A/N: Hmmm. Ok. Two posts in one day. I've been at uni since 7am. It's now 3.15 and I've got class in an hour. Have I been STUDYING all day? Why no, of course not! After posting the last chapter I just HAD to get this bit down as well! It's a bit shorter than usual as it's only one scene, but I think it works best all by itself.

Thanks to those quick off the mark who managed to review since I posted, oh, 6 hours ago! I was mighty impressed to get four – especially considering it's the "wee hours of the morning" in most of the world.

Anyone who is reading this fic for the 'action/adventure' tag can probably skip over this chapter… everyone else – enjoy!

Chapter XII – A few precious moments

"Carter, you really should rest." Jack repeated, slightly irritated at her unwillingness to relax.

"Same goes for you, sir." Sam replied tiredly. She had acquiesced to his suggestion that she lie down and her head was now resting quite comfortably on his leg. Her eyes, however, would not close. She was in a state of alert and she knew he could feel it – but then, the goa'uld on the other side of the shield hardly provided them with a calm environment.

"I'm resting…" Jack protested quietly. "I'm just thinking."

Sam giggled slightly, craning her neck to look up at her CO's face. "Sir, those two actions don't go in the same sentence in your case."

Jack smiled at her words, but kept his eyes fixed ahead of him, locked in a stare with Turramulli. "Yeah well, you haven't been fiddling around with mystical Ancient technology – it breeds thought, even in my case."

Sam thought about what he said and realised how strange the situation must be for him. At least when he had the Ancient's repository of knowledge downloaded in his head, there was a separation of his mind and the Ancient knowledge – he was never conscious of why he did things or what he said. This time, however, there was a concerted interaction between his conscious mind and the technology surrounding them.

"Do you know how you did it?" She asked quietly.

Jack thought about Sam's question carefully. In truth, although he would probably say he had no idea what was going on to anyone else, it was clear to him that there was some logic to the way the technology worked. In spite of his accidental 'arrival' in the cavern, manipulating the orb seemed to be a matter for concentration. Teal'c would probably be much better at it, he mused, what with all the experience in meditation. He thought back to the moment where Turramulli had been upon him. It had taken an effort unlike any other to make the shield descend, but then the red light that had shot out at Turramulli had appeared without him even having to think it. Weird.

"Not really," he spoke quietly, trying to make sure that Turramulli wouldn't hear anything they said. "It seems to be kind of psychic, but then sometimes it works better than others." He indicated to the strange aqua colour that enveloped the cavern. "I didn't think I was going to be able to get the shield to work, but then when he had you mid-air like that…" Jack's voice trailed away as he suddenly realised why he had been able to shoot at the goa'uld with such ease.

"What?" Sam had been watching Jack's face carefully and had noticed the sudden revelation that seemed to relax his features as he stopped speaking. It was swiftly followed by a look mixed with confusion and fear. His jaw clenched slightly and she saw his brow furrow.

Jack took his eyes off Turramulli and looked down to Sam, who was waiting for a response. He didn't want to admit what he had just realised. That in fact it was because of Sam that he had been able to control the device so much better to shoot at Turramulli. The fact that his emotions could have some bearing on the operation of the Ancient orb was not something that filled him with hope. He'd never had the best control of his emotions… usually there was a mask covering his face there was actually barely-contained mayhem wreaking havoc in his psyche.

"Emotion." He stated simply, softly, dipping his head down. "When I was trying to make the shield happen, I was focussed – I knew what had to be done and I was trying my damned best to do it, but it was without any feeling – I was just being a soldier." He looked at her, his head still hanging limply, chin resting on his chest. "When I was trying to get him to let you go…" he swallowed hard as he remembered the fear that had enveloped him at seeing Turramulli lift Sam up as if she were a feather. "When he had you up in the air like that… I was angry… furious… and…" he paused, looking for inspiration.

"Scared?" Sam suggested tentatively, knowing how hard this must be for him.

"Petrified." He whispered. Jack couldn't hold her gaze any longer and looked away, afraid of what Sam might see if she kept looking into his eyes.

"If it's any consolation," she said softly, injecting a smidge of humour into her voice. (A/N: I can't believe I just used the word 'smidge'!) "I'm not exactly feeling fearless right now."

Jack looked down and saw Sam eying Turramulli carefully, the fear obvious through her body-language. He placed a protective hand on her shoulder, rubbing it slightly in an effort to comfort her.

"As you saw earlier, Carter, I'm not going to let anything happen to you – or any of us for that matter. I didn't come back just to lose you." As the words left his mouth, Jack immediately regretted having said them. There was no way she was going to let it go.

"Come back?" Sam asked carefully, wondering if he was going to answer or not.

"Yeah." Jack let his head hang limply again and brushed his free hand through his hair, trying to reinforce his fast-waning strength. "You know Daniel tried to make me ascend when I was… when I was…" he couldn't finish the sentence.

"With Baal?" Sam asked in a small voice, shocked by what she was hearing. "You mean, you were going to-?"

"Yeah… but you know me," Jack tried for a smile, but the corners of his mouth only twitched slightly, "I'm not that enlightened." He peeked at Sam but saw she wasn't buying his quip. He took a deep breath before finally telling her what had really happened. "I didn't want to leave – I couldn't release my burden as Daniel phrased it." He forced himself to look into Sam's eyes, despite the sheer terror that was threatening to cause him to explode. "I couldn't leave you." He let those words sit in the stillness of the cavern for a few seconds before snapping his head back up to look at Turramulli. "Besides," his voice had now returned to its normal strength – he was trying to move on. "The new season of The Simpsons was about to start…"

Sam smiled at his attempt at humour, but reached her arm up to clasp his shoulder. Jack looked down and saw the unshed tears in her eyes. Not for the first time since his return from Baal's little shop of horrors, he asked himself again why he had been denying his feelings for her for so long. Their need to maintain a viable working relationship was important, but the possibility of never seeing her again, of leaving her, had made him realise how lost he would be if she disappeared from his life.

"I'm glad you chose to stay." She said quietly, her hand still clutching his arm, now more as a reassurance to herself that he was really there. "I don't know how I would have coped… first Daniel-" Sam almost choked upon saying the name of their now-absent friend, "-and then it looked like we had lost you, like I had lost you… to the virus, to Baal." She pressed her eyes shut in an attempt to keep control of her emotions. "I'm just so glad you're still here…" she managed to choke out before Jack lifted her gingerly off the ground so she was sitting at a right angle to him. He then enveloped her in a tight hug.

Jack buried his face into Sam's shoulder as he realised properly for the first time that everything was going to be ok. He almost laughed at the thought – considering their current predicament – but it really seemed for the first time that he had come back from the dark place his mind had travelled to at the hands of Baal. Since his capture, he had only been automatically performing his duties – apart from the crisis on that planet when Baal had come through the gate. Even after his conversation with Sam back at home, he hadn't been convinced that all was well – he went on the mission because he was part of the team; because it was his duty. Now, however, as he felt her unsteady breathing against his chest, he knew things were going to get better: he had come back, he had found her; she had found him.

Pulling away slightly he moved his hand up to cup her cheek, their faces just inches apart. "You know I thought I'd never see you again." He hadn't realised it, but tears were now forming in his eyes as well. Sam nodded without saying anything, her lip quivering with the effort to keep from crying. "Even when I got back…" he tried to collect his thoughts, "I couldn't… I was… I needed time to get used to the idea of being back." He finally managed to say.

Leaning his forehead against hers, their noses touching, Jack decided there and then that he wasn't going to let anything get in the way of what he knew was right. He had come so close to never seeing her again, without telling her how he really felt, without ever showing her how he felt. He softly brushed a stray tear off her cheek with this thumb before slowly closing the distance between their mouths.

"Hey Carter?" he asked quietly, his mouth mere millimetres from hers. "No running away this time, k?" He waited for a brief instant, letting Sam make the final decision. He felt her nod her head slightly before finally kissing her, softly, gingerly. The anguish and despair that had filled him for the passed weeks was eventually fuelled into the kiss as desire and need. His passion was matched with hers, as she opened her mouth to allow his tongue to enter, grazing ever so slightly against her teeth as they shared in this moment of realisation.

When he finally pulled away from her, Sam immediately missed the feel of Jack's lips against hers, of his tongue intertwined with hers, of his entire body against hers. She moved closer to him, settling in his strong arms again, unwilling to give up on the close contact they'd been enjoying for the past couple of minutes. Burying her head in his chest, she felt hot tears springing out of her eyes, falling freely down her face and onto his jacket. The sheer relief of knowing he had survived all that life had thrown at him in the last couple of weeks was enough to reduce her to such a state; and now the knowledge that he needed her just as much as she needed him overwhelmed her. She felt his lips touching the sensitive skin on her neck and around her ear, and nuzzled further into his chest, calming down and becoming more content as each second passed.

For a few precious moments, they both forgot about Turramulli; they both forgot about the Asgard ancestor that would, in all likelihood, be their only key to escaping from the cavern; they even forgot about the dead and near-dead soldiers lying a couple of metres behind them. For a few precious moments, they were together; they had found each other, and everything was going to be alright.

TBC

A/N: Ok now. If anyone has read my only completed story, they'll know that I have a near-phobia of what is scientifically known as the "cheese-factor". I have nightmares about inserting too much cheesiness into Sam/Jack relationship sections of fics, which is probably why I concentrate so much on an actual plot most of the time.

So this is where you all have to step up to the plate (to use an American term) and tell me what you think. This is where I REALLY need it folks! The more feedback I get about these emotion-laden bits, the better I can write them!

Back to the main story next time! Stay tuned!