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Spoilers: Message in a Bottle
Hours later Sam was awakened by Jack's anxious voice shouting into the night as he slept beside her.
"No! Carter!"
She gently squeezed his arm and spoke to him, "Jack? Jack wake up. You're dreaming."
His body tensed and he screamed again, "Get away from her…!" his voice so full of emotion it brought tears to her eyes.
"Jack! Wake up!"
Cautiously she began to gently shake him attempting to break the spell of the dream. Immediately his eyes flew wide open and he stared at her in total confusion as she leaned closely over him.
"Carter! What's going on? You all right?"
His voice indicated the shock of being awakened suddenly from an intense dream and he had instinctively grabbed both her arms and was holding her immobile. He was squeezing tightly, trying to make sense of the situation, staring wide-eyed into her face.
"I'm fine, you were dreaming. It's okay now?"
"Yeah, maybe." Still holding her firmly in his grasp, he turned his head searching the darkness around them. His confusion was compounded by the darkness, the lack of night sky above or hard ground beneath them and Carter being so close against him. He asked dazedly, "where are we?"
"My house, remember? Team night? Pizza, movies, Daniel, Teal'c?"
"Oh, right! Why are we on the couch?"
"Good question." She snorted a short laugh. "You wouldn't go to bed."
He looked up at her in astonishment as his confusion increased tenfold and spread across his face. Then as memory dawned his mouth formed the word, more than spoke it. "Oh."
"What time is it?" He asked, finally releasing her and rubbing his eyes.
"Around 0200 I think."
Jack started to sit up beside her and Sam immediately felt the loss of comfort and warmth that his closeness had afforded her. He sat there, on the edge of the couch for a few minutes, running his hands over his face and then through his hair. He stretched his back and long legs to ease the stiffness created by curling up with her in such a small space.
"That couch is a killer, Carter!"
"Sorry, Sir. I did offer other accommodations."
Suddenly he turned his body back towards her and lifted a hand to gently push the hair back from her face. She smiled up at him warmly as his hand slid gently down her neck coming to rest on her shoulder. Even in the dim light she saw his eyes change; a deep smoldering desire lighting the smoky brown globes. Her eyes dropped to his lips and she watched as a deep smile crossed his features and as her eyes again locked with his, he spoke to her softly.
"Carter, did you…um…kiss me?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Hmm."
He watched for a moment remembering the kiss that had stirred all the emotions he'd attempted to bury and the dream that had him sweating and calling out to her.
"You're right, Carter, let's go to bed."
Surprise flashed across her face as he stood and turned to offer her his hand. Grasping hers he lifted her to her feet effortlessly and they started down the hallway. Sam stopped at her door and watched as Jack walked past her to the guest room.
"Jack? Where are you going? You can't sleep there, remember?"
He waved her away with his hand and opened the door in front of him. The frame of the bed that normally sat in the middle of the room was in pieces standing against the wall and the floor was littered with boxes. There was no mattress and no room to sleep on the floor without a lot of boxes being moved. He turned to look at her with a questioning expression on his face.
She shrugged and responded to his silent question. "I told you."
"Packing? Going somewhere, Carter?"
"No. Can we talk about this later?"
He cocked his head at her, his sleepiness and confusion overtaking him. "I guess."
"Good, then come on."
"Carter, I don't think…"
"Good! Don't think. It's this or the couch. Now, will you please just…She was about to say, "get in my bed" but quickly changed to "come on!"
He raised his eyebrows and cocked his head, grinning back at her.
She stared at him and continued "…or do I have to knock you out and carry you!"
Jack grinned slightly as that picture formed in his mind but then he saw a flash of something in her eyes and held up his hands in defeat.
"Ok, ok. I'm coming."
Sam went directly into the bathroom and returned a few minutes later in a tank top and shorts. Jack was sitting on the foot of the bed taking off his shoes; his back turned discreetly towards her, as she crawled in and curled up in her normal sleeping position.
"Bathroom's free. Anything you need?"
"Uh, don't suppose you have any clothes that would fit me?"
"Uh, no, sorry."
"Ok."
He returned from the bathroom a few minutes later minus his shirt. He sat on the opposite side of the bed and slipped off his trousers. Then he slid silently into bed, lying on his back beside Sam. After a moment he chuckled aloud. Sam turned to face him and propped herself up on one elbow.
"What's so funny?"
"This isn't exactly how I'd pictured sleeping with you."
"Oh, really? How did you picture it, Sir?"
She watched as he visibly began to squirm, trying to think of an appropriate answer.
"Did I just say that out loud?"
"Yes, you did. Care to explain?"
"No, Carter! Now, go to sleep!"
He started to turn away from her but stopped when she spoke to him again.
"What was the dream?"
"It was nothing. Just old missions replaying in my head, you know."
"You were pretty intense…and you were shouting at me."
"I what?"
He looked at her, startled, wondering what else he might have let slip in his sleep. In his mind he saw the dream again…he was watching Sam, someone was dragging her away to be tortured and he couldn't stop them – then suddenly it all changed and he was yelling at her to stop. Yelling at him to stay away from her. She was in a church, walking down the isle…to Pete.
"I don't talk in my sleep, Carter!"
"Yes, Sir. Guess something else woke me then."
"Right!"
He turned completely on his side then, consciously trying to end the conversation, but Sam was persistent.
"Which mission?"
"What?"
"Which mission? The one in your dream – the dream that didn't wake me up?"
'Dammit, he thought, sometimes she's worse than Daniel.' "I don't remember, Carter, can we just go to sleep?"
He was letting his frustration show and she could tell he wasn't going to give up any more information as he turned on his side, his back facing her.
"Yeah. Night, Jack."
"Night, Sam."
She lay down on the pillow beside him and stared at his back, her eyes tracing every inch of his bare skin. Suddenly her eyes fell on the scar high on his left shoulder, a ragged circle, where he'd been pinned to the gate room wall and she knew without seeing, a matching one was on his chest.
Unconsciously she reached out to touch the scar and then froze as her mind suddenly returned to that incident, bringing it all back to her in a rush of vivid detail. She saw his face grimace in pain as it speared him and launched him across the room, slamming him into the concrete as it anchored itself in the wall. Cringed as she remembered his face tightening in agony, his body hanging limply against the wall, supported only by the rod running through his shoulder.
And she recalled her own frustration as every idea she came up with - failed. And when there seemed to be no other choice, she remembered taking his hand and telling him what she planned to do, knowing that it probably wouldn't work and might in fact kill him. Unable to speak, he had squeezed her hand, telling her, with only his touch and his eyes, that it was ok, that he trusted her. And finally, the relief that flooded over her as General Hammond convinced the entity to let him go and he collapsed heavily to the floor as the Stargate shut down.
Her stomach knotted up on itself as she relived the memories and her hand slowly completed its' path to his skin. She laid her hand against his back and lightly traced the scar's circumference with her fingers as she struggled against the tears brought on by the strong memories. She massaged the scar for a few minutes and then slowly she began to let herself enjoy the touch of his skin beneath her fingers as her hand roamed slowly down his back. She pressed a little harder, dragging her short nails across his skin as she moved down his back and then toward his stomach. She pushed her hand beneath his arm and let it slide across his skin to his chest, caressing the skin beneath it, tugging slightly, pulling him closer.
He wasn't asleep, but he was pretending to be. She didn't care; she wanted him awake. He was so close, she didn't need memories or dreams, he was right here. She pressed her body against his and slowly began to place tender kisses along the back of his neck and shoulder, occasionally letting her tongue slip out to touch him. She sucked the tender skin at the base of his neck into her mouth and thought she heard a slight groan but ignored it. One hand moved to his hair, the other roamed his body memorizing it with her fingertips. Her sensuous mouth continued to caress every inch of available skin as she silently began to make love to Jack.
He tried to keep up the pretense of sleep but his body, independent of his mind, responded to her touch. She was so damned close! He knew that she could feel his tensing muscles and finally he turned to look into her face, his dark eyes betraying his arousal. His hands grasped her shoulders, stopping only momentarily the movement of her hands against his skin, and he held her a bit away from him as he spoke.
"Carter, what are you doing?"
"Don't you know?"
"Yes, I know! Why are you doing it?"
"You know why."
"Carter!"
"Jack."
"What about Pet…?"
For the second time that night she silenced him with her kiss before he could finish the question. She kissed him hard, passionately, pressing against his mouth with her tongue teasing his lips. His mouth gave in easily to hers and she explored this new territory eagerly, suddenly feeling his arms slip possessively around her. Hot shivers raced down her spine as their bodies entwined and they approached the long forbidden barrier.
He pulled away from her, almost breathless.
"Sam, this isn't something we can undo."
His voice soft, his hand mindlessly stroking her bare forearm and watching her, dreading the moment she would come to her senses and send him away.
"I know."
She reached up with one hand and softly caressed his cheek.
"So I take it you aren't going to let me ask about 'what's his name'?"
"No."
"Ah!" He half nodded his head, his eyes quickly closing and opening again, then locking on her eyes. "Carter, you're timing's a bit…"
"I know. Just don't think about it, Jack. Just let it happen."
Covering her hand with his own, he stared silently for a long moment searching her face for any doubts he might see there. Seeing his own erupting passion reflected in her smoldering deep blue eyes, he surrendered and wrapping his arms around her, fell willingly into the fire.
TBC