnly but then continued on.
"That is reason we have called you here, Teal'c and I want SG1 to go on a mission to recover Carter and Daniel." He explained his purpose for calling this emergency meeting.
"But if we can't gate there how are we going to rescue us, them." Daniel inquired confusing himself. Jack decided to just drop his suicide plan on them, no holding back.
"We want to gate to another planet in the bubble, steal a ship and fly to P6Z 435." He answered matter-of-factly. Sam gave them both a look of disbelief,
"Are you serious?" she enquired, thinking it was another of the Colonel's jokes.
"Oh we're serious but there is just one slight problem, Teal'c." Jack added, letting Teal'c do the dirty work.
"The planets in the subspace bubble are all planets with a large presence of Goa'uld forces, they have subsequently been classified "off limits" for gate travel." Teal'c described their present problem. Daniel and Sam dropped their shoulders and sighed at the news, the General had not said a word the whole time and he sat with an expressionless face until finally he spoke.
"It's out of the question Colonel, I cannot knowingly send an SG team through the Stargate when there are large amounts of Goa'uld forces on the other side of the gate."
"But sir, Daniel and Carter are going to starve on that planet if we don't do something and do it fast." Jack protested. The General stood from his chair,
"I'm sorry Colonel, but I cannot allow it." He ended the discussion, leaving the room abruptly. Jack's hands fell to his sides defeatedly,
"Well that went well, I think it went well, don't you?" he queried in his typical sarcastic tone.
"I'm sorry Jack but I can see the General's point of view on this, those worlds are labelled "off limits" for a reason, it would be suicide." Daniel commented. But Jack wasn't hearing a word of it, there was no way he was going to sit back and waste more time then he already had, it would be his fault of they died on the planet and it was up to him to do something about it.
"I'm going to talk to General Hammond, knock some sense into him." Jack decided, racing out of the room.
"Sir!" Sam stood and yelled after him but he was already out of the room and on his way to the General's office.
"Leave him go Sam, he has to do this." Daniel responded thoughtfully. Sam stood from her chair, ignoring Daniel's plea and left the room in a flurry of anger and desolation, jogging her way towards Hammond's office to try and talk to Jack before he got himself court marshalled. As she turned the corner, she spotted the door to the General's office slam shut. Sam tip toed slowly up to the door and strained to hear the conversation inside.
"General please, we need to at least try to recover Carter and Daniel from the planet, they would do the same thing if it was me on that planet." Jack pleaded his case actively; he was not going to back down for a minute until he agreed to the mission. Hammond stood beside his desk, his arms crossed over his chest in a defensive position.
"I'm sorry Colonel, I just cannot risks the lives of any other SG member when we know that the team that goes through will face mass resistance." Hammond affirmed, standing his ground on the issue.
"But sir." Jack began to protest but the General cut him off.
"Now Jack, I know you have other reasons for wanting to go on this mission but your strong romantic feelings concerning Major Carter are clouding your judgement, you know full well that I am bound by my judgement. Unless the President gives me orders otherwise, I'm sorry but I cannot in all good conscience allow this mission to go ahead and you know that." He ordered, sympathising with Jack's position. Jack closed his eyes slowly, the General was right about Sam but he knew that he could never back down; Jack decided in that crucial moment that if General Hammond would not support his mission then he would go without his authorisation.
"Fine sir." Jack replied, his tone expressing that the General had beaten him on the subject.
"You're dismissed Colonel."
Sam jumped when she heard footsteps coming towards the door, she silently scurried towards the closest door and stepped inside to avoid being caught listening in on Jack's person conversation. Sam kneeled in a storage closet, trying to slow down her breathing. The conversation she had overheard replayed over in her mind. "Your strong romantic feelings concerning Major Carter." that phrase repeated over and over like a favourite song that never got old. As footsteps trailed past the door, Sam pushed the door open a fraction and saw Jack walking towards the elevator, she waited until the doors of the elevator closed before slipping out of the closet and making her way back to her lab to do some serious thinking.
P6Z 435 0721
Daniel awoke with a start as he felt a strike of pain shoot straight up his leg.
"Ow." He fumbled on the ground beside him for his glasses, pulling them onto his face. Daniel looked down at his leg; it had fallen from its perch and hit the ground hard. Sam stumbled from her dream after hearing Daniel's cry. She slowly stood up, stretching and yawning away her night's sleep.
"Hey, what happened?" she asked, sitting down next to Daniel on the ground.
"Oh my leg just fell while I was sleeping." Daniel waved off her concern.
"Just let me check that make sure it hasn't gotten worse." Sam insisted, pulling away the tourniquet carefully to avoid any more unnecessary pain for Daniel.
"It looks ok, you should be right as long as it doesn't get infected, make sure you stay off it." Sam observed cautiously. Daniel sighed,
"Great, this should be fun." Sam walked slowly out of the cave entrance and intently stared around the forest, trying to spot any Jaffa lying in wait. When she was convinced they were alone she walked back in.
"Daniel, I'm going to see if I can find out where the Goa'uld base is, try and find out who it is." Sam said, deciding to do some recon.
"Okay, stay in radio contact though." Daniel said adamantly. Sam smiled, grateful for Daniel's concern,
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Exiting the cave and raising her zatgun, ready to defend herself if necessary.
BASE COMMISSARY 1739
Jack sat at a table with a black cup of coffee resting aimlessly in his hands. The whole situation with the time loop began to take its toll on him; barely able to keep his eyes open out of fatigue, sheer boredom and the draining effect of helplessness. He heard a group of footsteps behind him but didn't bother to turn to meet his company. Sam, Daniel and Teal'c all took seats at the table, Teal'c sitting beside Jack with Sam and Daniel sitting down on the opposite of the table. Jack put down his cup reluctantly,
"What's up?" he asked wearily.
"We wanted to know if you were interested in going off base with us to a new restaurant that's just opened." Daniel asked, wiping his glasses with the bottom of his shirt as he spoke.
"Thanks Daniel but I don't think they let basket-cases out in public." Jack joked in a flat tone.
"Sir, you need to get away from here, we asked General Hammond if it was alright and he said that you deserved it after all the hard work you've been doing." Sam explained, trying to brighten Jack's mood. He looked up from the table straight into Sam's eyes and was about to refuse but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't say no to those gorgeous twinkling blue eyes.
"Oh alright." Jack caved, draining the rest of his coffee. Sam smiled,
"Well meet at the surface in 15 minutes." She affirmed to everyone at the table, standing from the table and jogging towards her room to get changed.
TWO HOURS LATER.
Once Jack had gotten away from the base his bad mood almost instantly lifted. The restaurant they drove to ended up to be a Steak House where Jack proceeded to have one of the biggest steaks any of them had seen. Sam, Daniel and Teal'c all watched on in awe as Jack ate every last bit of the meat and then took on a plate of fries afterwards. They had been sitting at the bar chatting for over an hour when Daniel began to yawn.
"I got to go you guys, I've got to get some sleep, Teal'c, you coming?" Daniel offered him a ride back to base. Teal'c nodded,
"Indeed." He replied, as they both walked out of the restaurant leaving Sam and Jack by themselves at the bar. Jack drained the remainder of his beer, placing the bottle back down on the bar heavily.
"Just wanted to say thanks Major, for getting me out of there before I went completely insane." Jack commented.
"No problem sir, anytime." Sam replied, feeling herself getting light headed from the Breezers she had been drinking. She tried to slide off her stool and stand but her legs gave way, she felt Jack catch her around the waist and pulled her back up to the stool.
"Hey, hey, hey watch out, I still need you back at the SGC to get me out of this time loop." Jack joked, helping Sam back into a sitting position.
"I'm sorry sir, I must've had too much to drink, I'll be fine." Sam convinced herself, trying to shake the dizzy feeling she had from her head. Jack took her hand,
"In that case, let's get out of here, I'll drive to my cabin and you can sleep it off there." Jack insisted but Sam wouldn't back down.
"You don't have to do that sir, I'll call a cab and go back to my house." Sam asserted as Jack helped her walk from the bar, holding her elbow for support, picking up her purse on the way out.
"Nonsense Carter, I'll take you back to my place, that's an order." Jack stated firmly. Sam smiled audaciously,
"Can't win a fight against me without making it an order can you?" She teased. Jack opened the passenger door and helped her into the seat. The drive to his cabin was silent as Sam fell asleep in the seat beside him. When he reached their destination, Jack carried the still sleeping Sam from the car and laid her down in his queen size bed, taking off her jacket carefully to avoid waking her and pulled the doona up to her shoulders for warmth. He sat on the bed beside her and watched for a moment as she slept, pushing away the strand of hair that had fallen into her eyes. He sighed deeply,
"One day Sam, one day." He whispered tenderly, leaning down and kissing her on the cheek softly. She stirred slightly at Jack's touch, mumbling his name in her sleep. He smiled and silently snuck away from the room and headed for his office, he had to start organising how he was going to go through the Stargate in the next loop without being caught.
P6Z 435 0951
Sam was crouched behind a line of shrubs that grew from the harsh sand of the desert. She shifted her body weight and peered through the branches. A large Goa'uld ship was sitting on the surface of the planet, about thirty or so Jaffa stood at strategic defensive positions around the vessel. Lines of chained prisoners could be seen shuffling towards a series of caves on the western side of the ship with picks in hand, Jaffa with whips keeping them in line. Others could be seen carrying heavy sacks of material, what seemed to be Naquadah from the mines towards the ship.
"Sam? Sam? You there?" A voice came over her radio. Sam jumped slightly at the voice, quickly scanning the area around her to make sure that she hadn't been spotted.
"Yeah Daniel what's up?" Sam asked whispering.
"What's going on up there?" Daniel inquired, it was clear he had already become bored with sitting in the cave by himself.
"I've found a Goa'uld ship with around forty or so Jaffa, they have slaves mining the Naquadah for them." Sam reported.
"Any indication who it is?" Daniel queried.
"No, but I'm going to get a closer look b-" Sam's voice suddenly cut out as she was hit from behind with a zatgun.
"Sam? Sam? Sam, are you all right? Sam!" Daniel yelled his radio but all he could hear was static. Two Jaffa guards picked up her motionless body from the ground and began to carry her towards the ship.
THE NEXT DAY JACK'S CABIN 0716
The first rays of the morning sun crept in through the window stirring Sam from her peaceful sleep. She opened her eyes and instantly tensed up when she realised she wasn't in her own bed. Sitting up slowly, she held her head in her hands; it was aching from the night before. Her hand came to her cheek as she felt a tingling sensation on her skin.
"Weird." She mumbled, stroking the spot as if to wipe away whatever was there. As she glanced around the room she saw her CO's keys and wallet sitting on the bedside table and her leather jacket draped over the chair in the corner of the room. Pushing back the doona, Sam made her way out of Jack's bedroom quickly; the smell of bacon and eggs filled the house beckoning Sam towards the kitchen where Jack was flipping eggs in his frying pan, whistling contently to himself. Jack heard footsteps entering his kitchen he looked up and smiled,
"Good morning Major, sleep well?" he asked cheerfully, taking in all Sam's features from her dishevelled hair to her sleepy, baby blue eyes. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes before she replied,
"Good morning sir, surprisingly well considering." She replied, trying desperately to make herself look presentable in front of him, pulling at her hair and clothes in a bid to make them sit the way she wanted them to. Jack smiled to himself as he watched her,
"Considering what?" he queried, the butter in the pan sizzling as he flipped the bacon while he spoke. Finally after a few minutes Sam gave up on her hair, besides Jack had seen her with worse hair than this.
"Oh, it just usually whenever I don't sleep in my bed at home I usually end up staying awake all night." She responded, not giving the question a second thought. Jack couldn't help but smile,
"Maybe it's trying to tell you something Major." He remarked, keeping his head down to avoid her shocked expression. Sam's head snapped up at hearing Jack's comment.
"Excuse me sir?" she asked, as if she hadn't heard what he said but she really had. Jack went over to a cupboard on the other side of the kitchen and pulled out two plates, carrying them back over to the breakfast bar and placing eggs and bacon evenly on each one.
"Nothing Carter, but I do need your help." Jack said, diverting the conversation away from his spontaneous remark. He slid a plate over to Sam with a knife and fork in tow. Sam eyes him suspiciously but then dismissed it.
"With what sir?" She asked as calmly as possible, her nerves slightly unravelled.
"Plans I've been making for the next time loop, how I'm going to get through the Stargate without being caught and court marshalled, how I'm going to steal a Goa'uld ship without being caught and killed, maybe not in that particular order but hey." Jack rambled on, sitting down beside her to eat.
"Well, what have you gotten so far?" Sam asked curiously. For the next two and a half hours Sam and Jack worked on his plan, refining the little details to make sure everything went smoothly to avoid anything going wrong. A diversion had been created with Janet being elected the patsy for the whole thing; Sam guaranteed Jack that Janet would do it, once they explained the whole situation to her. Jack yawned for what seemed like the thousandth time that two-hour period. Sam looked up from the paper she was working and shook her head at him.
"You didn't get any sleep last night did you?" She asked in a demanding, motherly tone. Jack wiped his eyes as if to wipe the fatigue away.
"How could I? Someone was sleeping in my bed." He commented teasingly with a real Three Bears theme to his reply. Sam smiled,
"I said I would catch a cab back to my place, it was your decision." She reminded him. Jack sighed deeply,
"No, I liked having someone else here besides just me, it gets lonely you know." He admitted. She looked at him sympathetically.
"It must be." Sam replied, trying to comfort him, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"You should go and get some sleep, I can finish this off for you." Sam offered. Jack smiled wearily, looking at his watch as he had so many times in the past few days.
"No, the loop begins again in 8 minutes time and then I'll find myself in bed back at the SGC being woken up by you knocking at my door telling me about the soil sample from that planet where you are trapped without food or water." Jack described sullenly, his sudden feeling helplessness suddenly flowed from him like a river after driving rain. Sam's heart broke seeing him so upset and vulnerable. Her hand transferred from his shoulder, tentatively moving to rest on his hand, Jack glanced up at her, immediately becoming lost in Sam's sparkling, caring blue eyes and reassuring smile. It instantly lifted his spirits, just to have her there with him, someone to talk to for once. Suddenly the beeping of the alarm on his watch interrupted their seemingly perfect moment, something always did. The alarm reminded Jack he only had a minute until the time loop began again and he sighed at it, wanting time to be frozen for just a few minutes longer so that he could enjoy it. Sam looked down slightly embarrassed.
"What does the alarm mean?" she asked softly, not wanting to spoil the real emotion of the moment.
"I have one minute until the time loop begins again." Jack grumbled. Sam suddenly made a decision that would change the way Jack would relate to her in the future but it was something she had been dying to do for so long. In the heat of the moment she leaned in slowly and kissed him. Jack jumped at the unexpected touch but did not pull away, letting it continue until the blinding, white flash consumed the scene, leaving the moment to the past.
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