A/N: I knew all those silly geology classes would someday be useful for something…

Chapter 2

Jack opened his mouth, trying to come up with an appropriate response to that declaration. However, between the adrenaline that still thundered through his veins, and the hazy, sensual fog that stubbornly clung to his mind, he was drawing a complete blank.

Carter, apparently, was quicker to recover. "Give me the radio, sir."

Somewhere in his brain, he registered that his second-in-command had essentially just issued him an order. On the other hand, now didn't really seem like the time to beleaguer that point. Wordlessly, he unclipped the device from his vest and handed it to her, careful to avoid physical contact with her fingers.

"Teal'c?" Sam's voice was reasonably collected, considering the current state of affairs.

"Yes, Major Carter?" Teal'c, as always, sounded calm and capable.

"We already knew this was an active volcano."

At that, Jack's head lifted up off the sleeping bag to look at her. "We did?" When she nodded at him, still reluctant to meet his gaze directly, he practically sputtered in disbelief. "Well, when the hell was someone going to tell me that bit of information?"

Over the airwaves, Teal'c had just made a quick, emotionless statement, which Sam could not hear over Jack's exclamation. Holding the radio up to her lips, she spoke in a deceptively bland tone. "Hold on a second, Teal'c. The Colonel needs to finish having a small tantrum."

Jack blinked up at her in shock. "I'm having a tantrum? It seems to me that I'm justifiably upset because my scientists forgot to tell me that we're camped on a freaking volcano!"

She stared back at him coolly. "Actually, sir, your scientists did tell you that we're camped on a freaking volcano. You just weren't listening. It was all in the mission briefing that we had with General Hammond yesterday."

Again, Jack opened his mouth to say something, and again, words failed him. All he could come up with was, "Oh." In his own defense, he sincerely doubted anyone had actually said, "Colonel, you're going to be camped on a volcano." They'd probably dressed it up with long, indecipherable scientific words, and expected him to figure out the details. Still, he realized that he was in no shape to argue anything at this moment. Instead, he just waved absently at Carter. "Okay, fine. Go ahead."

Sam suppressed a smile. Her CO was rarely this easy to steamroll. Maybe she should use this tactic on him more often. As she raised the radio back to her mouth, however, she noticed a distinct tremor in her hands.

Yeah, maybe not.

"Okay, Teal'c. He's done grumping now."

When the Jaffa continued speaking, Sam noted that his voice held just the slightest touch of amusement. "I said that we may have miscalculated the volatility of the mountain. We knew that the volcano was not extinct, but we had assumed that we were in no imminent danger of eruption. However, Doctor Jackson has made some preliminary examinations, and he now thinks those assumptions were a mistake."

"Is he around, Teal'c?" Sam forced herself into a sitting position. Her wet clothes clung uncomfortably to her body, and she was painfully aware that her shirt was partially untucked. She could feel her CO's eyes on her in an almost physical way.

When the radio next crackled, it was Daniel's voice on the other end. "Hey, Sam. Teal'c and I are sharing a radio right now. I seem to have misplaced mine somewhere along the way."

Sam smiled in spite of herself. That was a typical Daniel thing to do. "It's all right. Just tell me what's going on."

"It doesn't look good," Daniel said without preamble. "Teal'c noticed steam rising from the mountain just before sunset. I didn't think much of it, since even dormant volcanoes do that periodically. But when this storm rolled through, the lightning allowed me to see that the vapor cloud was getting much, much bigger. I won't be able to say for sure until first light, but it appears to me that there are five or six places along our side of the mountain where gas is venting up through crevices in the rock. I just wondered if you were picking up any seismic activity with your instruments."

Sam sighed wearily. "I really wasn't paying attention. This storm has us cooped up in the tent, so I honestly have no idea what the instruments are doing." Trying to keep her frazzled state from coming through, she ran a hand through her wet hair and spoke as evenly as possible. "Guess I'll dig a slicker out of my pack and have a look."

There was a pause. "Everything okay there, Sam?"

She and Jack cringed in unison. Leave it to Daniel to pick up on concealed emotions over a crackly radio when endangered by a belching volcano.

Not trusting Sam to keep her feelings hidden, Jack grabbed the radio from Sam's hand and spoke firmly. "Gee, Daniel. We're discussing the possible eruption of a volcano that I didn't even know existed five minutes ago. Of course everything's not okay here."

Another pause. "Oh. Yeah, I guess so." Then, in a somewhat disapproving tone of voice, Daniel continued. "You know Jack, you really should pay attention during those mission briefings."

Any annoyance Jack might have felt about the lecture was washed away in relief. Daniel's ability to pick up on other people's emotions was nearly supernatural sometimes, especially when his friends were involved. Jack was extremely glad he'd been able to side-track the perceptive archaeologist. "Yeah, yeah," he muttered into the radio.

"By the way, Jack… Didn't you spend most of the day helping Sam set all that gear up? If you didn't know about the volcano, then what, exactly, did you think you were doing?" Daniel's voice rang with curiosity.

Jack stifled a snort. He supposed that "watching Carter's ass" wasn't an appropriate response, true as it may have been. Instead, he stuck with his 'clueless brute' image. "Daniel, when have you ever known me to think about what I was doing, especially when science was involved?"

Daniel chuckled. "Good point."

"Anyway, we'll let you know what Carter's gadgets have to say about the volcano, just as soon as she goes and does her 'Major-Doctor' thing."

"Sounds good, Jack. Just be careful." He paused thoughtfully. "Teal'c said he saw signs of predators earlier. Better make sure nothing tries taking a bite out of Sam while she works." Daniel's voice was deceptively mild.

Instantly, Sam and Jack locked eyes with each other. "Tell me you didn't hear what I just heard," Jack said to her, keeping his thumb far from the 'send' button on the radio.

Closing her eyes, Sam groaned in frustration. "I heard it."

Her CO, rumpled and damp from their previous close contact, hardly batted an eyelash at her pronouncement. "Think we're imagining it?"

She shook her head. "Nope. He knows something."

Jack sighed with resignation. "Correction, Major. He only thinks he knows something."

It was small comfort, but Sam took it anyway. "That's true."

Locking eyes with his lovely second-in-command, Jack brought the radio back to his lips, depressed the communication button, and spoke softly. "Thanks for the heads-up, Danny-boy. I'll be sure to protect her from the big, bad wolf. O'Neill out."

On the other side of the mountain, Daniel took his fingers off the radio's talk-button and stared at it worriedly. "My, Grandmama, what big teeth you have…" he mumbled to the now-silent device. Shaking his head, he hoped he was wrong about the odd feeling in his gut.

Teal'c looked at him oddly, raising an eyebrow in question. "Who is Grandmamma?"

Daniel smiled at his teammate's honest confusion. "Just an expression, Teal'c." Looking at the large warrior, he tried to put his jumbled thoughts into some sort of order. "Did you notice something a little… off with them tonight?"

Teal'c's expression changed only slightly, but it spoke volumes. "Indeed, Doctor Jackson. Something did seem amiss with O'Neill and Major Carter." He paused thoughtfully. "I hope they were not arguing. O'Neill seemed most short-tempered this evening."

"Yeah…" Daniel said slowly, staring off into space. "That's not what I'm worried about."

Again, the Jaffa wordlessly raised an eyebrow.

Daniel shook his head. "I'm sure its nothing, but I'd have sworn I heard something in both of their voices…" He looked his friend in the eye. "I feel like maybe we interrupted something."

Teal'c absorbed the statement for a moment before his eyes widened in understanding. "Daniel Jackson, are you suggesting that they were engaged in…" he searched his mind for the correct word, "…fraternization?"

Daniel winced at how tawdry that sounded. "I hate to put it that way, but I suppose that is what I'm worried about." He sighed and shook his head. "I could have written it off as suspicion, right up to Jack's 'big, bad wolf' comment. It was like he knew what I was thinking and was telling me to mind my own business."

Teal'c stared at Daniel blankly. "Doctor Jackson, I fail to see how a large, evil, untamed canine factors into this scenario."

Opening his mouth to explain, Daniel abruptly decided to give up. "Never mind, Teal'c. I'm sure I'm just imagining things."

As Sam crawled over to the tent flap, she was stopped by a warm, though mostly impersonal hand on her foot. Looking behind her, she saw her CO staring at her disapprovingly.

"Didn't you mention a rain slicker when you talked to Daniel earlier?" He gestured to her bare arms, drawing attention to her lack of protective gear.

She shrugged. "I can hardly get any wetter than I am now. Why bother digging out the packs?"

Jack looked down at his own slightly soggy BDUs and sighed. "Yeah, I suppose," he muttered. "All right, let's get out there." He released her foot and prepared to follow her.

Now it was her turn to stare at him. "Where are you going? I'm only gonna be ten feet out the door. No need for you to get wet, too."

He met her gaze steadily. "I'm already wet, Carter."

Her eyes flickered over his muscular torso and legs, noting how the damp fabric clung to his lean body. Forcing herself to remain unaffected, she spoke coolly. "I don't need you to babysit me, sir."

Jack stifled a sigh, but held his ground. "Just watching your back, Major. That is, after all, what I'm here for." Then, hearing the words that had just come out of his mouth, Jack bit his tongue to keep from laughing. If nothing else, he certainly had kept close tabs on the back half of her today.

Sam saw the amusement twinkling in his eyes. Refusing to dwell on it, however, she instead forced an indifferent shrug. "Fine. Just don't bother me while I'm working. I want this done as quickly as possible." When the humorous gleam didn't fade from his gaze, she abruptly turned and crawled out of the tent. She could not afford to be enticed by Jack O'Neill's boyish charm. He'd done enough damage to her well-being tonight.

Jack watched Sam's retreating backside wiggle out past the canvas door flap, and bit back a sharp oath.

Great. Just what he needed. Another chance to dwell on her perfect derriere.

He heard her gasp reflexively when hit by the cold, pounding rain that continued to fall on the campsite. Well, he thought dismally, at least he was going to get the cold shower he so desperately needed.

With that thought in mind, he shoved past the fabric doorway and braced himself for the inclement weather.

An hour later, Sam hurried back through the doorway of the small, two-man tent. Shivering in spite of herself, she quickly moved to the far side of the cozy space. No need to tempt fate with a repeat performance of their earlier encounter.

Right on her heels, a very sodden Jack carefully followed her into the tent. He, too, swiftly moved a discreet distance away. Reaching for his pack, he quickly pulled out an emergency blanket and began using it to towel himself off.

Sam tore her eyes away from the striking figure he cut, and followed his example. In a few moments, she felt markedly better. Though far from dry, she had at least stopped dripping on her bedroll.

Taking a deep breath, she reached back into her pack and pulled out her radio. Refusing to look at her CO, she depressed the send button and spoke quietly. "Daniel? Teal'c?"

The reply was swift. "We're here Sam. What did you find out?" Daniel's voice seemed genuinely worried.

She sighed wearily. "It's not good. The seismic readings seem to indicate something big is going on under this mountain. We all need to get out of here first thing in the morning." Sam raised her hand and pushed a lock of soggy hair from her forehead. "It's hard to see in the darkness, but I'd say most of the vapor cloud seems to be coming from your side of the mountain. If it does blow, you guys are probably in the most danger."

"Define 'blow,' Sam. Are we talking Mount Saint Helens here?" The alarm in her friend's voice was clear, even over the airwaves.

Sam's shoulders sagged. "Essentially, and unfortunately, yes. Between my observations and the rock samples gathered by the MALP, I'd say that this is almost certainly a composite volcano. Unlike the relatively tame shield volcanoes, like those found in Hawaii, a mountain like this one alternates between quiet lava flows and violent eruptions. It can remain dormant for very long periods of time, which allows erosion to fill the magma vents. Then, when pressure starts to build up again, there's nowhere for it to go. It just blows away a huge chunk of the mountain and covers everything around it in superheated, poisonous gasses and ash."

From across the tent, Jack heard the fatigue in her voice. Listening to her grim words, he couldn't help feeling sorry for her. Clearly, as the team's scientist, she felt guilty for not having seen this before they were in danger.

Sam felt her CO's eyes on her, but refused to look at him. This night was rapidly becoming a nightmare, and she wasn't sure she could hold up under his sympathetic, chocolate-brown gaze. Swallowing, she forced herself to continue the conversation. "Daniel, how far are you from the gate?"

His response was immediate. "We can see it from here, Sam. But if you're suggesting that we leave without you guys, you can just forget it."

Before Sam had a chance to reply, Jack picked up his own radio and interrupted. "This isn't up for discussion, Daniel. You guys need to get back to base and equip a UAV with…" he trailed off, looking at Sam blankly.

She immediately picked up his statement. "… both a thermal imaging camera and a regular observation array. I need new pictures to compare with those we originally took. Depending on the distortion of the mountainside and the size of the lava dome, we may be better off finding shelter here than putting ourselves in the path of a pyroclastic cloud. We're at least six or seven hours away from you guys, and we can't even think about leaving until morning."

Jack again interjected. "If you can have that UAV in the air at first light, you can radio back the readings to Carter within an hour. That should give us enough information to make our next decision."

A lengthy pause ensued. Finally, Daniel replied grimly. "I don't like it, Jack. What if the mountain erupts before we get the UAV in the air?"

Jack replied stoically. "There's not a damn thing you could do for us here, Danny. If this thing does blow, we're all going to be running for shelter. Carter says that those pyro… plastic… whatever-the-hell-they're-called can travel at over a hundred miles per hour. If that comes roaring down your side of the mountain, you might not have time to activate the gate in time to escape. You need to get out of there now."

Daniel still didn't sound convinced. "And what if she's wrong about this heading on our direction? Volcanoes are notoriously hard to predict."

Sam sighed. "Daniel, the Colonel is right. Whatever the case is, you'll be better off back at base. There's really nothing you can do for us here. We'll camp here tonight and head further down the mountain at first light. Until we know more, that's all we can do."

A moment later, Teal'c's voice crackled from the speaker. "We will leave immediately, O'Neill. Be careful, and beware of oversized, wild dogs."

Climbing into her sleeping bag, Sam refused to look in her CO's direction. After the news from her equipment went from bad to worse, she'd decided that she was probably being punished for breaking some unwritten cosmic law. It seemed that any time she came close to enjoying herself with a member of the opposite sex, chaos always ensued. And, of course, with Jack, it only seemed logical that the resulting chaos would be of epic, biblical proportions. After all, she reasoned, she'd never felt quite so intense a connection to anyone before. Anything less apocalyptic simply wouldn't do justice to the situation.

Jack watched as she wriggled into her sleeping bag, still dressed in her soggy clothing. He was about to offer to leave the tent so she could undress, when he realized that she was already doing so – under the privacy of her bedroll. Feeling his mouth go dry at the thought of a damp, nearly-naked Carter mere feet from where he sat, Jack shoved the thought forcefully from his head and decided to follow her example. Within minutes, they were both settled in their sleeping bags, wet clothes discarded on the tent floor.

Without ceremony, he leaned over and shut off the battery-powered lamp. As darkness overtook the confines of the tent, Jack lay quietly, staring into the inky blackness. Well, he reflected dryly to himself, if he was going to die in a fiery explosion, at least he got to do some serious making-out with Sam first. He was about to roll over and focus on getting some sleep when he became aware of an odd, out-of-place noise in the tent.

It sounded suspiciously like sniffles.

Another moment of listening confirmed his fears. Hell. Carter was crying.

Wordlessly, he reached over and tugged her sleeping bag closer to his. The smooth nylon material made a quiet hissing noise as it was dragged across the canvas floor of the tent. He could feel Sam stiffen as she was brought into close contact with him.

"Sir," she said softly, not quite able to hide the tears in her voice, "I don't think this is such a good idea."

Brushing aside her comment, he wrapped an arm around the outside of her sleeping bag, drawing her up against him. The many layers of fabric and insulation muffled the contact of their bodies, allowing for a less sensual connection between them. "Relax, Carter. I'm not going to jump into your sleeping bag."

She couldn't stop a half-smile from forming on her lips. She had to admit, the warmth of his strong body made her feel safe and secure, even in these dismal, uncertain moments. "Sir," she said quietly, "about before–"

"It's done, Sam. Don't worry about it now. If we get through this whole volcano mess in one piece, we can talk about it later on over pizza and beer."

Sam laughed through her tears. "Yes, sir. Sounds like a plan." Then, giving in to the bone-deep exhaustion that was rapidly bearing down on her, she sighed wearily and snuggled up against his warm, comforting mass.

With his arms wrapped securely around her padded body, Jack drew a deep, silent breath. The damp hairs on the top of her head tickled his chin, but he couldn't bring himself to move farther away. Instead, he buried his nose into the silky strands and smiled at the familiar scent of her shampoo. Within moments, he heard her breathing grow deep and even. Though he would have thought it impossible mere moments before, Jack felt himself also beginning to grow drowsy.

Just before sleep overtook him, he couldn't help brushing a soft, chaste kiss on the top of Sam's head. Tomorrow might be the end of the world, but tonight was shaping up to be a pretty decent affair.

To Be Continued…