Disclaimer: I don't own them, don't own Stargate SG1, I get no profit.
"It's beautiful here." O'Neill said as they sat by a lake to rest. They had been exploring as much ground as they could the past five days. Heading out in different directions everyday, they wanted to familiarize themselves with their surroundings. This was their best find yet.
"If I had known there was a lake here, I'd been here sooner."
Carter tested the water for contaminants. "Sir, the water appears uncontaminated."
"Good, maybe there's something edible in this water."
"Fishing sir?"
"Something besides MREs. Besides, they won't last forever."
She nodded "This is true."
The lake was not large, but it was by no means small either. The side O'Neill and Carter were on was much like a beach, more dirt than sand though. It looked as though it had not rained for a couple of weeks. The water had receded a few feet. The water was fairly clear and the bottom was rocky. O'Neill wasn't sure, but he thought he could see a stream flowing into the lake on the other side. The opposite side of the lake had many trees around it and along the stream.
It kind of reminded O'Neill of a lake he had been to in Minnesota. He was glad they had found this place. It was also the first sign of fresh water. Which they were going to need of it didn't rain soon. Carter had set up tarps to catch any moisture they could use. She said it should be quite effective with rain.
O'Neill removed his jacket and shoved it into his pack. Carter did the same. It was a warm day that was getting hotter as the twin suns were climbing in the sky. They had started out that morning while it was still dark; as they had every morning for the last five days. It had not been too long before they had happened upon the lake. Probably close to an hour walk. They broke open their MREs.
"Ah, fine cuisine." O'Neill commented as he took a bite.
Carter smiled, "Macaroni and cheese flavored chicken." She took a few bites before continuing. "I wonder if they have got Daniel trying to find us."
"He figured it out the last time the gate malfunctioned."
"Yeah, I am hoping that he figures it out this time as well." Sam was sure that Daniel and the rest of the SGC would figure something out.
They finished the meal and packed up to keep going.
"Remember where this lake was Carter."
"Yes sir, maybe I will actually get to go fishing with you after all." She said grinning.
"Maybe" he said with a smile. "C'mon, let's keep moving."
They returned to camp at night fall. No sign of intelligent life; friend or foe. They had encountered several birds, rodents and other small animals during their journey.
"Well, if there were other beings here, I think they are gone now." Carter said putting down her gear.
"Yeah, I think we may be alone here." O'Neill said, lighting a lantern.
"Well, I supposed that is good and bad. No one to cause us harm, but no one to help is out either."
"How many days have we been here?" O'Neill asked, pulling the Velcro cover away and looking down at his watch.
"This is the end of the sixth day sir."
"That's what I thought, it seems like we just got here." He began getting the evenings MREs out.
Carter got the dishes out and set one in front of O'Neill, he handed her a MRE. "We have been here nearly a week now and I still can't figure out how we are going to get home. They don't even know where to look for us." She said, carefully pulling open the pouches.
"They'll figure something out Carter; we've got a lot of smart people on our side."
Carter nodded, yawning. "I know"
"Let's finish eating and head for bed." O'Neill said. He was exhausted.
Carter nodded.
O'Neill woke up as sunlight filled the tent. Carter was lying with her head on his chest, arm draped over him. She was so peaceful and content. He hated to wake her. "Carter"
She stirred but didn't wake. O'Neill thought back to when they were stranded in Antarctica. He had woken up to a similar situation. Carter cuddled up to him; her face in his neck, trying to keep warm. He tried again to wake her, this time rubbing her shoulder. "Carter"
This time she opened her eyes. She realized where she was almost at once. She sat up. "Sorry sir"
He smiled, "It's alright Carter"
She quickly stood. "I think that I will go get cleaned up."
"Alright, I will get the food out"
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"General, I think that we should try to contact Jacob and the Tok'ra."
"I agree with you Dr. Jackson. Maybe they can help us out."
"I am sure that Jacob would want to know what is going on." Daniel said.
"I will contact the Tokra and request their help. Let's meet back here at 1400 hours."
"Okay general."
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"Daniel, Teal'c good to see you both." Jacob said patting Daniel on the shoulder.
"Sorry it isn't under better circumstances." Daniel said. "We need your help."
"Anything I can do to get Sam back home safe."
"Have you ever heard of the gate doing something like this before? I know that before, when we got sent here, Sam and Jack got sent to the Antarctic gate because an energy weapon blast hit the gate. It caused a surge of power that caused the gate to 'skip'."
"Selmac says it is possible that the gate simply malfunctioned and sent them to the wrong destination. But more than likely it is somewhere close to the destination. The problem is that there must be something wrong with the gate. Otherwise they would have come back by now."
"Or they have encountered hostile resistance." Teal'c added.
"That also could be true, but let's stay positive shall we." Jacob said.
Teal'c nodded.
"Is there anyway the Tokra could help with the search. The Prometheus is on a mission and cannot be recalled. It won't return for a few months. If we had at least one ship to help, we may find them." General Hammond interjected.
"I will check, I can't say for sure though." Jacob answered. "I will do my best to persuade and encourage the help."
"Thanks Jacob"
"Please keep me posted and let me know if you hear from Sam."
"We will Jacob"
"I should get back then so we can get started." Jacob said.
"Thanks again." Hammond said, reaching out for Jacob's hand.
"No, thank you George." Jacob took his hand and shook it.
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O'Neill was preparing their MREs while Carter got cleaned up. They had set up a semi private area to get cleaned up. Mostly, they just sponge bathed. Carter said it was a difficult way to get clean, but it worked. It was better than being dirty. They would use a wet rag to get soaped up and water bag to rinse off. Hair was more difficult. Usually Carter or O'Neill would dry off and dress, and then one would pour the water over the other's head to wash/rinse. Once they found the lake they had taken baths (separately of course).
They had also dug a hole to serve as the latrine. O'Neill had said he was just glad that they had shovels. The job would have been much more difficult without. They were careful not to put the latrine too close, but not too far away. Walking a half mile to the latrine late at night, in the dark, was not ideal.
"Carter, food's ready." O'Neill yelled in Carter's direction.
"Okay" he heard her yell as he finished his MRE. She came into the cave moments later in clean clothes they had found in the supplies. Carter had run out of her own clothes so she was wearing some extras. The pants were huge on her.
"Cute" O'Neill chuckled
"Very funny, at least they are clean." She paused, "Time to do laundry I think."
"Food's ready, if you can call it that"
She nodded and sat down to eat. They had a small camp stove that O'Neill had warmed up some weak tea to go with their meal.
"So, what do you want to do today?" He said, watching her roll up the pants legs.
"I don't know sir. I feel like I should have gotten us out of here by now." She said, wringing her hands. He put down his meal and looked over at her.
"Y'know, you need to relax. Let's just take the day off. Maybe do some fishing." He said, hoping she would say yes. C'mon, she had to say yes. There were no excuses here. The DHD definitely wasn't going to start working anytime soon, and they both knew that.
She smiled and nodded, "okay"
Sweet he thought.
"Let's get the gear; we've got an hour's walk ahead of us."
They spent the day at the lake. It was an oddly warm day. They decided to go for a swim in their clothes to cool off. They took off their socks and boots and waded in. The bottom was lined with smooth rocks. O'Neill took his shirt off and rung it out. He playfully splashed Carter. She retaliated so quickly that O'Neill had his mouth open and caught a great deal of the lake in his mouth. He coughed and gagged briefly, but shook it off.
Carter put her hand up to her mouth. "Sorry sir. Are you okay?"
"Yes, Colonel." He paused, giving her a stern look. "As I was about to say, maybe we should get hair washed while we're here."
Carter blushed, "Good idea sir. I will get the soap."
Carter was soaping up her hair when O'Neill snuck up behind her and pushed a wave of water over her. She squealed and began to laugh.
They called a truce and decided to do some fishing. O'Neill had fabricated some poles out of miscellaneous supplies. They sat and fished with the makeshift poles O'Neill had made. By the time they caught something, they were almost dry. O'Neill started a fire and cleaned and cooked their catch. They both agreed it was much better than MREs. It began to get dark so they headed back towards camp.
"So" O'Neill said as they were walking, "How's Pete?"
She hesitated a moment before answering. "Okay, I guess"
O'Neill raised his eyebrow. "Okay?"
She looked to the ground. "Can we not talk about Pete?"
He nodded. "Okay."
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They arrived back at camp in the dark. Carter put down her pack and sat next to it on the floor of the cave. O'Neill started a fire in their 'fire place'. It was barely going when Carter spoke.
"Sir"
"Yes Carter"
"I am not getting married." She said staring blankly.
"What? Why?" He said looking over his shoulder at her.
She looked down at her feet. "I talk in my sleep." She paused and inhaled deeply. "I was talking in my sleep and Pete heard me."
"Heard what Carter?" He said, turning to face her.
"I guess that I said some things… to upset him."
"Carter, am I a mind reader?"
"I guess I said that I loved you." She blurted out, "On more than one occasion." She continued, "I called out to you when I was having a nightmare."
He looked to the floor of the cave, barely lit in the soft firelight. He looked back up at her, tears in her eyes threatening to stream down her face. She bit her lip.
"Carter, when did this happen?"
"Four days before we left." She said, running her fingers through her hair.
He just stared at her for a minute. "Why the hell didn't you tell me?"
She rose from her position on the floor and walked over to one of the cave's walls with her back to him. She was obviously crying. "Pete said I'd done this before and that he just didn't think that I was over you."
"Over me?" Jack said confused.
"He called it off." She paused, "I can't stand that I hurt him. I really didn't mean to."
He walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him. Her face was shimmering with tears in the firelight. He didn't think that he had ever seen her so vulnerable. Or at least that she had let him see. He kept his distance and waited for her to finish.
"I told him that they were just dreams, but he didn't believe me."
She shook her head and looked away. "The next day he called everything off until I can get things together."
"Is that what he said?"
"No, it's what I said."
"Carter, what do you believe?"
She began to cry harder. "I have tried so hard. I just can't."
"Can't what?" He said confused.
"Can't stop…can't stop caring, thinking about you in that way." She paused, "I have failed. I can't even make myself happy, let myself go on."
He stood in front of her; hand still on her shoulder as if he was holding her at a distance. "Carter, you deserve so much more."
"No. I have had days to think about this. Long days to wonder if it will ever work with anyone else let alone with Pete." She folded her arms across her chest. "Somewhere in my subconscious, I still hold onto you. I can't move on."
"Carter, please don't make it me who keeps you from happiness."
She fell silent. They stood for a moment before she spoke. "I have made my decision."
"Decision?"
"You; I want you."
"Are you sure?"
"Please don't push me away anymore."
He thought for a minute. "Are you really sure? Do you know what you are getting into?"
"Yes."
He pulled her close to him and held her tightly. He ran his fingers through her hair and rubbed her back gently. He didn't know what to say, what to do. Sure, he definitely had feelings for her. But he was her CO. They wanted so much from each other that neither could give. At least not right now. He felt her warm breath on his neck. She sniffed and wrapped her arms around him. They stood in each others arms for a moment before he pulled away reluctantly.
"It's been a long day. Why don't we get some sleep."
She nodded, "I am sorry. It is just been hard being here with you and not saying anything."
"Sam, you could've told me before now."
"I wasn't sure what kind of reaction you would have to all this." She said quietly. "I didn't feel like being rejected again."
He looked into her eyes, full of tears. He pulled her close and kissed her forehead. "Carter, I would never reject you." He paused, "There's just rules, y'know?"
She nodded. "I know, I know all about the rules."
He felt her shiver. It was getting rather chilly. The fire was barely lit; he needed to put more wood on. "C'mon Carter, let's get settled in for the night."
"Okay" She said sniffling.
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