Rating: Teen to Mature
Season: Alternate Future
Email: in bio
Ariel's note: Here's chapter 3. I hope you'll like it as much as you liked the first two. If you want chapter 4 soon, put pressure on Eridani! She's the one who keeps the chapters as hostages! But without her there'd be no story so… Please review!
Eridani's Note: Sure, sure, blame me… They aren't hostages… Honest! If they want to edit themselves, I'd be more than happy to pass the task along to them. The delays are caused by my exhausting work schedule… So please bear with me while I try to find the energy to edit before my bed beckons to me again. Please make Ariel smile and send tons of reviews!
Thunder 3
Reverberating Questions
Opening her eyes to the bright sunlight streaming through her window, Sam shifted away from the light and froze, shocked to see Jack still lying on her bed, fully awake, his arm laced over her stomach like a protective barrier, watching her. Smiling, she cautiously reached out, tracing the laugh lines around his eyes as she whispered, "Oh wow... So, it wasn't a dream, you're really here?"
Jack's smile broadened as he brushed her tousled hair from her eyes, replying, "Yes… Sam, I'm really here." Leaning towards her, he gently kissed her, nuzzling his face in her neck before lifting his head and softly asking, "How are you with… this?"
"I'm fine... really." Her smile grew dreamy as she relived waking up in his embrace; and tracing designs on his chest, she added, "Never been that fine in my entire life."
"Ummm… well… good…" Nibbling at her fingers, he sighed and said, "You know; I realized somewhere around four a.m. that I left my truck in your driveway."
Sleepy confusion filled Sam's eyes as she struggled to stay awake and yawning loudly, she countered, "So?"
"Ummm…. What if someone saw the truck, Carter... Er, Sam?" Grinning as her eyes widened and all traces of sleep fled, he added, "I don't care about me, but you still have a long and promising career ahead of you and I don't want to mess that up."
Panic filled her as she pushed from the bed, running her hands through her hair and causing further disarray as she finally processed what he was saying. "Oh! Oh God, I didn't think about that. What are we going to do?"
Rising, Jack wrapped his arms around her from behind, gently rocking her from side to side as he kissed her neck, advising, "First we wait and see if there is any fallout and then we deal with it... I'm here for you Sam, I'm not going anywhere, and you have my promise on that." Glancing at her bedside table, he winced and said, "Ummm… well… I'm going to go… I need to run by my house and change. See you at the base?"
Sam was unable to hide her disappointment as she nodded and wrapped her arms around her middle, stepping away from him as he turned to look for his clothes. Moving to her bedroom window, she felt the prick of tears in her eyes and struggled to stop them and she replied, "Well… I guess so…"
Aww hell… I didn't mean to hurt her! Moving back to her, Jack wrapped his arms around her again and kissed her deeply before whispering, "Sam, if it were up to me, we'd stay here in this bed all day, but I have a base to run and if I'm not mistaken, you have a mission to P4X-977 this morning."
The harshness of reality set in and nodding, she gave a little shiver as she questioned, "Okay, okay. When will I see you again?"
Jack smiled at her nervousness in asking the question and responded, "At the 0800 briefing." Damn briefing… I'd like to debrief…
Shaking her head, Sam clarified, "No, I meant when will I see Jack again not the General."
D'oh! Smiling at his own sudden nervousness, he stated, "Tomorrow night when you get back."
"I don't want to be offworld that long!" Sam whined, before realizing how childish it sounded. This was her job, for crying out loud! But that didn't change her desire to make up for the years they'd wasted being frightened of what was between them. Rubbing her arms in the sudden chill of the room, she muttered, "Brrr! I'm so cold!"
Jack wrapped his arms tighter around Sam, and rubbing her arms, suggested, "Go… Grab a warm shower and I'll see you at the SGC in about an hour."
Sighing, Sam nodded, muttering, "All right, but it would be so much better if..." Mentally slapping herself, she silently chastised, Damn it Samantha, get your mind out of the gutter!
Flashing her his evil grin as he silently finished the sentence, Jack leaned toward her, kissing Sam deeply before murmuring, "I love you Sam… don't ever forget that."
Tears flooded her eyes again as she repeated, "I love you too."
Jack dressed quickly, ever mindful of her watching his six... when there was no reason to. Turning, he grabbed his truck keys from her dresser and pausing, questioned, "Sam… I… Are you sure this is what you want?"
"What about you?" That's it Sam... A question with a question...
Jack's eyes narrowed dangerously as he tossed his keys from one hand to the other, quietly saying, "I know what I want… Now, I want to know what youwant."
"I want you!" God, after all of her damn tears, how could he even question that?
"Good!" The broad smile returned, and dropping a quick kiss on her lips, he moved towards the door, wondering if he was brave enough to consume the caffeine provided by the Golden Arches. He was halfway through the door when she called, "Wait!"
Pausing once again, he turned, raised and eyebrow and questioned, "Yeah?"
Sam felt her face flush red, but forced herself to ask, "Don't you want me?"
Disbelief wiped the grin from his face, causing his mouth to drop open as he yelled, "Of course I do! Hell, I've wanted you for eight friggin years!"
Sam felt the smile burst onto her face and nodding, teased, "See you later, alligator!"
Returning her smile, he winked, kissed her cheek again and moved towards her living room, calling behind him, "Be seeing you Sam!"
Sam grabbed a quick shower and practically raced to the base. At the briefing, they both acted as they'd always acted with each other, but the smile on Jack's face and the sparkle in Sam's eyes made Daniel suspect something was going on between them. Jack stood at the base of the ramp and watched his future walk through the wall of 'water', praying that she made it back to him in one piece.
On P4X 977, Sam set about taking soil samples, as Daniel began to study some ruins with Teal'c. As the colonel moved to the back side of the ruins, Daniel moved closer to his Jaffa friend and questioned, "Teal'c, did you notice anything odd about Sam and Jack's behaviour?"
The Jaffa raised his eyebrow and replied, "I did not Daniel Jackson. Is there any problem I am not aware of?"
"No. No problem." Shoving his glasses back up on his nose, Daniel glanced in the direction Sam had gone, before asking, "Don't you think they look… I don't know… happier?"
Teal'c was unsure as to where the archaeologist's line of questioning was headed, and chose to reply, "I do not believe that their private lives are any of our concern, Daniel Jackson."
God, the man could be so annoyingly proper sometimes! Taking a few steps in the direction their leader had gone, Daniel muttered, "Maybe we should ask Sam about it."
Teal'c's hand snaked out to grab Daniel's arm, preventing him from leaving their current position as he stated, "I do not believe it is a good idea, Daniel Jackson. If Colonel Carter does not wish to tell us why she is happy, it is her right. As her friends, we should not attempt to interrogate her."
"Interrogate me about what?" Crossing her arms over her chest, Sam glanced from the large imposing man to his irritated friend and demanded, "Alright guys, what the hell is going on?"
"Teal'c and I were just discussing..." "Daniel Jackson wished to know the cause of..."
Holding her hand up as they both began to speak at the same time, Sam yelled, "Oh for crying out loud! Daniel, what the hell is this about?"
Tilting his head to the side, Daniel studied his friend and leader and blurted, "We want to know what's going on with you, Jack and all the strange looks?"
Uh oh! Danger zone! Sam's mind was racing… Should she tell Daniel and Teal'c about what happened? No! Janet deserved the honor as her best friend and since the good doctor was presently on another planet... Avoiding the question was the best thing to do right now. Giving him a strange look Sam defended, "Looks Daniel? I have no idea what you're talking about." Shaking her head as though amused as she moved back towards the MALP, Sam muttered, "Damn irritating scientists! Now I can see Jack's point eight years ago..."
Grinning as the woman disappeared from sight, Daniel elbowed his friend in the stomach and asked, "Did you hear what she called him?" Snickering, Daniel began to take pictures of the ruins for further study as he offered, "Bet you fifty bucks Jack's truck was parked at her house last night."
"Daniel Jackson." Waiting until the other man had turned to face him, Teal'c grinned and demanded, "How stupid do you think I am?"
"Good point." Squinting at the still rising sun, Daniel suddenly returned the large man's grin and inquired, "Wonder if we can still get in on that bet about them..."
"Daniel Jackson, we have already established that I am not stupid." Crossing his massive arms Teal'c smirked and added, "I placed my bet eight years ago."
For the entire time they were on the planet, Daniel wouldn't stop questioning Sam about her relationship with Jack. He was worse than a kid with the eternally annoying 'why?', and Sam's head had started to hurt after five hours of questioning. Unfortunately, now it was throbbing and she didn't have a single aspirin to kill the wrenching pain.
Forty excruciatingly long hours later, SG1 finally made it back to the base to find General O'Neill waiting for them at the bottom of the gate ramp. His face filled with a smile as he held his arms wide and called, "Evening Campers! How was the trip?"
Grimacing as the SF relieved her of her P-90, zat and her pack, Sam rolled her shoulders, responding, "Painful, sir."
The smile disappeared, instantly replaced with concern as he studied her weary face, demanding, "Why? What happened?"
"I have a huge headache, sir." Do you really thing 'huge' covers the size of this headache Sam?
Moving towards her, Jack's eyes scanned her body for signs of injury and finding none, questioned, "Why? Do you need to go to the infirmary?"
Shaking her head, Sam replied, "I don't think so, sir."
"Okay… So, off to the showers with ya. Then your post mission physicals and we'll debrief in oh… Two hours?" Raising an eyebrow, he didn't have long to wait as they all sighed in relief and replied, "Yes, sir!"
Smiling again as the team nodded, he allowed Daniel and Teal'c to move towards the door as he called, "Carter… could you remain for a moment?"
"Sure!" Tilting her head to the side, her curiosity was further tweaked as he added, "My office, Carter."
Smiling broadly, she sauntered after him replying, "Yes, sir!"
Entering the office behind him, she closed the door and watched in amusement as he locked the other door, closed the blinds to the briefing room and disabled the security camera. Her smile turned into a sigh as he wrapped his arms around her and burying his face in her hair, softly questioned, "Car… Sam, are you really okay?"
Rubbing her face against his chest, Sam tried not to think about how tired she was as she answered, "Sure, s… Jack. It's just because of Daniel."
"What did he do now?" Rolling his eyes, wondering what the accident-prone man could have done to earn Sam's irritation, he was unprepared for when she quietly stated,
"I'm sure he knows about us."
Jack froze; his eyes widening as he cursed, "Oh shit…" Do I tell her about… Shaking his head to clear the thought, he quietly asked, "What makes you say that?"
Her sigh was heartfelt, one he remembered well, as she muttered, "He didn't stop bugging me during the whole damn mission."
"About?" Okay, so he was really confused now...
"Why was I so happy, what were all the smiles between us about, what was going on between us." Stifling a yawn, she discreetly glanced at his clock and prayed that Daniel and Teal'c were out of the showers when she made it there.
"And what did you say?" God, this was like pulling teeth today.
Sighing and stepping away from him, Sam accepted the fact that he wasn't going to let her catch a five-minute nap in his arms. Rubbing her aching temples, she demanded, "What did you want me to say? 'I'm happy because I spent the entire night in the arms of my CO?'"
Her harsh tone surprised him and holding up his hands, he responded, "Hell no! But what did you say? I need to know what damage control to do here, Sam."
"Hey! Don't you trust me?" Pain flashed through her eyes, quickly hidden as she added, "I said it was none of his business why I was happy."
Okay... that made sense, but... "Then why were both he and Teal'c grinning like idiots in the gate room?"
Growling in exasperation, she groused, "I don't know! May I get a shower now, or do I continue to smell up your office? I feel horrible."
Feeling guilty for having delayed her, remembering all too well how that first shower after a mission felt, he waved his hand, dismissing her as he said, "Okay… I'll see you later then."
Sam turned to leave, but was stopped as he called, "Oh, Sam?"
Pausing at the door, she raised a curious eyebrow and gave a tired, "Yes?"
"Nothing… just this…" Kissing her deeply, he laughed at the wistful sigh that filled his office as he whispered, "My house... Pizza, beer and a movie?"
"Hummm that was good..." Realizing that it definitely wasn't the time or place, she winked, asking, "What time?"
His brain scrambled to figure out the earliest he could depart the mountain and with a smile, questioned, "20:00?"
"Sounds great!" As long as I can stretch out as soon after that is possible...
Nodding, Jack watched as she walked from the room, calling, "See you later then." Looking at the message stamped "PRIORITY" that had been lying on his desk for the last two days, he sighed, dropping into his chair and running his hands over the back of his neck. Staring at the paper with dread and hatred, he couldn't help but wonder, Do I give this to her and ruin what we could have together or do I ruin it by not giving it?
Later that night at 20:00 exactly, Sam found herself knocking at Jack's front door. He opened the door with a concern look, saying, "Hi Sam! Come on in!"
Offering him a tired smile, she kissed his cheek and replied, "Hi Jack!"
Grabbing her as she started to slip past him, he pushed her against the door, kissing her for a few seconds before pulling away and closing his eyes, stated, "Listen Sam, before we go any further tonight, I need to tell you… Pete called."
Her world started to crumble around her, her smile fading as she whispered, "Oh!"
"He said to tell you that he would be here tomorrow night." Feeling like the dreaded messenger of old, Jack could only pray that she wouldn't kill him... or what was between them.
"I… I…" Struggling for words, Sam felt the tears start to flood her eyes as she looked up at him for guidance, instead finding the brown pools closed to her.
Refusing to allow her to see how the other man's call was ripping him apart, he murmured, "Your choice, Carter. I did what was right and told you. Now it's up to you."
Sam felt hundreds of different emotions running through her; confusion and hurt being the strongest, as she watched him sit on the couch with a beer. His eyes met hers as he callously asked, "So… What's it going to be, Carter?"
A new emotion took over as anger flooded her; turning her face red and causing her eyes to blaze as she hissed, "Screw the Carter, would you?"
His head snapped back at the tone of her voice and nodding, he demanded, "Fine, Sam, what's it going to be?"
God, why was he doing this to her? Pacing around the room with her arms wrapped around her stomach, she begged, "Give me a chance to breathe."
"Fine… take all the time you need." Rising, Jack bounded up the few stairs, walking into the kitchen and slammed his fist into a cabinet door. His mind was whirling with the fact that he was an inch from losing the woman he'd finally admitted to loving.
Damn it! Why is this always happening to me? Tossing his empty bottle in the recycling bin, he snagged another from the fridge as his mind argued; You did the right thing O'Neill… She has to make the choice for herself.
Pausing at the kitchen door, Sam gave it a timid knock as she whispered, "Jack?"
Who the hell else did she think it was? Taking another deep draw on the beer, he growled, "Yeah?"
Okay, enough was enough. Placing her hands on her hips, she yelled, "Get the hell out here!"
Turning slowly, he gave her a long perusing look as a sarcastic smile crossed his face and he demanded, "You're going to make me... how?"
"Please!" She'd call Teal'c if she had to, but the damn stubborn General was going to listen to what she had to say!
Sighing, Jack closed his eyes and quietly asked, "What is it Car… Sam?"
Swallowing against her fear, she whispered, "I've made my choice."
Jack felt his heart stop at her words, and taking a tentative step towards hers, he softly questioned, "And?"
Watching as she swallowed nervously and refused to meet his eyes, he felt his heart shatter completely. Leaning against the kitchen door, he closed his eyes, wondering, Where the hell did I put my gun, 'cause I can't live if she chooses him.