Yup, I promised a surprise this Chap. Not too bad, but most of you will wonder if I've gone nuts...... Yes, I've gone nuts.
Chapter 6
Banana and Yogurt
Sam scanned over her old quarters. She was surprised they were still empty, being just down the hall from Daniel's and only two doors from her lab. But then, no one had been such a keen scientist. Maybe no one else wanted to be able to spend hours at a time working in a lab. She remembered all the times Jack had dragged her from her lab and dumped her in here at 4 in the morning. Good times. She set up the crib and placed Caitlyn in it. It wasn't long before she was fast asleep.
"Wow, this takes me back."
"It was only four years, Jack."
"Yeah. Except four years ago I dreaded coming in here."
"Oh really? And why was that?"
"Because four years ago I'd get court marshaled for doing this."
He lent down and brought his lips to hers. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. Time seemed to stop while they were there, caught in that moment. At least they were, until they heard an annoying archaeologist coughing from the door. The broke off the kiss and Sam lent her head against Jack's chest. Jack looked down for a second then turned to the door.
"What?"
"I'm sorry, was I interrupting something?"
"No, we were just getting ready to invite you all for tea and biscuits. Of course you were interrupting! That's two stupid questions you've asked me."
"Next time I say we lock the door." Sam sighed. "But since we didn't, you can't be too hard on him. His room is just down the hall."
Daniel turned red, then even more red. "Sorry, I should just..."
"Daniel, you're here, just tell us what you want."Sam let go of Jack and sat on the bed next to Caitlyn.
"Some of the SGC personnel wanted to have a... party tonight, to celebrate finding you. I just wanted to get your ok for it."
"Sure, why not. We're not gonna get a break are we."
"Jack, how can you be so selfish!"
"What do you mean?"
"We thought you were dead! Teal'c, General Hammond, Janet... this entire damn base thought you were dead! And now we find you alive and well and you're not in the least bit grateful?"
"What did you expect? We'd come here, go back to being Colonel and Major at the SGC and everything would be fine and dandy?"
"You could at least pretend to be happy to see us!" Caitlyn woke up and started bawling. Sam picked her up and glared at the two men.
"Now look what you've done! If you want to argue, leave the room!"
Jack grabbed Daniel by the arm and dragged him out, kept dragging, and didn't stop until they reached the lab. He shut and locked the door once they were in.
"Daniel, I'm not trying to be rude or ungrateful. This is just a little to take in at the moment. We only arrived a few hours ago and already we're being asked to do so much."
"I don't mean to push. Everyone is just glad that you're back."
"We can't stay long, we've got responsibilities on Shalott."
"Like what?"
"Well, I've been working with Baedos as a blacksmith and Sam's become one of the healers. She's training as a diplomat though."
"I thought you couldn't leave?"
"We're not the only village you know. There are more all over the planet. Sometimes Niniane or some of her Priestesses travel and negotiate for food or supplies."
"Oh."
"I tell ya Daniel, when I was there... I gave up being rescued a long time ago, but whenever that mirror would start lighting up, I'd wish it was you and T coming to take us home."
"I can't even begin to imagine what you've been through. Just, come to the party tonight. Tomorrow Sam can speak with Jacob, maybe he'll convince you to stay."
"Not happening. However I will come to this little party of yours...."
"Yes!"
"...On one condition."
"Why don't I like the sound of this?"
"You come to Beltane. Call it... a cultural experience."
"I'm gonna get you back for this. You know I am."
"No, Spacemonkey, I think you already have."He said, unlocking the door and pushing Daniel out of the room.
Music was filling out of the commissary as Jack and Sam stood outside the door. Sam was glad that Caitlyn was asleep and hoped she didn't wake up while they were gone. Sam squeezed Jack's hand tightly.
"I don't know if I can do this." she whispered.
He squeezed back. "Don't worry, I'll make sure no one hurts you." He grinned, and she grinned.
Plucking up his courage, Jack pushed open the doors. They were greeted with music, clapping and cheering. He could see quite a few bottles of beer circulating through the crowd, surprised that Hammond had allowed it. He walked into the room and grinned at everyone present.
"Hey kids! Miss me?"
It wasn't long before the change happened. They were no longer Lady Samantha and her Chosen Brother Jack, serving the goddess. They were just Jack and Sam, ready to party and have a good time. Jack pushed his way through the crowd to find Daniel. Sam went in the opposite direction, towards Janet.
"Hey Spacemonkey!"
"Told ya you'd like it!"
"I didn't expect to find beer in here. How'd you do it?"
"After speaking with you I found the General and asked."
"Really? What did he say?"
Daniel gave Jack a look as if to say 'What a stupid question'. "What do you think?"
"I think that he said no and you went ahead with it anyway."
Daniel frowned. "What do you take me for? You think I'd just go behind Hammonds back and..."
"Daniel?"
Daniel looked down, studying his shoes for a second. "Yyyyyyeah....actually yeah."
"Cameras?"
"Hooked 'em up on a feedback loop."
"Brilliant. Now all I need to do is grab a few drinks and dance the night away."
In the next hour Jack only drank four beers, he didn't want to overdo it. Daniel, also, only had four. But for him that was overdoing it! He had started slurring his words and giggling at Teal'c, begging him to do his definition of 'deep'. He had just found that infamous red ball when Jack dragged him into a corner.
"Over drinking again I see."
"Jack, I've only had four!"
"Exactly. Far too many. Now where'd Sam get to?"
"With Janet." He replied, not realizing he had a dreamy look on his face.
"Really? Well how 'bout you join me while we find our significant others."
Daniel sobered up, just slightly. "Wha? I don't have a..." But Jack was already pulling him to the other corner of the room. The music had just started getting interesting, and he wanted to dance! (With Sam, not Daniel!!!)
"Sam! Jan't! My two fav'it pe...peep..peeping........people!!" Daniel exclaimed when they got over there.
"Jack, how many beers has he consumed exactly?" Janet asked, scowling.
"Not, many. Only four."
Sam and Janet's eyes both widened. "Are you kidding? For Daniel that's liket 10 in half an hour!" Janet cried.
It was at that moment that Daniel chose to lose his balance fall on her. "Well, gotta go. Me 'n Sam have some dancing to catch up on." He flashed Janet the cheekiest of his grins before dragging Sam to the dance floor.
At the sight of the two former officers on the dance floor, the temporary DJ (hmmm, DJ could also stand for a daniel Janet ship...), recognizable to some as Teal'c, stopped the music. Everyone turned to look at him. He smiled at them.
"I have been instructed by Daniel Jackson to play a tribute song for Samantha and Jack the moment they decided to dance. It is called 'Lady of Shalott', in recognition to your new home." He spoke into the microphone.
Sam looked shocked, everyone was staring at her, yet she was glad that they had referred to it as their new home. She figured it was probably just an excuse to get them to move back, but that didn't matter now. They were driven to the center of the room, faces peering at them from every direction. A slow tune began playing on the CD player. Sam laughed, she knew this one!
Jack bowed and asked "Carmolin?"
She curtsied. "Let's give them a show." They clasped right hands and bowed together.
On either side of the river lie
They began to walk in a circle, hands joined and raised.
Long fields of barley and of rye,
They stopped, then turned in the other direction. People were staring at them, wondering what was going on.
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And thro' the field the road run by
They faced each other. Joining hands they walked forward, then back twice
To many-towered Camelot;
They raised their arms up again then brought them down slowly in an outward loop.
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies flow
Round an island there below,
The island of Shalott.
They walked forward, away from each other, turned, and started walking towards each other. Half way, they stopped, bowed, then passed each other again, only slightly though, before turning to face each other.
Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Taking each other's hands in a waltz position, they moved in a form of a box step. The rest of the SGC was looking even more confused. It was as if they were doing some form of medieval dance. The boulder of the group tried imitating their movements, though with notably less skill.
Thro' the wave that runs for ever
By the island in the river
Flowing down to Camelot.
They headed in the same position to one end of the room. Jack took hold of Sam's right hand with his left. They stood next to each other and bowed at the SGC.
Four grey walls, and four grey towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle embowers
The Lady of Shalott.
They walked down to the end of the commissary. Jack spun Sam three times before they settled into the waltz position again, and started waltzing.
Only reapers, reaping early,
In among the bearded barley
Jack spun Sam out, where she turned twice before coming back into the waltz position. They took a sideways step forward then back.
Hear a song that echoes cheerly
From the river winding clearly
He spun her out, then in again till she was pressed close to him. (Think Princess Diaries, when Jo is teaching her to dance). He spun her out again, and back to the waltz position. A sideways step forward and back again.
Down to tower'd Camelot;
They bent their left knee and extended their right leg behind them. At this stage, more people were copying this rather complicated dance, some having more luck then others. Jack was a little dissapointed to find that Daniel wasn't part of that crew.
And by the moon the reaper weary,
Piling sheaves in uplands airy,
Jack spun Sam out one way, then on her return they switched hands and she spun the other way, before coming back together. (A hard move, let me assure you!) Many of the various copycats found themselves on the floor after trying to imitate this.
Listening, whispers "'tis the fairy
The Lady of Shalott."
They clasped right hands in the air and began to circle each other again, this time bobbing alternately.
There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay,
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott.
At this stage the dance began to repeat itself, more and more people were getting the hang of it and joining in. Jack grinned at all the people copying, yet wondering why they were so brave coming close to breaking regulations.
And moving through a mirror clear
That hangs before her all the year,
Shadows of the world appear.
There she sees the highway near
Winding down to Camelot;
And sometimes thro' the mirror blue
The knights come riding two and two.
She hath no loyal knight and true,
The Lady Of Shalott.
But in her web she still delights
To weave the mirror's magic sights,
For often thro' the silent nights
A funeral, with plumes and with lights
And music, went to Camelot;
Or when the moon was overhead,
Came two young lovers lately wed.
"I am half sick of shadows," she said
The Lady Of Shalott.
Nearly everyone had picked up the steps now, moving in neat little lines and trying not to trip over each other. Sam and Jack were at the front of the pack, leading the group through various steps. Even Teal'c had picked up one of the female officers and was trying to get it right.
A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
He rode between the barley sheaves,
The sun came dazzling thro' the leaves,
And flamed upon the brazen greaves
Of bold Sir Lancelot.
A red-cross knight for ever kneel'd
To a lady in his shield,
That sparkled on the yellow field,
Beside remote Shalott.
At this stage Jack was getting bored with the regular steps. Taking Sam, he left the rest to their dances.
His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd;
On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode;
From underneath his helmet flow'd
His coal-black curls as on he rode,
As he rode down to Camelot.
Jack did his best imitation of a knight coming to save his lady fair. He slowly danced his way over to her, stepping first to one side then the other. He carefully took her hand and kissed it.
From the bank and from the river
he flashed into the crystal mirror,
"Tirra Lirra," by the river
Sang Sir Lancelot.
He stood back up, stepped to the right and clapped with his hands in the air. Sam imitated him, stepping to the right and clapping. He then stepped to the left and clapped in the same manner. Once again she imitated him.
She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces thro' the room,
Sam turned away from him and took three steps away from him. Jack followed behind.
She saw the water-lily bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
She peered over her shoulder before spinning and taking three more steps away. Jack followed her again.
She looked down to Camelot.
They faced each other and held hands. He bowed and she curtsied.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
He spun her out again. She raised one hand to the sky.
The mirror cracked from side to side;
He spun her in again, holding her close.
"The curse is come upon me," cried
The Lady of Shalott.
He grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up just a little. She used his shoulders for support and looked up at him. He spun in a circle before putting her on the ground again.
There Are Four More Verses Here. It Is A Long Song. Let's Pretend They Went Back To The Original Steps At This Point. (If you don't know the song, look it up. It's good.)
Who is this? And what is here?
And in the lighted palace near
They held hands and stepped forward, then back, raising their arms up and down like earlier.
Died the sound of royal cheer;
They crossed themselves for fear,
They moved their arms up again, stepping in. This time, though, they didn't step out again, slowly moving in a circle. Jack moved his arms down slowly, placing one around Sam's waste and sliding the other one down her cheek. (Not that cheek!) She was doing the same thing.
The knights at Camelot;
He moved his hands down her arms and took her hands, leaning her back. The tempo of the music changed, becoming slower.
Lancelot mused a little space
He puled her back in again.
He said, "She has a lovely face;
Jack touched Sam's cheek with one of his hands, bringing the back of his hand down slowly.
God in his mercy lend her grace,
She spun out again, turning on his finger three times.
The Lady of...
She began to spin back in again slowly.
...Shalott."
She fell into his arms, leaning as far back as she could. Jack took this moment to kiss her in front of the entire SGC, so as to quench any rumors. Hey, they weren't rumors if they were true right? The response was lots of clapping and whistling. They responded by bowing to their audience. "So, who wants to learn the Carmolin?" He asked grinning. "We perform it every midsummer back home." he began to walk away from the group, looking for Daniel. Sam had the same idea, heading toward the infirmary. The crowd seemed somewhat disappointed for some reason.
The next morning Daniel woke up with an extreme hangover. He was desperately trying to remember what had happened the night before and, more importantly, why he was in the infirmary. He remembered flashes of music, people dancing, Jack dragging him to and fro... it was all very weird.
He was soon put out of his misery when Janet walked into the room, smiling in that way when she's just about to poke someone with really big needles.
"Ah, Janet? What's going on?"
"Nothing." He smile widened.
"What... exactly... happened last night? I can't remember a thing. And why am I in the infirmary?" He rubbed the back of his head.
"You managed to get yourself drunk. You were tripping over yourself and everyone else. I had to take you in here to stop you from hurting yourself."
"Oh."
"Sam and Jack came in to check on you, don't know how they knew you were here. Jack said something about Beltane. Care to elaborate?"
"Um, it's actually quite complicated..."
"He said if he didn't see both of us there he'd be... disappointed I believe was his choice of words. I'd like to know what he's talking about."
This meant trouble. Daniel knew that by "disappointed" jack was going to kill him if he didn't comply. He was just glad that Janet didn't actually know what Beltane was. "Well, it's a sort of festival. On the first of May..... They light fires and... dance and stuff. Drink and things like that."
Now Janet knew he was lying, or at least not telling the whole truth. He didn't exactly use words like 'stuff' and 'things' very often. "In that case I'll look it up." she said with a grin.
"NO!" he said a little too quickly.
"Does that mean you're going to tell me?"
"Um... I.... I've got to go meet Sam for breakfast." He lied, clearing out of the infirmary as fast as he could.
Sam sat at the commissary, all traces of the party now gone from view. If only she could get Caitlyn to stop crying! All the excitement over the past few days had started getting to her. Around the room, people were trying hard not to notice. She gently rocked her, wishing Jack would come back soon. He had gone to get them some breakfast. She was startled when something blue and wobbly was placed on the table in front of her.
"Blue jello?" She asked. (Ya know, it's called JELLY where I'm from!)
"What? You haven't had any since we came to Shalott, why not? I know you love the stuff."
"In case you haven't noticed, Caitlyn has chosen this morning to be difficult."
"Way ahead of ya." he grinned, before handing her a bowl, fork, spoon, plain yogurt and a banana.
"Thanks." she said, handing her over to him while she fixed her breakfast. It was at that point that Teal'c decided to make his way over.
"Greetings Brother Jack and Lady Samantha." He looked quite pleased with himself for being the first to get their names right.
"Hey, T. I don't suppose..."
"I would be delighted." His grin broadened as he took Caity out of her father's arms and sat next to him at the table. She immediately stopped crying, playing with the gold mark on her 'Uncle T's' head.
Sam began to peal the banana into the bowl. Afterwoods she scooped in a generous amount of yogurt and mashed them together with the fork. Teal'c raised an eyebrow at this. "Lady Samantha, I was not aware your eating habits had changed since we last met."
Sam laughed. "It's not for me, it's for her. The only thing she'll eat lately."
"Yeah. I remember the time you tried to feed her those green things from Caitlyn's garden. Spit up the lot."
"Is not your child's name Caitlyn?"
"Yeah, we named her after Sam's tutor. Normally we call ours Caity so we don't get confused."
"I see."
"I'm actually kinda worried about her." Sam said, trying now to spoon feed Caity who was still with Teal'c.
"Didn't Ol' Doc Fraiser say she was fine?"
"Yeah, but shouldn't she have started talking? I mean, we've barely heard anything more than a babble."
"Hey, I didn't start talking 'til I was one and a half. Besides, she's just holding out on us. I'll bet she's gonna wait 'til we least expect it before saying 'The event horizon of a wormhole creates a subspace inversion, causing any matter passed through to travel to another place, even galaxy, almost instantaneously'."
Sam grinned. "Don't push it Mr, or I might just find another partner for Beltane."
"You wouldn't!" He cried, in mock horror. Sam checked her watch.
"Jack! It's 10, dad 'll be here in less than half an hour!" She exclaimed.
"Dress blues or ceremonial robes?" He asked casually. She picked up a scrunched up napkin and threw it at him, before taking Caity off Teal'c.
"If we see dad, we see him as us, not as we used to be." She walked towards her quarters quickly, Jack trotting along behind.
"So I was thinking, we're gonna impress him right? Are we using proper greeting ceremony?"
"I need to practice sometime. We are not doing what you did yesterday in the 'gate room!"
"Awe, can't you let me have a little fun?"
"Niniane would have been ashamed."
"Ok, so how bout we just act natural, not formal. Or we act formal until speaking, when we suggest a party!"
Sam just laughed and started getting dressed. They had just barely finished getting ready when the alarm started sounding.
"Off world activation. Off world activation."
"That'll be dad." Sam said, moving with Jack to the 'gate room. The iris was opened just after the big Kawoosh! that created the wormhole. Even though they knew he was coming, Hammond wasn't going to risk opening the iris without checking for an IDC.
Sam eagerly watched as Jacob stepped through the mirror. The gate had barely shut down when she ran over and hugged him.
"Dad!" she cried, tears in her eyes. "I thought I'd never see you again!"
"Oh Sammie! Don't scare me like that again ok? I thought you were dead!" tears were in his own eyes as he embraced his girl. "I'm so glad you're home."
Home? Thought Sam. Hasn't someone already explained that to him? Oh no, this is going to be hard.
Ok, how was that? If you were wondering, the Carmolin is not actually a dance. I made it up using steps I've been taught as well as a few steps I've seen on movies such as First Night and Pride and Prejudice. I figured since so much of the chapter was dancing, I'd have to make it extra long...
Reviewer: Well, not exactly IN the SGC, more like involving certain members. I'm working on wrapping up the fic. Only a few more chaps before I bring on the next fic, The In-Between Years.
Blumpie: Yeah, I know what you mean. Although being dominant wouldn't exactly bother me too much... hmmm.
STKitty65 cat Ok, not as soon as I would've liked, but I'm getting there.
Ilovesg1: Yeah, they're terrible! Always dancing around each other! Actually, I think one of the biggest DJ (he he, dj) moments was in Rite of Passage (S5). Although rather short, it held so much in just Daniel's hands...
Sci Fi Fan Gillian: Thanks.....
