A/N: Hello, thank you all for the reviews, and kind condolences about my poor car. Grandad will be sorely missed. But anyways, moving on!
Flatkatsi, I hope you weren't too traumatised by the death of the soldier dudes – basically I'd conceived them at the beginning of the fic and then had no room for them – there are well too many characters running around as it is… I hope you can deal.
Kathy, I agree, which is why I'm trying to be so careful with dialogue etc. I appreciate it that you think I'm doing ok!
Kittn, good to see you're up to date now – hope I can keep the updates coming so you don't have to wait to long! And thanks for the compliment… I went all red just reading it!
Ok, I need to post before the library closes! Hope you all like!
Chapter XVIII – Phenomenal pheromones
"Lord Baal," the loyal servant approached the goa'uld cautiously, "should you not return to claim the naquada immediately? The Asgard ship is still in orbit – there is a strong chance we will soon be discovered."
The nasty smile that had adorned Baal's face while speaking to Jack now disappeared. His eyes narrowed as he turned slightly and moved to confront the jaffa. "Jaffa!" he bellowed. "You will not question your Lord's actions!" He turned to look out the window towards Earth and saw the Asgard ship leave orbit, probably searching for his own now invisible vessel. "Not all battles are won by force alone." He said. "Strategy and wit are the guidelines by which we will triumph this day."
All the same, Baal was becoming worried. The presence of the Asgard ship made it exceedingly dangerous to appear in the cavern – for doing so required de-cloaking his vessel. They would have to wait until the ship was searching on the other side of the planet.
He glanced quickly at the consol under the window and noticed how much time had passed since their arrival. Anubis would soon become suspicious at his disappearance and would demand answers. Baal cringed inwardly at the thought. There was no denying the formidable power housed by the strange being – even though to admit the existence of such power pained him to no end. He would pretend to follow Anubis until he was in a position to break free and destroy him. The alleged quantity of naquada housed under Turramulli mountain would help assure victory – and its remote location would provide him with the element of surprise.
"My Lord!" Baal was brought out of his musings by the urgent voice of one of his servants. "A message arrives from Supreme Lord Anubis!"
"Avert your eyes, Jaffa!" Baal shouted, moving quickly over to his position. "This message is not for you to see." The loyal servant bowed his head promptly, issuing hasty apologies as he shuffled backwards to leave the space free for Baal.
The transmitted message was, much to Baal's relief, in text. His relief soon washed away, however, when he saw the content:
Your absence displeases me Baal. Such measures of obfuscation and subterfuge will not be tolerated. The Tau'ri will not fail to detect your presence around their homeworld, and I will not come to your assistance should you raise their ire. Return immediately, for your master has a new plan for their destruction.
Glancing out the window, Baal saw with irritation that the Asgard ship was still nearby, and would not fail to detect them should he continue with his plan. Despite his trepidation, he deleted the newly arrived message and turned to his followers.
"Lord Anubis has spoken." He declared. "We will proceed as planned – notify me the moment we are able to manoeuvre undetected by the Asgard ship." Inwardly, he hoped fervently that they could act quickly – otherwise, Anubis would not be kind upon his return.
Sam could feel Jack's heartbeat as she pressed her head into his chest, comfortably clamped into position by his strong arms. His heart was beating just as fast as hers, which was oddly reassuring. She was fighting the urge to pull away from him, both physically and emotionally. They'd crossed the line three times in only 48 hours. For almost five years now they'd successfully avoided this, but now it had all changed.
It was agonising, feeling his warm body covering so much of hers. The uncertainty of their future well-being caused her to ache with foreboding. She knew they needed to talk; but when you'd been denying your feelings for so long, how were you supposed to even know what they were? A year ago, she'd known – and she'd been sure of their reciprocity. But now? If anything, she felt even more strongly for him – despite her best efforts to remain professional, she was sure it had been increasingly obvious to everyone around them. But what about him? She listened intently to his racing heartbeat, feeling the vibration against her ear and temple. If Daniel was right… if actions did speak louder than words… but then what if they were wrong? Or what if-
"Carter?" The feel of Jack's breath against the top of her forehead caused Sam to halt her tortuous musings. "I think we should…"
Sam pulled slowly away from Jack and raised her head so it was level with his, stopping him mid-sentence. He relaxed his grasp on her to allow her this movement, but didn't break contact – instead, he trailed his hands down her forearms until they were loosely holding hands while looking directly into each other's eyes.
"…get on with this…" Jack finally added, mesmerised as he was by her beautiful and yet apprehensive face.
Sam nodded stiffly and swallowed deliberately before opening her mouth, trying to coax the words out. "Sir, I don't know-d"
"Uh Carter?" Jack looked at her sensitively, stroking the back of her hands with his thumbs. "Think you can drop the sir?"
Sam dipped her head as she felt her face turn red, recovering enough to look up, she raised an eyebrow at him. "You're still calling me 'Carter'…" she challenged, happy to avoid the crux of the conversation for another few precious seconds.
"Yeah…" Jack tilted his head on one side, considering what she'd said, "But it's like a sign of affection – you'll notice I'm the only one who calls you Carter and not Major or whatever… lotsa people, on the other hand, call me 'sir'."
"Maybe," Sam chanced a nervous smile, "but I don't exactly say the word 'sir' to General Hammond in the same way I say it to you…"
"Huh." Jack raised both his eyebrows in genuine surprise. "I thought that was just my imagination…"
Sam shook her head slowly, indicating that in fact it hadn't been his imagination. Rather, those three letters, when addressed to Jack, had been laden with additional significance for some time now.
"Ok." Jack mulled over that for a while, before realising that they had gotten off-track. "So… Carter… um… I don't really know what you want…" He looked to her desperately, but saw she was in no better position to talk than he was. "But see… the thing is… Icouldn'thavedoneanyofthiswithoutyou." He rushed out in a flurry, dropping his head to look at his hands, marvelling at the fact that his fingers were now comfortably intertwined with hers. How such a thing could be possible he didn't know, but he was loathe to question it.
"That's not true." Sam whispered quietly.
"Yes it is." Jack insisted, looking straight at her again, heart pounding in his throat. "I'm not just talking about this." He looked around the cavern. "I mean everything… you have no idea how despondent I was when the Stargate programme started-" he paused, thinking back to that first mission with Daniel, and then the subsequent reactivation of the Stargate by Apophis. "I don't know if I could've stuck with it without you…" he dropped his voice to little more than a whisper, "…and as we continue to fight, day in and day out…" he looked away, scrunching his face up with the effort of expressing himself so frankly. "More and more," he continued finally, "I know that I need you… and not just for your excellent abilities as a soldier and scientist." He was now looking at her intently, silently pleading for her to feel the same way… to reassure him that he hadn't just made a huge mistake by laying it all bare.
Sam took a moment to digest what Jack had just said. She felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her by his words. Her mind spiralled out of control with the implications of what he'd said.
"So you still…? I was afraid…" Her voice was thick with emotion and her eyes filled with tears of relief as she saw him nod his head quickly in anticipation of her question. Feeling the irresistible urge to smile from ear to ear, Sam felt a grin form on her face as she raised a hand up to brush his coarse cheek with her thumb. "Thank god," she gushed quickly before closing the distance between them, urgently capturing his lips with hers.
Jack responded just as fiercely, clasping the back of her head, his fingers brushing through her silky blond hair. He lunged forward to deepen the kiss and they both sank to the ground, wrapping themselves in each other's body. He could feel his muscles shaking slightly with the sensation of touching her, feeling her against him, her body searing with heat.
He couldn't get enough of her, but realised at the same time that this was potentially not the time, nor the place, for such shenanigans. Apparently, Sam had had the same realisation, as she pulled away from him with some effort, gasping for oxygen after their long embrace.
"Yeah," Jack said, smiling tenderly while stroking her hair. "Gotta save the world, right?"
Sam merely nodded, still struggling to stop herself from closing the tantalisingly small space between them.
"For a human, you are surprisingly perceptive O'Neill." Baal had again arrived in the cavern and was now grinning at them in an infuriating manner.
Jack felt Sam reach for his hand, giving it a tight squeeze as they both quickly stood up. Despite his trepidation, he managed to keep it together enough to growl a response to the unwelcome visitor in the cavern. He moved so he was slightly in front of Sam, to hide her hand as it reached for the Tok'ra communicator device and turned it on.
"Oh yeah – I'm Mr. Perceptive." Jack glared at the goa'uld with hatred in his eyes. "Take you, for example," he challenged. "You're a pompous ass – and I can see it."
"Jonas Quinn!" Teal'c shouted over the ruckus that the scientists and technicians were creating in their futile attempts to interface with the Ancient-Asgard technology. When Jonas approached, Teal'c held up the Tok'ra communicator, a flicker of triumph appearing on his face. "Baal is once again in communication with O'Neill and Major Carter." He said
Jonas listened to the device for a moment. He grinned when he heard Jack call Baal a 'pompous ass', and looked around for Stacey. The smile that had adorned his face faded away as he saw she was in deep – and probably painful – consultation with General Marty. Taking a deep breath, he gave the communicator back to Teal'c before heading over to them.
Stacey was trying to keep calm as she listened to General Marty's ill-informed point of view. "The fact of the matter is, Captain," he was saying, "We don't know just what these Yanks have done to piss off this gould thingy. For all we know, this could be all their fault – and it's Australia that has to pay for their idiocy!"
Stacey took her time in formulating a response, clenching her fists tightly at her sides with frustration. "Sir," her voice was tight, "regardless of who's at fault for the current situation – the consequences will extend a long way beyond our borders." She paused, hesitating, before deciding to proceed with her thought in spite of the consequences. "If these experts aren't allowed to do their jobs – if the PM forces them out before the job's done – then I'd say we're all doomed."
"I'm sorry to interrupt, General Marty." Jonas cut him off just as he was about to launch a tirade in Stacey's direction for insubordination. "I thought I should inform you. Baal is once again in communication with the Colonel," he motioned to where Teal'c was listening intently to the Tok'ra device. "We need to consult your satellite link-up with NASA to locate the Asgard."
General Marty looked at the deceptively-normal looking alien with caution. "I thought this Thor-guy knew when you guys were in communication?"
"Usually, yes." Jonas responded impatiently. "If he'd realised, I'm sure he'd already be here now. The fact that he's not probably means he's on the other side of the planet – hence the need to consult NASA's imagery of Earth's all-over orbit."
"I'll take care of it, sir." Stacey said with determination, already moving away from the still-baffled General. "The link-up is in the secondary site." She motioned down the path leading to the bottom of Uluru. About 200 metres below them was a small plateau where technological equipment that didn't fit at their current position had been set up.
They both walked briskly down the well-trod path towards the cluster of personnel, a sense of purpose and foreboding dampening the usually pleasant rapport that had developed between the two over such a short time.
"That General Marty's something else," Jonas said with incredulity once they were a safe distance away.
"He's a good base commander," Stacey shrugged. "I just don't think he was ready to admit the existence of aliens, let alone their presence in his backyard."
"You're dealing with it remarkably well though," Jonas looked at her shyly.
Stacey shrugged again. "Well you've gotta admit it explains a lot – the past couple of years have seen some weird shit going on in the atmosphere. The explanations given by NASA or whatever have always seemed a bit dodgy…" she looked at Jonas, smiling coyly. "I guess the existence of aliens just made sense – as if I already knew, and it was just confirmed by you guys."
"You should consider coming to work with us back at Cheyenne Mountain." Jonas returned his gaze straight ahead. They were now very close to the small collection of technology. "From what I hear you're a fine soldier – and we definitely need open-minded people on our off-world teams." He looked at her quickly as they entered the tent equipped with the satellite link up. Her mouth and eyes were wide-open with shock. Laughing slightly, he patted her on the back as they crouched around the small laptop. "I take it you'd like that?"
All Stacey could do was nod, before the images on the computer in front of them forced her back to the task at hand.
"Are you now prepared to accept my deal?" Baal grinned snidely at Jack.
"Yes, yes." Jack replied dismissively, before looking at the goa'uld questioningly. "What took you so long anyway? Got a little Asgard problem up there?"
"Not at all, O'Neill," Baal's eyes were almost twinkling, "Your friend Thor is currently chasing his own tail on the other side of your pitiful planet."
Sam saw the tension rising in Jack's body language, his muscles quivering slightly in his conscious effort to maintain his composure. Like him, she had now grown thoroughly tired with dealing with the System Lord, and decided to take the bull by the horns.
"Ok. We accept the deal." She said matter-of-factly. "You get Turramulli back in his cage, we get the naquada out, and you get to keep half of it."
"Ah ah ah!" Baal tsked at Sam, amusement in his eyes. "A nice try, Major, however I will be taking all the naquada with me."
"Fine, fine." Jack snapped, hoping they were conceiving a plan on the topside of Uluru to deal with Baal before he could get his claws on the naquada. "How do we lure Turramulli back into his cave?"
"Ah," Baal was triumphant. "It is so simple, even your puny minds should have been able to think of it – that the Asgard couldn't is a symptom of their contrived evolution."
Jack didn't say anything or even move. Baal seemed to be speaking in a different language. He looked sideways to Sam and saw that although she appeared deep in thought, she didn't know either.
"Well, maybe not." Said Baal, looking between the two members of SG1 in front of him. "Turramulli's host body has a great many strengths, as you have discovered." He was talking mainly to Sam. "It does, however, have a significant flaw." He paused for dramatic effect. "It's primitive hormonal function… specifically," he leaned forward slightly and spoke extra slowly – as if addressing a group of children. "Specifically pheromonal reactions."
Jack looked from Sam to Baal and back to Sam again; better informed, but none the wiser. "Phenomenal reactions?" he whispered to Sam, a look of complete confusion on his face.
"Pheromone, sir… not phenomenon," Sam whispered back at him while eying Baal carefully, trying to decide if he could be telling the truth. "Wouldn't the symbiote counter-act the beast's pheromonal production?" She asked him suspiciously.
"It is too primitive." Baal answered promptly. "Do you understand now?"
"Nooo, we don't!" Jack protested. "What the hell are you talking about! How do we lure Turramulli anywhere!"
"Me, sir." Sam said quickly, her steady voice belying the apprehension she felt at this realisation.
"Huh?" Jack was dumbstruck.
"The host will respond to female pheromones and follow me." She said in a voice that was getting smaller by the minute.
Jack's jaw dropped open in disbelief.
TBC
A/N: So! We've got a horny beast! Hehehe I was going to put that line in their somewhere but I don't think even Jack would stoop that low when staring immense danger in the face.
I did the whole 'TBC' thing here because I wanna save Jack's reaction for the next chapter… outrage might be an apt prediction. Also, I'm kinda curious as to what you think of Baal's 'suggestion' or 'help' or whatever… I got the idea from the whole 'Asgard don't have sex' thing… but yeah. Please review… as always re: the cheese factor (or "ship balance" as kittn has christened a key aspect of my fic), but also the idea…