With Tears I Mourn: Chapter Seven - Rules & Regulations
Disclaimer: The characters from Stargate SG-1 belong to the franchise for Stargate SG-1 ™. I do not claim possession of any copyrighted characters. Any and all other characters belong to me and may not be used without my permission.
Rating: PG
Characters: Jack and Sam
Chapter seven. Life caught me up there for a time where I couldn't write in my fanfics, so forgive me.Please R&R.
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A ferocious ache in his back and leg urged Jack to face the morning and he cracked his eyelids, a single beam of sunlight piercing through the window and landing upon his face. With a groan, he turned sideways out of the line of fire, struggling to push himself up from the floor. Sam was gone. He blinked, the warm light playing with the ends of his dark and silvered hair. Scrambling to his feet and biting the inside of his cheek against muttering an oath at the sharp pain in his knee, Jack stumbled to the door of his cabin.
She sat silently on the deck, hands wound around a cup of coffee, the steam swirling into the chilly early morning air. A long sweater encompassed her slender frame, the sleeves extending past her hands where she gripped the mug. One arm lifted to brush a lone trail of moisture from her cheek. Sighing, he allowed the door to silently slide closed as he turned back into the cabin. Taking several moments to change and pop a few painkillers, he too grabbed a chipped mug from the cabinet and poured himself some hot, black coffee.
Sam had heard the subtle creak of the door opening a few inches, but hadn't turned. His presence sinking onto the wooden planking at her side didn't startle her. She turned and offered him a surprising smile, evident in the rapid blinking of his dark eyes.
"This place really is beautiful, Jack."
Her eyes followed the gentle rising of the sun, turning the trees to rich gold and auborn hues as it took to the sky, soaring in all of its splendid glory. "Thank you. For everything you've done. As odd as it may sound, I think I slept better last night, after the bout, than I have in a long time. The world doesn't look so depressing and alone as it once did."
Her words warmed him more than he would admit and a cheeky smile slid to his lips as he replied, "Yeah, well, that's what the great outdoors can do for you."
She shook her head in denial. "No, Jack, it's what you did for me. All of this, everything that's happening. You did it for me. You started the healing process, not the woods or the fishing, only you." His eyes turned away from her, starring out into the distant trees andvague glinting of silverwater.
"Sam . . ."
She abruptly cut him off, laying a hand on his bare arm and urging him to look into her eyes. "Don't say anything. I know this is mostly a dream and nothing can ever come of it. But let's live in the dream, if only for a short time. We'll go back to being Major and Colonel soon enough."
His lips tightened in a long-recognized habit, a hand fiddled with the edge of a plank, pulling splinters from their pine prison. Saving him the effort of responding, she smiled and stood, airily proclaiming,"And I think we have more fishing planned, since that is why you brought me here. I'll fix us some breakfast and then let's hit the trails."
Her slender form distanced itself from him, moving into the cabin, a low cheerful hum of a popular tune escaping her throat. Once the door shut behind her, Sam leaned against the sturdy wood, her blue eyes closing in amazement at her forward action toward him. For years they had refused any physical contact. Whenever it did happen, it was always due to some form of alien invasion, but never personal. Now that wasn't the case. And she didn't regret speaking so freely.
Nothing was said of love, though she knew, deep inside, that she loved him, more dearly than imaginable. And that emotion had to be contained, at all costs. But it wouldn't prevent her from preparing a warm breakfast out of the curious canned goods brought along. Nor did it keep her from glancing out the window at Jack's contemplative shape on the deck, his back propped against a wooden support, one leg drawn up with the hand holding his coffee cup resting on it.
All Jack wanted at that moment was to hold her. She had very nearly given him permission, but he couldn't. Rules and regulations swam before his eyes. One in particular, one which he had never broken and never would. Temptation came in many shapes, of that he was fully aware, but it had never manifested itself in the form of Samantha Carter before. He had pulled her to this retreat with the best of intentions. But now it seemed that his intentions might have an ignoble compromise in mind.
"Damn!" It barely escaped into the frosty air, but adequately reflected his emotions. "Rules and regulations be damned."