A/N: for this part, great thanks go to my beta, Barbara –again-, and especially to Ruralstar who "gave me a hand" where my mind was stuck in extreme mushiness…
WARNINGS: although the rest of the story is rated "T", this part contains non-explicit description of an intimate relationship between two consenting adults.
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"Unauthorized wormhole activation!" Walter's voice droned over the speakers. "It's Bra'tac's IDC, Sir," the technician said to his new commander as Hank Landry appeared behind him.
"Open the iris," Landry said, "and summon Jackson and Teal'c to the gate room…" he added before going down the stairs.
The robed figure of Master Bra'tac stepped down the ramp. He frowned as Landry entered the room, not knowing the intruder, but a smile soon split his face as he saw Teal'c and Daniel rushing through the blast doors.
"I am the bearer of good news!" he announced.
"Master Bra'tac, this is General Landry, O'Neill's replacement while he is away," Teal'c introduced him.
Bra'tac took the proffered hand before resuming. "A scout ship has received a coded message originating from An'ok's last known vessel. I have brought a recording of the message. Recent developments in the Jaffa Nation prevent us from deciphering it, but perhaps your technicians will be able to do so."
"What developments, brother?" Teal'c asked.
Bra'tac sighed.
"I do not wish to discuss it at length with you when you are worried about our friends, Teal'c, but let me say that Gerak is gaining more and more influence among the ranks of many disoriented Jaffa. For the moment, I am not too concerned, but I shall monitor his every move and declamation."
"Shall I return with you?"
"No. Your first and foremost concern is to find O'Neill and Colonel Carter. Several Jaffa agree with me regarding Gerak, and the situation is currently under control," Bra'tac spoke reassuringly.
"I see," Teal'c said in resignation.
"I shall leave now; the recorded message is on that device," he said producing a small light blue crystal.
"But…" Daniel started "How do we read the information that's inside!"
Bra'tac shook his head feeling sorry.
"This, my friend, you will have to figure on your own, I must depart immediately," he said, already walking toward the stairs of the briefing room.
"That was nice of you! Thanks!" Daniel hailed the old Jaffa. He was about to add something more when General Landry's hand on his arm interrupted him.
"Jackson… we'll find a way, trust me…" he said reassuringly.
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Jack became aware of a hand insistently slapping his cheeks, and of a voice in the background. The voice was familiar… Female... So far, far away…
He had to concentrate on the voice... Oh yeah! Carter! But why was that hand slapping his face? That was downright annoying…
He raised his hand and caught her fist.
"Carter?" he asked in a daze.
"Jack! Oh, thank God!" she said, embracing his shoulders and helping him sit up. "How are you doing?"
"Okay, I guess," he said, squinting and massaging his temples, "although I feel like all energy has been sucked out of me. I'm gonna…" He threw his legs on the side of the chair to get up but his legs wouldn't cooperate. "Well, I might just… rest here a moment," he amended visibly exhausted by the simple effort. "How's An'ok?"" he asked.
Sam looked at the collapsed form of the Jaffa.
"I'm going to check on him, don't move," she left his side and went to the chamber. The Jaffa had only his lower body enclosed in the device, his upper body was lying free on top of the lower door. She raised her hand to check An'ok's pulse, then looked at Jack. "There's a pulse, he must be exhausted, just like you are…"
The Jaffa's sudden grab of her hand caught her unawares.
Jack tried to reach for the zat, but he was too weak.
The Jaffa rose from his position, holding Sam firmly, his eyes glowing. Sam tried to make loosen his grip unsuccessfully, but suddenly, An'ok bent over and uttered a loud cry, the glass chamber opening by an unknown mechanism, and the large frame of the man fell motionless on the ground.
Sam stepped back, trying to breathe normally, when An'ok's body started moving again. She ran for the zat and aimed it at him as he finally managed to rise to full height, leaning on the glass chamber for support.
After a while, he looked at both humans and said.
"You need not fear me…" he started breathless.
"Well so far, you haven't given us reason not to!" Sam said, tightening her grip on the weapon.
"My symbiote has regressed sufficiently and is now harmless…" an'ok resumed.
"Well see, we have a little problem believing that since your eyes glowed about a minute ago," Jack said, his voice tinted with sarcasm as he was finally able to leave the chair.
"I can show you proof," An'ok said reaching for his pouch. As he opened the abdominal refuge of the larva, only an infant appeared.
Jack and Sam looked at each other in disbelief.
"What you saw was probably my larva maturing. I did sense it on the verge of power, but then the treatment took effect and it has returned to an inoffensive state," the Jaffa concluded, smiling.
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it," Sam said.
"Likewise," Jack grumbled, his strength slowly returning.
"And you feel no side effects?" Sam asked.
"Aside from tiredness, no, but that was to be expected," An'ok replied with a smile for the first time since they had met him. "I am deeply sorry that I had to resort to such extents of secrecy, but we now have proof that the machine works, and we can free all Jaffa!" he concluded enthusiastically.
"Hey hold on a minute!" Jack started "what about me! One Jaffa and I am exhausted! There's no way I'm going to power that machine for…."
"Power!" exclaimed Sam, before rushing to the console.
She moved several items before kneeling to get to the crystals. She removed them cautiously from the sockets in which she had placed them, and tested them before looking at both men dejectedly.
"Just what I thought," she said "the surge of energy necessary this time depleted the crystals entirely. There's no way we can get the Al'kesh to move."
"Well then, good thing we sent a message to our friends, right?" Jack asked.
"Yes, sir, but there's no way of knowing if or when they'll get it," she replied honestly.
"There's food, water… I think we can manage for a while," Jack said, opting for the positive attitude.
"An'ok, you're all right?" Sam asked, concerned as the Jaffa collapsed on his knees.
"I don't know, Colonel Carter, maybe it's the after effects of the machine I am feeling very weak…"
"You don't look too good!" Jack added as he finally managed to put one foot before the other.
An'ok bent over once again, his face contorted in pain.
In a minute Sam was kneeling by his side.
An'ok looked at her, a mixture of pain, confusion, and hope in his eyes.
"Sam?" Jack said, as he tried to reach her the fastest he could.
"It's okay Jack, he's…"
An'ok reached for her hand.
"It is not working I…" his face started to age by the second, as his eyes became glassy. "I am so sorry you are now condemned to remain on this planet indefinitely…" he breathed laboriously.
"Shh…" Sam said, holding his head.
He grabbed her second hand, just as Jack finally knelt beside her.
"I had hope… I had… hope…"
An'ok closed his eyes and breathed one last time. At that moment, a full grown Goa'uld symbiote suddenly emerged from his pouch and jumped at them. If it hadn't been for Jack's automatic reflexes zatting the creature to oblivion, then one of them would have been a host.
Jack and Sam looked at each other, panting.
"Okay, what just happened here?" Jack managed to articulate before gathering her in his arms.
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"You've been at this for three days and you are nowhere near to deciphering it!" came a frustrated Daniel's voice from Dr. Lee's lab.
"Well we've had to find a way to download the message to our computers first!" Lee defended himself.
"It's probably Sam who coded it! You must have some references in the database! Jack and Sam are lost somewhere in the galaxy and we're wasting time!" the normally calm archaeologist replied in an aggravated tone.
"Daniel Jackson!" Teal'c called him from outside the lab. "They are back!"
Daniel's ire suddenly disappeared and he turned to look at his approaching friend with great surprise.
"What?"
"They are in Minnesota, O'Neill has just called. It appears an Asgard ship deciphered the coded message, and immediately sent Thor in search for them. They are unharmed and have been deposited at O'Neill's cabin per his own request."
Daniel rolled his eyes.
"Leave it to Jack…"
"You may go and have your vacation, Dr Jackson, but you tell Jack that I want a full debriefing!" Hank Landry said as he reached the Jaffa in the corridor.
"Well general Landry," Daniel started, still nonplussed about Teal'c's announcement, "welcome to the craziness that is the SGC…"
Hank Landry smiled conspiratorially and bent toward the Archaeologist.
"I was thoroughly briefed by Jack first hand," he said in a low voice, a mischievous twinkle lighting his eyes.
Daniel smiled as Teal'c put a large hand on his shoulder.
"We must depart now, general Landry," he bowed slightly, ushering Daniel to the corridor.
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Jack exited the house putting his cell phone into his back pocket.
Sam was on the pier, watching the placid lake, lost in her thoughts.
She started when she felt Jack's arms encircle her own. He lay a gentle kiss on top of her head and hugged her deeper.
"Come inside?" he murmured.
"All clear with the SGC?" she asked looking at him briefly and caressing his arms over her own.
"Teal'c and Daniel are headed this way. We'll probably see them tomorrow first thing. Landry is not happy about my choice to be dropped here, but he trusts me enough to know there's nothing amiss, and he knows Daniel and Teal'c will tell him if there's anything wrong with us. I told him Daniel would probably give him the most detailed report when he got back… Medical procedures and the like will have to wait I guess…"
"General's prerogatives-huh?" she teased.
"Yup!" he said, turning her so she was now facing him. "And this general wants to rest in a real bed," he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Sam smiled with a distant look in her eyes.
He stared at her, the brown in his eyes darkening by the second until she kissed him.
He closed his eyes, savoring the liberty he felt at that moment: he was on his own turf, with Sam Carter in his arms, and nothing was wrong about it. He felt a sudden surge of elation, tightened the embrace around her shoulders and let the wonder that was Sam Carter direct the kiss.
She was tender and rough at the same time, tame and rebellious. Their tongues danced with each other, instead of fighting, and their mouths played together, teased, aroused.
In that moment, he vowed to never let go of her as long as his lungs would draw air, and to make her the happiest woman on Earth.
He was so lost in the sensations of the kiss that he had not even realized Sam had led them back to the small cabin, until his feet hit the wood of the terrace.
He ended the kiss, licking his lips, and took her hand to go inside the house.
The cabin was not big, a large common room which served as a dining room, living room, with a small kitchen separated by a counter, and at the back of it, a door led to the single bedroom and another to the small bathroom.
Despite the fading light, he led her to the bedroom without switching on any light, in silence.
He opened the door and let her go in first.
Sam discovered an average room, with a large bed and nightstands, and a big cupboard at the other end of it. Jack had probably made the bed and dusted it a bit while he was calling the SGC, she mused, and he had also opened the window through which the pine scent of the woods entered the room.
The click of the door softly shutting brought her back to the present and she drew a deep breath before turning towards Jack.
There, the moment they had both anticipated for so long…
She stepped forward and reached out to caress his arms. Their eyes met, intense. Jack bent slowly until she could feel his breath on her face. She raised her head a little more, touched her hand to his cheek, and slowly brought her lips to his, taking the lead once again.
Passion erupted like fresh lava out of a volcano. Sam felt her body being lifted and before she knew it, she was lying on the bed.
Jack sat on the edge of the mattress, his back to her as he proceeded to remove his shoes. She rose up onto her knees and slipped her hands underneath his shirt, her cool fingers lightly tracing his skin, and making him shiver in reply.
She nudged up his shirt until he had no other option but to remove it.
Sam wasted no time in admiring how lean and muscular his back looked, her lips instead touching the sensitive skin between his shoulder blades with feather-like kisses.
Jack stood up, his hands reaching for his jeans buttons.
Sam was disappointed by the loss of contact but she took the hint and removed her long sleeved T-shirt. She realized Jack was unlacing and removing her shoes as she tossed the garment into the corner.
He stopped briefly, his eyes raking her with a feral intensity then forced her to lie back down. He had stripped down to his underwear, the soft cotton barely hiding his arousal.
Jack stretched out his long frame next to her as his fingers deftly unsnapped her jeans. His hand slipped underneath, drawing slow circles just beneath her navel, and then she felt the rough material slide down her legs, leaving her in her underwear.
Jack kissed her hard and with his arm, pulled the covers, rolling them under.
Sam was mesmerized as Jack made love to her. His touch aroused her to levels of sensations she had seldom experienced.
Eager to share and enhance the feelings she removed their last items of clothing and pushed him on his back, returning the favor by kissing every inch of his lean body.
Jack soon retook control, gently forcing her to lie on her back as he feasted on her upper body, worshipping her like no other lover and paying her feminine forms the utmost respect.
His hands gently massaged, teased, caressed, aroused, and little by little he brought her to a place where she discovered things about herself she didn't know, awaking erogenous areas she hadn't suspected existed, until eventually, Jack's hands reached the center of all.
Sam gasped aloud, the need of him becoming unbearable.
In this dance, no one led, no one followed. Sam slowly pushed Jack onto his side and reached for his length, caressing him, enjoying that power she felt vibrating with need in her hands, and reveling in the rush of their mutual arousal.
Before it was too late, Jack gently took her hand away and pushed her onto her back. He lay over the top of her, kissing her in a lazy yet passionate pattern.
Then he slipped inside her.
The physical and emotional sensations were overwhelming. Sam bit her tongue to stifle an ardent scream.
Jack groaned.
"My God, Sam!" he exclaimed in a hoarse voice.
She smiled, relieved that she was not the only one to take leave of her senses.
He started moving and it was too much. This time, the soft cry left Sam's mouth without her even realizing it. She was on fire and she felt like her very core had melted into Jack.
This was the end of the journey She had found her harbor, her anchor, and she had no intention of ever leaving.
Lost in her daze, she almost missed the sound of Jack's voice as he groaned in release
"I love you so damn much, Sam…"
Unbidden tears formed in her eyes.
She tightened her grip around his shoulders, a wave of pure happiness crashing endlessly inside her. "I love you too, Jack," she murmured, kissing his head through the silvery hair.
He kissed her tenderly and encircled her shoulders so her head came to rest on his chest as they waited for their breathing to come back to normal.
After a while, she sighed of contentment and smiled, her lips making contact with his chest.
"Why the smile?" he asked softly.
"I was just thinking that it was worth waiting," she said, her fingers tangling with the few hairs she was idly playing with.
"Oh yeah!" he smirked, making her chuckle, "on that note Carter," he resumed, "I'm an old man…" he started playfully.
"So not!" she chuckled.
"Well I don't think my heart can sustain waiting another ten years!" he exclaimed indignantly.
She raised her head.
"Ten years for what?" she asked, looking up to him.
His look turned darker.
"Marry me?"
The question was unexpected, and her immediate answer was even more to her.
"I'm keeping my maiden name, so you should know…" she deadpanned.
"No problem, I like Carter… You can't even imagine what kind of things this name does to me," he replied nonchalantly.
She rose and looked him in the eyes.
"You're serious?" she asked in a strangled voice.
He smiled and pulled her down to him, hugging her.
"Would it sound too cliché to say that I've wanted to ask this for the past eight years or so?"
She chuckled. "It would…"
"Well then, here's one for you… Of course I am serious…"
She sighed content.
"I only wish my Dad were here to see that I am happy, and that I finally made the good choice."
He kissed the top of her head.
"So you got a dressing down too?" he chuckled.
"You did?" she asked, surprised.
"Not a dressing down actually, he asked me to take the best care of you that I could or he and Selmak would come back and haunt me…"
She shook her head. "Yep, that's my dad… As subtle as a bull in a china shop…!"
"And I am a man of duty, you know that, Carter?" he teased.
"Yes sir!"
"Ack! I don't want to hear the 'S' word ever again! Comprende, Carter?
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TBC : One more chapter, and we're done :)