A/N: Speedy update! The next one shouldn't be too far away either! Enjoy.
Part 4 – Roadtrip
Warehouse, Insurgents' camp, San Sebastiàn
Élodie sat next to Daniel's unconscious body with Teal'c, Sam and Jack looking on. She stroked his cheek lightly and looked to Sam searchingly.
"He will be alright, won't he?" she said in French. "The lump on the back of his head is quite pronounced. What happened exactly?"
"He'll be fine." Sam rubbed her bruised arm as she replied to Elodie – yet again they had all been knocked about quite considerably. "We've all sustained much worse than that before. We just need to get him and the gate into the truck so we can get out of here before the others arrive. I just wish it hadn't gone down this way."
Sam looked to Jack and Teal'c who both seemed much the worse for wear after their small encounter with the rebel forces. How they had come off on top she didn't really know. The whole battle had been such complete chaos it was difficult to piece it together in her mind. One minute she's negotiating with the leaders of the camp, the next it was a fully-fledged battle. She didn't know what had startled the insurgents into making the first move, but at this point was just relieved that SG1 had come out on top. Juan's fate, however, filled her with sadness. So many people had already died in this fight between the left and the right, but it made her sick to her stomach that they were propagating the trend, rather than helping.
"Hey Carter," Sam looked up to see her superior officer looking at her with concern. "We did our best, okay? We didn't want any casualties but defended ourselves in the face of danger."
"It's not that sir," she sighed with the exhaustion of the last couple of days. "I left Juan vulnerable and he got shot. I shouldn't have left him – it wasn't rational of me."
She searched his eyes, hoping he would understand the real meaning behind these words. She had sprinted towards the man she cares most about in the world, and someone had been killed as a result. If that wasn't a reason why she shouldn't become romantically involved with a member of her team, then she didn't know what was.
"Major Carter I believe you acted correctly." Teal'c low voice filled the warehouse. "O'Neill had no knowledge of the soldiers advancing on his position and I was of too great a distance to be of assistance to him. Juan was a great warrior who fell in battle – through no fault of yours."
Sam looked from Teal'c's composed face to Jack. He nodded in appreciation to the Jaffa before speaking.
"He's right, Carter." He made a move to get up. "You can't dwell on the what-ifs, and you have to trust your instincts – even if you don't think their rational." He stood up and reverted into action mode. "T, we need to get that truck over here and load the gate, without Juan to help us it may take a bit to figure out the mechanism. Carter, stay here with Élodie and Daniel. If Danny boy wakes up – make sure you give him kudos from me for managing to be knocked unconscious again."
With that he strode through the large warehouse doors, followed by Teal'C.
Spain: somewhere between San Sebastiàn and Toulouse
Daniel clutched at his head with one hand and his stomach with the other, fighting both the excruciating pain emanating from the back of his skull and the strong nausea gripping him in these first moments of regained consciousness.
"Not again!" he groaned out loud. "Jeez - how many times is someone going to clock me over the head in this lifetime!"
He heard shuffling to his left and froze still, not knowing what to expect. Slowly he opened his eyes, thankfully to see a darkened enclosure – otherwise he was sure he wouldn't be able to resist the urge to throw up. As his eyes focussed with difficulty, he made out the shapes of two people sitting, looking at him, and an enormous ring clamped to floor behind them.
"Hey Teal'c," his mouth was dry and the words came thickly from his mouth. "We prisoners again?"
"We were victorious in our battle against the rebels, Daniel Jackson." The amusement was clear in Teal'c's voice. "However you were knocked unconscious. We have just left the base and are on our way to Toulouse, France."
Daniel looked around him and suddenly registered that the nausea he was feeling was mostly due to the fact that they were in motion. Resting his head back on the uneven surface that was the floor of the truck, he suddenly yelped in pain as the truck lurched over what must have been a large pothole in the road.
"Shit!" he screamed, just as Élodie swiftly moved to him and placed his head in her lap in a protective gesture. He looked up to her thankfully before addressing Teal'c again. "I guess Jack's driving then?" He added, somewhat wryly.
"Indeed Daniel Jackson." Daniel motioned for Teal'c to give him his radio and spoke into it.
"Hey Jack, I don't mean to sound rude, but I have a sizeable head injury here and would appreciate it if you took a little care with your driving." He let his hand flop down to his side when he finished talking, exhausted with the effort.
"Hey Daniel!" Jack's voice was unmistakably upbeat as it crackled through the radio. "Nice to see you're back with us – you had a certain frog very worried." Jack paused at this comment, letting the words sink in. "I'm doing my best up here – but the standard of country roads in Spain have a long way to go before they're anywhere near what we're used to."
Daniel pulled the hand holding the radio back towards his mouth with considerable effort. "Yeah thanks Jack." He thought it better to ignore the reference to Élodie – he knew that when Jack was in the teasing mood, it could continue for hours, days, or even weeks. He didn't see any harm, however, in throwing a cheeky comment back to him. "Safe driving up there – don't let yourself get distracted." With that he tossed the radio back to Teal'c and drifted off to sleep.
Front of the truck
"Cheeky bastard", Jack looked at the radio and then to the woman sitting next to him, who was pointedly not looking in his direction. Deciding to change the subject, he cleared his throat and proceeded the best way he knew how – asking science-geeky questions.
"So… Carter." He paused to be sure he had her attention. "Explain it to me. Are we pretending to be part of Hitler's forces or what?"
The relief was obvious on her face. Knowledge was her strong suit, and he knew it would make her feel in control. "Not exactly sir." She gathered her thoughts to try and explain their current situation as simply as possible. "Although the French Communist Party had – or has – clear links to Moscow, the Cagoule is largely a French organisation which has its roots in the Veterans' associations from the-" She stopped, seeing the expression of quiet satisfaction on O'Neill's face. "What?"
O'Neill snapped out his reverie, cursing himself for letting her catch him in one of his many moments of quiet worship for her. "No no, go on. I'm listening."
"You're sure?" she didn't know why he was suddenly so interested in the background of this particular mission, but continued anyway. "Well as I was saying, these associations date from the First World War, but they were actually outlawed in mid-1936 – that's over a year ago in our present time-" She stopped again, seeing that despite his efforts, there was a clear grin on Jack's face. "What? Why are you grinning? You always do that when I'm explaining something!"
This time Jack was almost pleased with himself for the reaction he was getting out of her. Here we go, he thought to himself. It was time to lay his cards on the table.
"Dang, you've caught me out." He paused to gauge Sam's reaction, unsurprised to see her mouth frozen half open. "C'mon, you've gotta know I never really follow you when you go into 'knowledge mode' – I'm not that bright."
Sam was too stunned to form full sentences. Of course she knew he never really understood a lot of what she worked on, but he'd never admitted to it. The tone of his voice unsettled her slightly too, it was as if he was having fun with her.
"Then why-?"
"Why do I ask you?" He was unashamedly grinning now. "Because I know you love trying to teach me…" He paused, looking for the right words. "Your face lights up – whenever I want to distract you from something that's troubling you, I'm giving you control, a way forward, a way to provide the solution to a problem – even if that problem is only my own ignorance."
Sam looked at her commanding officer in bewilderment. She wasn't prepared for where this conversation was going; she wasn't prepared for this type of conversation. On the one hand her heart leapt upon hearing that he cared– and had obviously done so for years, judging by the amount of times he'd asked her to try and explain things to him. Thinking carefully, she realised that almost every time the situation had been getting out of hand on a mission, he did exactly that – distracted her by asking her to try and explain something. Annoyed with herself for being so easily duped, she looked off into the distance ahead of them.
"Ah shoot," Jack was damned if he was going to let it go. "Don't go all silent on me. I think it's amazing that you know so much. I'm really in awe. All this French stuff? I had no idea you'd even been there and it turns out you're a bilingual freakin' expert!" He looked at her, but she was still avoiding his gaze. "You know how I feel…" He stopped short of actually expressing his feelings, still cautious of crossing that bridge. "I like to see you happy; and explaining stuff… well it makes your eyes light up – you relish it."
"How do you really feel?" Sam's words were barely audible; she said them more to herself than as a serious question to him.
"I, uh… well… let's just say that if certain regulations didn't exist… uh… then… y'know." This had not been the plan. Getting into feelings was not Jack's strongest suit – he much preferred some light banter and then maybe allusions to his feelings.
"But is it really just the regulation? Or is that an excuse?" Sam couldn't take her eyes off the buttons on her milita uniform. She hated herself for feeling so powerless, so dependent on someone else's response. She should be stronger than this, she should be able to control this situation, and yet she found herself feeling like she was sixteen again.
Sensing the inner turmoil swirling around Sam's head, Jack reached out to her and placed his hand on top of hers. He took his eyes off the road just long enough to force her to look at him, so she could see the sincerity in her eyes.
"Sam there's nothing in the world I would like more than to be with you – always." He shifted his eyes back to the road ahead of him, but moved his hand to gently squeeze her arm as compensation. "This regulation… I know it's there for a reason, so we can be objective in our decisions in times of crisis. But now that I think about it, I don't think that's really been the case for some time now – I don't treat you like I would any other soldier, I care about you too much. That probably goes for the guys as well – I don't think our team has been of a strictly objective military nature for ages now."
He stopped talking abruptly, afraid he may have said too much – revealed too much. Despite what the older Élodie had said, despite what had happened in Pamplona – what if he was wrong about this? Just as he began to pull his hand away from its comfortable grip on Sam's arm, he felt her hand clasp his and the soft touch of her lips placing a kiss on his fingers.
"You know," she began, lightening the mood with ease. "My eyes can "light up" when I'm not talking physics or history."
Jack smiled and retrieved his hand, relieved they were back in familiar territory. "I know, this is just my best method for making them do that." He turned briefly towards her with a mischievous look on his face. "Are you suggesting something else? Should I mispronounce the name of this 'Kagoo' thingy?"
"Why don't we just talk about something else? Not work related." As she said those words Sam felt a small amount of tension return to the front cabin of the truck.
"Such as?" Jack had felt the shift in the air too, and didn't really know where or how to proceed.
"Well," Sam considered her options. "Let's start with something non-threatening. What did you get up to last weekend?"
"Nearly got killed by some freaky alien gadget," Came the swift reply, safety in sarcasm as always. "How 'bout you?"
"I meant after that," Sam paused before adding: "Jack."
Jack raised his eyebrows slightly at the sound of his first name, but said nothing about it.
"Oh right, sure." He thought back to what was only a couple of days ago but seemed amazingly far away. "Well, got drunk with the boys on Saturday watching the game and went fishing on Sunday. Not that exciting – nice though; perfect weather up at the cabin this time of year."
"That the place you're always trying to coax me to?" Sam inwardly breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that she had managed to finally use his first name without prompting, although it still sounded strange.
"Yeah," Jack looked over to her, grinning. "You ever gonna to take me up on that offer or what?"
"Well, only problem is, I don't really like fishing." Sam knew that comment was going to get a reaction.
"You think I was really asking you there to fish?" Her companion retorted. "I KNOW you're smarter than that." Jack changed the subject before she had the chance to respond. "So, what'd you get up to? Did you even leave the base?"
Sam rolled her eyes. "You really think I have no life?" She feigned being indignant. "I'll have you know I had a great day with friends on Sunday – we rented a plane and went for a joyride. We actually probably flew over you as you sat there drinking – I mean 'fishing' – at your cabin." Two can play at this game, she thought.
"Ah, but that's only Sunday," Jack smirked in the knowledge that he had her. "You were 'simulating' in your lab at the SGC on Saturday weren't you?" Sam didn't respond – he was right of course. "Thought so – see, I do know you Carter."
Sam crossed her arms defensively. "It's what makes me happy. What do you want me to say?" She turned away again, prompting O'Neill to this time not only reach out for her but pull her closer to him, leaving his arm draped around her shoulder.
"Don't say anything Sam, just take advantage of this wonderfully old-fashioned notion of a bench seat and come here." He pulled her until she was pressed up against him and then, unable to stop himself, playfully tickled her side.
"Hey!" she jumped almost out of her seat, but his grip was firm and she was unable to move away from him.
"Ticklish Carter?" His eyes twinkled as he tormented her, before she suddenly fought back, nearly causing him to swerve off the road.
He was looking at her, feigning shock that she would fight back, when suddenly they both stopped tickling each other and froze still, looking deep into the other's eyes. His lips grazed the tip of her nose before she tilted her head upwards and their lips met, at first tentatively and then more urgently as they both poured their emotion into the embrace.
At that moment the truck lurched violently off the side of the road, causing an array of expletives to come out of Jack's mouth as he disengaged himself from Sam long enough to avoid a crash. As he regained control of the truck, the radio crackled into life.
"Uh guys?" Daniel's voice sounded amused. "It's great you're having fun up there, but we'd like to stay on the road if that ok."
Jack grabbed the radio of the dashboard before Sam could get to it. "Sorry Daniel, there was a bug bothering me." He fought to maintain control of the car as the 'bug' huffily poked him in the side. "It's bugging Sam now," he took his hand off the wheel, again risking a crash, to exact revenge on her through a reprisal of their tickle-war.
Sam took the opportunity to grab the radio out of his other hand. "I've got it under control, Daniel –" she stopped, unable to stifle a yelp as Jack again caused her to jump. "We'll try not to jolt you around too much."
Daniel looked at the radio, amusement in his eyes. He looked to Teal'c, who appeared rather puzzled, and then laughed. The humour was still in his voice when he spoke again. "Ok Sam, good to hear. We'll take over in a while so you can have a … 'rest' … back here. See you in a couple of hours."
At those last words Jack looked towards his companion and pulled her closer to him again, this time resisting the urge to have a tickling war. "What was that last bit about? You guys been talking?"
"Maybe… he just wants me to be happy." With that she relaxed, leaning into Jack, and gazed at the road ahead.
"So do I Sam." Jack replied quietly, almost so she couldn't here. They both continued the trip in silence, more comfortable than they had been in a long while.
France: somewhere between San Sebastiàn and Toulouse
Sam had fallen asleep, leaning against Jack's comfortable frame. He had felt her go to sleep, the tension in her body slowly releasing as she became more of a dead weight nestled under his right arm. He loved the feel of her against his side and couldn't keep himself from stealing glances at her every other minute. Subconsciously rubbing his thumb on the side of her sleeve, he was struck by how right this position felt. If someone had told him the week before that he would be considering throwing the rule-book out of the window, he – well honestly he would have believed them - but if they'd specified that he'd be throwing out this rule, then he'd have still been stunned. He smiled to himself and pulled Sam just that bit closer to him, his eyes automatically directed on the road ahead.
O'Neill was snapped out of his daydream by the sight of a roadblock up ahead. There were two army trucks parked across the road and what looked to be about 15 men in position, guarding the blockade. Cursing to himself, he nudged Carter awake.
"Sam, wake up." He whispered softly, before reaching for his radio. "Heads up T, Daniel. We've got a roadblock ahead."
Sam opened her eyes lazily, smiling as she remembered whose comfortable body she was resting against. She turned her face towards his but was forced out of her sleepy daze by the look of alarm on his face.
"What's going on?" She sat up, immediately alert.
"We've got company. Are you right to do all the talking?" Jack's side immediately felt cold now that she had moved to the other side of the seat.
"Yeah sure, but are we still in Spain or have we crossed the border already?" Sam was furiously fossicking in the backpack at her feet, trying to gather the documents for their confrontation.
"What difference does it make? You just have to work your magic on them" The tension was evident in his voice.
"All the difference in the world," she straightened up, having found the pile of papers she needed. "If we're in France and we pretend to be from the Cagoule, but these people are loyal to the Popular Front, then we'll be in big trouble"
Jack looked at her, having not understood the nuance of what she said. He decided not to bother trying to understand the political climate of 1930s France. "Ah, right. Well we're in France I think. There was a change in the language on the roadsigns." He hoped that helped.
"Shit"
Apparently not.
"Daniel!" Sam had grabbed the radio and now spoke into it with some urgency. "We've got a roadblock but we're in France, not Spain. I don't have the documentation for that. Can you tell Élodie to be ready? We need her to prove she knows the minister."
Sam ignored O'Neill's questioning gaze as she furiously ripped what he thought were precious documents to shreds before stuffing them in between the seat and the floor of the cabin.
"Sure thing Sam," Daniel's voice came over the radio. "She says she anticipated the problem and even has some forged documents. The story is that Jack, Teal'c and I are Canadian liaisons from Montréal here on request from a Monsieur Pierre Cot – does that make any sense to you?"
Sam held the radio up to her mouth but sat frozen for a couple of minutes, thinking things through. "Yeah sure Daniel, that sounds about right. Be ready for them to open up the back."
She hid the radio in her jacket and smiled at Jack who was looking towards here expentantly. "No time to explain now sir, just try not to be too… American."
Jack smiled, amused at her last comment. "And how exactly does one act when trying not to be American?"
Sam was too distracted to appreciate the humour in his voice. Her hands were fixed on her knees, clenched slightly in anticipation of the situation ahead of them. She merely looked at him with exasperation as the truck slowed to a halt.
Roadblock, France
"Bonjour messieurs, Hello gentlemen," Sam began in her flawless French. "Is there a problem with the road?"
The two soldiers looked to each other, confusion in their eyes. It was highly unusual for a woman to be present in the large convoys that had been seen in the area, let alone one who seemed to be in charge of the situation.
"Madame," they began warily, "we need to see your identification and mission statements for this transport please. There have been reports of arms shipments to Spain, which, you will be aware, are illegal under the non-intervention rule."
Sam smiled at them in what she hoped was a completely normal way. "Of course, we are transporting a very special piece of equipment from Biarritz to Toulouse. I am under the orders of the Minister for Transport, Pierre Cot. The papers are in the back of the truck with the cargo and our three companions."
"And why does your companion here not speak?" Another soldier who had been standing back stepped forward, sceptical.
Sam looked to Jack, silently pleading with him once more to behave. "He is a Canadian scientist contracted by Monsieur le Ministre Pierre Cot, and does not speak French. It is all detailed in the orders from the Minister, if you will just let me get them for you-"
Apparently the soldier was not willing to trust what Sam had said, for as soon as he heard that Jack didn't speak French, the doors were wrenched open and the two occupants pulled roughly out, guns trained on them.
"Camarades! My friends," Sam looked from the soldiers to O'Neill, who looked completely bewildered. "I realise you must be thorough in your enforcement of the law, but if you would just check our credentials-"
"Silence!" Even Jack understood that word, similar as it was to the English. He moved protectively towards Sam, only to be shoved back in the other direction roughly.
"Jacques, va voir pour les documents, mais fais gaffe – ils ont forcément des armes là-dedans. The soldier motioned for one of his team to check the back of the truck.
"He's going to check the documents, sir" Sam whispered out the side of her mouth, reverting to addressing her CO formally. She waited anxiously, hoping Daniel and Teal'c had the good sense not to point any weapons at the man.
The sounds of struggle that came from behind the truck confirmed her fears. "Non!" she cried out. "Don't hurt them! Check the documents!" She struggled to get to them, only to be restrained by one of the soldiers.
"Calme-toi, ma chérie. Calm down, darling. Our men are just doing their jobs." He was restraining her closely, grabbing her body in places he shouldn't."
Jack watched as the man grabbed Carter and felt himself lose his composure. He understood the word 'cherie' and lost all ability to stand by without doing anything.
"You ANIMAL!" He roared, weaving out of reach of the soldier charged with watching him. He raced the 10 metres across to where Sam was and grabbed the guy holding on to her before realizing there were now three guns pointed straight at him.
"Arrêtez! Stop" Sam spoke in both English and French, for the benefit of all those fighting over her. But it was too late, she saw the men preparing to shoot as Jack lunged towards two of them. Sighing, she directed her attention to the third, disposing of him with a swift kick to the groin and punch to the face.
She turned to O'Neill just in time to see one of the men force him to kneel on the ground, gun poised to shoot. Time seemed to slow down, she felt as if she were frozen on the spot as she tried to move towards him, screaming for the man to stop, when suddenly she heard the familiar electronic sound of a zat gun being fired. The man who would have shot Jack tensed with the electric shock before collapsing on the ground.
Time returned to normal and Sam found herself at Jack's side, helping him up. She didn't try to stop herself from placing her hand on his cheek, silently making sure he was alright, before turning to see Teal'c and Daniel take care of the remaining soldiers.
Jack stood looking at Carter as she assessed the situation around them. He reached out to touch her arm. "Hey, close one eh? Was I too American or something?" He grinned cheekily as she lightly punched him.
"Yeah, right, too American." She sighed wearily. "I think you were just American enough – we're the good guys, we don't get killed. Just let me take care of myself next time, k?"
He draped his arm over her shoulder and surveyed the scene before them. Two trucks parked on the road and 15 men on the ground, SG1 victorious yet again.
"Hey Daniel, Teal'c. Nice timing." He smiled to them warmly, not bothering to disentangle himself from Sam. "Where's the French chick?"
Teal'c looked at O'Neill and Carter, puzzled by their seeming lack of compunction about their position. He looked quickly to Daniel, while motioning towards them, but the archaeologist was already moving towards the back of the truck.
"Élodie Chabrol is behind the truck, O'Neill, she was knocked unconscious by a French soldier. I assure you we did not provoke the attack."
"That's ok Teal'c" It was Sam who responded, calmly distancing herself from Jack and heading towards the back of the truck to check on the Frenchwoman. "They were pretty on edge. Thanks for coming to our rescue."
The remaining members SG1 moved to the back of the truck where Élodie was propped against the rear wheel, a nasty bump forming on her right temple. Daniel was sitting by her side, zat gun on the ground next to them, with her head resting in his lap. Soon enough she stirred back to life.
"Aie, ma tête! My head!" she groaned, reaching for her head before opening her eyes to see Daniel's hazel eyes trained on her.
"Welcome to our world," Daniel chuckled in French, his hand moving to brush a stray lock of hair off her face. "Hardly a day goes by without being knocked unconscious. Are you ok otherwise?"
His eyes were filled with concern. It was bad enough they had hijacked this woman's life with their mission, he didn't want her to have to go through more than was absolutely necessary. He motioned for the others to give them some space and helped Élodie to sit up. She seemed to be totally speechless, but he tried to reassure her by taking her hand in his.
"Yes, I am fine. Just a bit overwhelmed by everything." She squeezed his hand slightly before reaching to her head, grimacing in pain. "If someone had told me I'd be sabotaging the anti-fascist cause with the help of the US army, I'd never have believed them."
Her eyes were squinted shut, presumably with the pain of the head injury, but re-opened to reveal tears welling in them. Daniel looked at her helplessly, understanding the torment that must be whirling through her mind, but unsure as to what he should do. Without saying anything, he moved closer to her until their faces were inches apart, they eyes locked.
"You know we're not trying to sabotage the anti-fascist cause, right?" His hands were clasped on her shoulders, trying to make her understand. "Time is such a fragile concept, we have to let things go down just as is, otherwise the future could be much worse." He paused as her head dropped, nodding silently with resignation. "And I meant what I said about warning your family and friends to escape – at least south, out of the occupied zone. We don't want anything to happen to you or them – and that's not just because we need you to come to us in the future. I want to help, and I'm so sorry we can't do more."
When Élodie looked back up there were wet streaks down her cheeks. Daniel traced his finger over one and then the other, willing her to believe in his goodwill - hoping she wouldn't hate them for what was happening.
"You really mean that?" Her voice was barely above a whisper. When he nodded earnestly she smiled. "You are unlike any American I've ever known – I thought they were all more like your Colonel."
Daniel grinned and looked towards Jack, grateful they were speaking in French so the Colonel couldn't understand. "I know… but he's not that bad, I promise. I've been breaking him in for years now. He's almost human!"
Jack suddenly realized that Daniel and Élodie were looking in his direction, giggling at their own private joke. To his horror, he saw that Sam also seemed to be in on the joke.
"What are you smirking at? What are they saying?" This whole foreign language thing was starting to annoy the air force colonel.
Sam was smiling in Daniel and Élodie's direction, not actually knowing what was being said between them, amused nonetheless. "Oh it's nothing important sir." She turned back to look at Jack, wondering why exactly she'd reverted to saying 'sir' again. "Let's just say… I think I know why the elderly Madame Chabrol was so thrilled to see Daniel when we first met her."
"Huh?" It took a couple of seconds for these words to have an impact on O'Neill. "Oh… right…" He directed a sidelong glance in Daniel's direction, muttering "Go Daniel!"
"What was that, Jack?" Daniel was pulled from the virtual bubble he had been in with Élodie to see both Sam and Jack looking at him.
Jack tried his best to look innocent while Sam maintained a perfect poker face, not giving anything away. "Sorry Daniel? Oh right, I was just saying that maybe you and Élodie should go up front and drive for a while – I'm pretty beat."
"Sir," Sam interjected, "Maybe I should go up front, Élodie probably needs her rest after being knocked about."
"Non, non, ça va. I'm ok," Élodie protested, having understood the last exchange. "I will stay with Daniel. It is better." She looked to Daniel with hope in her eyes, the relief visible in her body language when he nodded in agreement.
"It's ok guys," he helped her up and directed her towards the cabin up front. "If you like we'll take Teal'c up here with us, just in case there's another roadblock – we might not be so lucky next time."
"Oh no Daniel you'll be squashed up there-" Sam didn't finish the rest of her sentence before she was cut off by O'Neill.
"Good plan Daniel, Carter and Me'll chill in the back here for a while." His eyes locked briefly with Sam's, but he continued, in Colonel-mode, before she could protest. "Let's get a move on before someone else comes along. T, help me move these trucks."
Outskirts of Toulouse, France
Sam and Jack were resting somewhat uncomfortably in the back of the truck in opposite corners. Jack stole a glance at his companion to see her still staring into the space in front of her, apparently disconnected from reality. He didn't understand what was wrong. He'd thought after their talk in the front of the truck… they should have been sitting together in the back of the truck making the most of the situation. Instead, she had distanced herself both physically and mentally from him the instant they had clambered in.
He relaxed the muscles in his neck and rested his head against the wall behind him, closing his eyes. It was tearing him up that she was avoiding him. He couldn't help but wonder what her true feelings were, whether it had been a colossal mistake to bear his soul earlier by admitting his feelings. Grunting with dissatisfaction, he snapped his eyes open and moved purposefully to sit down in front of Sam un-yielding gaze.
"Ok, what's going on." He asked, his tone lending more towards an order than a question. "I've done something to piss you off, Carter, what is it?"
Faced with her continued silence, he was forced to adopt a more conciliatory tone.
"Sam?" he began gingerly, "Are you ok? Please talk to me, tell me what's going on?"
Sam tried to remain in her detached state but found her eyes focusing on the man sitting in front of her; she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt when seeing the concerned look on his face. She didn't know what to say to him. His outburst when she had been restrained earlier had just confirmed her qualms about developing a relationship with him – it was dangerous. If they were unable to act and react objectively, they were both going to get killed.
"Come on Sam, please?" Sam let her head drop between her knees, more to avoid his gaze than anything else, before responding.
"Jack… Sir…" She felt his breath catch in his throat as she broke the silence. "I think we need to keep our distance, be professional."
Jack's heart sank as he heard the words come out of her mouth. His heart immediately sank somewhere around his toes and he pushed himself away from Sam, looking intently at the floor of the truck. He couldn't believe what he was hearing – the woman he had been lusting over for so long was rejecting him.
"God I'm sorry Sam." His voice was coarse. "I shouldn't have… Back there when I was driving, and at the base in Spain… I'm just sorry."
Sam looked up sharply, realizing his misinterpretation of what she had said. He was acting as if she was rejecting him outright. It hadn't occurred to her that he might be in doubt of her feelings for him, especially after the previous couple of days, what with the older Élodie's words of encouragement, their newfound general intimacy and especially the stolen kisses. Reaching her hand out gingerly she placed it on the tip of his shoe, attracting his attention.
"Let me finish, Jack." She tried to gather all the thoughts in her head into a coherent speech. "I think we need to be professional for the moment. The way you flew off the handle at that guy holding me could have got us all killed; and it wasn't the first time you've overreacted like that on this mission."
Jack tried to interject but she cut him off. "Don't get me wrong Jack, I…" she faltered, on the brink of expressing her feelings, "I… I'm not complaining about what's been happening between us over the last couple of days – you know that, right?"
Jack looked at her intently for what seemed like an eternity, considering what she had just said. She was right, of course. He had gotten completely carried away twice now, and apart from anything else it was mildly insulting to her – considering her exceptional abilities as a soldier. As for 'them', he didn't want anything more in the world than to kiss her right then and there, but held himself back, wary of her reaction.
"You're right Sam." Jack chose his words carefully, admitting his wrongdoings had never been easy. "You're one of the most capable soldiers I know. I shouldn't be launching myself at people who are less than friendly towards you; I mean, that happens on almost every mission to one of us at least, right?" He regained some hope as he saw her lips curl into a smile. "I'll do my best not to overreact from here on in, ok?"
Sam felt completely taken aback at what he had just said. She had always known that Jack was a gentle man, but had never really been witness to this side of him. Sitting opposite him with the sincerity so evident in his body language, she couldn't help but be drawn to him. Shifting towards him on the floor of the truck, she reached her hand up so it was resting on his cheek.
"There's no sense in denying our feelings." Her thumb lightly caressed his cheek, causing him to sharply draw in a breath. Sam continued to speak, privately satisfied with this reaction. "But we have to try not to let them affect us in exactly this kind of situation."
She paused as his hand reached up and his fingers closed in loosely around her wrist, directing her hand towards his lips, which feathered her fingers with a light kiss. Sam was powerless to speak or move, mesmerized by the sight of the one man she wanted more than anything in the world slowly making his way up her arm with his soft lips. Unable to stop herself, she felt tears welling in her eyes and a small whimper escaped.
Jack stopped what he was doing as soon as he heard it. She was starting to cry. He withdrew from her but didn't remove his hand from hers.
"Sam, I don't want to do anything to hurt you. Ever." He spoke softly, but could tell she was paying close attention to every word. "We can finish this mission, and then consider our future when we get back to the SGC in our time, ok?"
He started to move to the other side of the truck but was stopped by two arms that suddenly wrapped themselves around his torso, the accompanying head burying itself in his chest. Startled by Sam's sudden launch he at first didn't move, but soon enough encircled her with his strong arms, comforting her although he didn't know exactly why. She looked up at him and smiled weakly before pressing her lips against his in a tender heartfelt kiss. He returned the kiss without hesitation, opening his mouth to allow his tongue to venture into hers. Sensing no disapproval on her part, his hands brushed over her clothes to find the opening at her waistband and were soon caressing her back and sides without abandon, venturing playfully under her bra.
Jack broke off the kiss momentarily to look at the woman in front of him. "Sam, if you don't want to do this…" He could feel his libido screaming at him in disgust as he was saying these words, but for the moment was still in control – perhaps it was better that they held off for the time being.
Sam looked at her CO groggily, still shivering inwardly at the sensation of his warm, rough hands on her smooth skin. She had been angry at him not 15 minutes ago and definitely didn't want things to get out of hand, but was still painfully aware of the fact that here, holding her, was the man she had lusted after for god knows how long. Rather than reply to him with words, she just smiled mischievously and snaked her arms under his shirt to even the stakes somewhat. She saw the look in Jack's eyes change from concern to desire as she playfully tickled his abdomen, before his face moved towards hers once more, and they resumed their passionate embrace.
There was now nothing holding them back. Sam tugged Jack towards her as she slowly lay back on the floor of the truck, doing her best to remove his shirt at the same time. He obliged by lifting his arms above his head and disengaging himself from her embrace for the time it took. As soon as he was liberated from his shirt, Sam moved her hands across his chest before pinning him to the ground and placing small kisses from the collar bone down to his navel, and then dangerously close to the top of his pants. She could feel the muscles tense as she proceeded on this path, and groaned herself as she heard him do the same. Stopping short of undoing his pants, Sam returned to find his lips again, this time with more urgency and passion than she would ever have thought possible. He had moved his hands so they were now within her bra, and she felt her breath catch with little hic's as his thumbs passed over her nipples. Disengaging herself quickly and sitting up she removed her top before returning her lips to his.
With the obstacle of her top and bra removed, Sam's senses were heightened as every current of air washed over her skin. She longed for him to caress her, to kiss her skin, as she did his, and so rolled over onto the floor of the truck pulling him towards her. He got the message and transferred his mouth from hers to her collarbone, where his gentle kissing caused her to sigh with pleasure, before he moved to first one breast, and then the other, his hands lightly brushing over her abdomen at the same time. Sam could now feel his desire for her against her leg and could no longer wait. Grabbing his head she forced him to stop briefly to look at her.
"I want you… now." She whispered, her voice husky. With that she kissed him again, while liberating him of his pants, before quickly disposing of her own on the ground next to them.
Sam lay comfortably with her head resting on Jack's chest, the jolts caused by the bad state of the roads in the south of France cushioned by his body. Realising that in the circumstances he probably wasn't quite as comfortable as she was, she raised her head and moved to balance herself on her arm, looking into his eyes.
"Mmm.. Don't get up, you're keeping me warm." Jack mused in a lazy voice. He was still relishing in the sensation of her body against his, to hell with regulations. "Come back here. I don't want to let you go just yet – who knows when we'll get to do that again."
"Jack, aren't you uncomfortable, what with the truck bouncing into a pot-hole every 2 seconds?" She teased, well aware that he wasn't yet entirely coherent at this point.
Before Jack had the time to think of a sufficiently witty response, the radio crackled into life with Daniel's voice on the other end.
"Hey Jack? Sam?"
Jack groaned, unwilling to return to the reality of their situation. Sam, however, was more tuned into it and reached for the radio under a pile of clothes. Trying to ignore the fact that she was naked, with an equally naked and decidedly sexy man next to her, she spoke.
"Yeah Daniel, how's it going up front?"
"Fine, we just thought we'd let you know that we're nearly there. Probably about 15 minutes out? The arrival shouldn't be too hostile, but we're definitely going to make an entrance people will remember, so we should be ready for anything."
"Ok Daniel, thanks for that. At least we're only going to the Banlieue. We'll see you soon."
"The 'bon-what'?" Jack was still lying on the floor of the truck but was now at least looking at Sam as she placed the radio on the floor next to her.
"The Banlieue. It's kind of the outskirts of town-"
"So why not just call it the 'outskirts'?" Jack was teasing her, and she knew it, but couldn't resist reacting anyway.
"Cities are constructed differently in France," she began, sighing with resignation. "Most of them used to have defensive walls around them; everything outside the wall is known as the banlieue, but now the cities extend far beyond these walls and so even if you live on the outside, you can be quite close to the centre of town.
"So?" Jack was being difficult, he knew it, but couldn't resist exasperating Sam.
"So.." she began, before reconsidering. "Fine, we'll just call it the outskirts." She rolled her eyes before retrieving her clothes, before playfully throwing Jack's shirt onto his head.
"Time to move, sir," she smirked, shifting her weight as she pulled her shirt over her head. "We'll be at the outskirts of Toulouse soon and I don't think the locals will react well if we're naked when we get out of the truck."
Sam wasn't at all prepared for the reaction she got to these words. Jack suddenly jumped off the ground without saying a word, his eyes and mouth wide open. Before Sam could protest or ask him what was going on he reached forward and grabbed at her leg, pulling it to the side to reveal the radio now underneath it. Upon shifting her weight she had inadvertently knelt on the radio. Throwing the radio to the other side of the truck he turned to look at her, eyes still wide.
At first she didn't get it, but soon her eyes were also wide open. "Do you think it was transmitting?" she asked shakily.
They both slowly turned their head towards the radio, as if it was about to leap up from where it lay and attack them. It suddenly crackled causing them both to jump.
"Major Carter," Teal'c voice resonated over the airwaves. "Daniel Jackson wishes me to tell both you and O'Neill that it is in fact quite cold outside, and that extra clothing may be necessary."
Neither Sam nor Jack could speak, but instead both continued getting dressed frantically. It was obvious that Daniel and the others had heard them. Jack was still getting dressed when he heard Sam starting to laugh.
"What's so funny?" He demanded, somewhat brusquely.
Sam looked at him, giggling between words. "Come on sir, you've got to see the humour of the situation. Imagine if the situation had been reversed and we'd heard our teammates in the back talking about being naked!"
"For starters I'd be slightly surprised to discover Teal'c and Daniel were gay…" the Colonel began, his eyes twinkling with mischief. This just caused Sam to start laughing again.
"You know what I mean," she hiccupped, calming down. "I mean, come on, it's only Daniel and Teal'c. They're going to tease us mercilessly for the next little while, but it's not as if we were going to be able to hide this from them, right?"
Sam's expression abruptly changed as she became insecure. Maybe he wanted to hide their relationship… she looked to him, searching for the answer.
Jack saw the uncertainty in her eyes and swooped in to wrap his arms around her. "Of course not," he murmured into her hair, "the sooner they know the better. In fact, I think they probably knew before we did." He sighed, breathing in deeply, relishing the sweet scent in her hair. "I just hope we can tell everyone someday, back in our time."
Sam sighed, comfortable in his embrace. "Let's not think that far ahead – we're a loooong way from home right now." Denial is a great thing, she thought to herself, if only.
At that moment the truck came to a stop. The two of them quickly disengaged from each other and waited for Teal'c to open the back doors from them. Sam could hear voices outside, presumably that of the contact they were there to meet.
"Mais c'est quoi tout ça! What's all this?" the gruff French voice filtered through the walls of the truck, sounding thoroughly stunned. "Élodie? What on Earth are you doing here?"
To be continued…
A/N: Ok so this story is progressing slower than I thought… but I wanted to have a real chance for some Sam/Jack time! I promise the action'll really start in the next instalment. On that note, it'll probably be a week or so before it's up. I have mucho travail to do this week for uni. Please review!