Prompt 2 - Cold
There was a knock at the door and Jack quickly moved to open it. The weather had taken a turn for the worse in the last ten minutes and he didn't want to leave anyone standing out in it for any longer than they had to.
"Come in come in," he instructed quickly as he grabbed some of the things out of Sam's arms to help her.
"Thanks, sir," she said as she stepped across the threshold. She stepped to one side and Jack quickly shut the door to keep the heat in.
"It's really coming down out there," Jack commented as he put the presents he'd pulled from Sam's arms down on the side and then took the rest of them so she could get her shoes and coat off.
Sam nodded. "Oh sorry sir," she then said as she realised her movement had thrown snow all over the floor around her.
"Don't worry about it," Jack told her. He helped her take her coat off and then opened the door and shook it out outside, getting rid of the rest of the snow that had attached itself to the fabric. He also took the opportunity to kick as much of the snow that had fallen on the floor back outside.
He shut the door tight and shivered slightly. "Damn," he muttered, "It's cold out there."
"Yes sir," Sam agreed.
Jack looked at her and realised that she was shaking slightly. "The fires lit," he said softly, "Go and warm-up Carter."
"I'm ok sir," Sam replied quickly, "And the whole reason I'm here is to help you out before the others get here."
"Go warm up," Jack said again softly, "Or do I need to make that an order?"
"We're not at work sir," Sam snipped back, even as she headed into the front room and towards the roaring fire, "You can't order me around."
Jack laughed. "Anyway," he said as he followed her, "Everything's pretty much sorted anyway."
Sam looked back at him and smiled. She then sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the fire, stretching her hands out towards the flames to warm them. Jack studied her for a moment before he grabbed a blanket off the sofa and gently placed it around her shoulders. She froze at the touch but then looked back at him and smiled shyly as she grabbed the blanket and wrapped it more tightly around her.
Jack stood awkwardly for a moment before he went and sat on the sofa.
The two sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, Sam staring into the fire, and Jack taking the opportunity to stare at Sam until Sam broke the silence. "Unless the weather gets better I don't think anyone else is going to make it," she said in a quiet voice, "I struggled and I had an earlier start than them."
Jack hummed in agreement. "You're probably right," he accepted. He ran his hands through his hair for a second, causing it to spike out in all directions, and then grabbed the remote for the TV. He turned it on and switched through the channels until he found one that was showing the weather.
"Holy Hannah," Sam muttered, moving from the fire to sit beside him, "That's bad."
"Yeah," Jack accepted quietly as the two looked at the screen. There was a weather warning out for the area, a surprise snowstorm had taken everyone by surprise, including the meteorologists, and now that it had started it didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon, in fact, it was only going to get worse.
"I'm going to call Daniel and Teal'c," Jack said quickly, "Tell them not to even bother trying to get here."
Sam nodded. "I'll do the same with Janet. They might have seen the weather warning but just in case."
Jack nodded and went and grabbed his house phone while Sam pulled out her mobile. Jack called Daniel and then Teal'c to let them know the change of plans while Sam did the same with Janet. Once they had both finished they ended up sitting back beside each other on the sofa. Sam had taken off the blanket at some point during her phone call and had folded it up on the back of the sofa.
"So," Jack said, as he sat beside her.
"I should be going," Sam said, "Before the weather gets too bad for me to drive."
"No Carter," Jack told her, "It's already too dangerous for you to drive. The snow has only gotten heavier since you arrived."
Sam glanced at the window and realised he was right. "I guess so sir," she said in a resigned tone.
"It's fine Sam," Jack said softly, "We were going to have a team night anyway so there's plenty of food and drink in so we won't go hungry. We can just watch a movie and then you can stay in the spare room, just like other team nights."
But this wasn't like a normal team night and they both knew it. Team nights meant the team was here, tonight it was just the two of them.
Sam glanced towards the door. "Just stay Sam," Jack said, "I'll even let you pick the movie."
Sam laughed and nodded. "We're not going to be able to order pizza like we usually do," Sam then said, "So do you have something else we can eat? Other than snacks."
Jack got to his feet and offered her his hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet and then dropped her hand. "Let's go find out," he said, heading for the kitchen.
Not long after they both sat in the front room once again with the opening credits of Sam's movie of choice playing on the screen, and their dinner of mac and cheese on the laps. Sam had laughed when he'd pulled the box out of the cupboard and had had a coughing fit that had sounded suspiciously like child. Jack had just shaken his head and informed her that it was that or she could go hungry, to which Sam had just smiled and then stood and watched as he'd made their dinner.
It was a little awkward to begin with, they weren't used to being together in his home without the other members of the team also being there, but once the movie had started they'd started to relax.
Jack had just taken Sam's plate from her and put it on the coffee table when the room suddenly went dark and the TV turned off.
"The hell," Sam said, jumping slightly in surprise.
Jack got to his feet and peered through the window. He then went to the front door and opened it, he then looked up and down the street and saw that every house was dark and that the street lights were also out. "Looks like a power cut," he informed Sam as he shut the door again.
"Must be the snow," Sam mused, "Maybe it took out a transformer or some of the power lines."
"Mmmhmm," Jack hummed in response.
Sam heard as he wandered around for a few minutes, and heard as a drawer opened and closed, and then the soft light of a torch illuminated his face. He came towards her and the two stood looking at each other for a moment before Jack spoke. "The temperature is going to drop," he said, "The heating is electric so that's not going to be working anymore. I think our best bet is going to be to grab some supplies, find as many blankets as possible, and camp out in front of the fire. I've got plenty of firewood so we can keep the fire burning no problem."
"Yes sir," Sam agreed quickly. She looked towards the kitchen and then back at Jack. "I'll get some food and drinks and bring it all in here," she said, "While you get the blankets? I don't know where to find them."
"Good thinking," Jack said, offering her the torch.
Sam however shook her head. "I've only got to go between the kitchen and the fire," she said in a soft voice, "Which I know pretty well, and while this is your house I'd rather if you had a torch on the stairs. If you have an accident we won't be able to get an ambulance out in this weather."
"You can always stick me back together," he teased. He did however stop offering her the torch. "Let's get this done quick," he then said.
Sam nodded and headed one way while Jack headed the other. The first thing he did was head into his bedroom and strip the duvet off the bed. He left that at the top of the stairs and then went and did the same thing to the bed in the spare room. With both duvets piled at the top of the stairs, he then opened the airing cupboard and pulled out the pile of blankets that was folded up inside.
He debated dropping them on top of the duvets and carrying the whole lot down in one go, but decided against it. Sam was right, if he had an accident they weren't going to be getting help anytime soon. He walked down with the blankets and dropped them on the sofa then went back upstairs and grabbed the two duvets and deposited them in the same place.
He then looked around the room, debating on what to do. He considered moving the sofa closer to the fire, to give them somewhere comfortable to sit, but it was heavy and awkward so he decided against it. He knew he could ask Sam to help him move it but instead, he chose to go a different route.
He grabbed one duvet and laid it out on the floor, right in front of the hearth. He then grabbed the sofa cushions and pushed the coffee table forward, and used both to start creating a fort. He had just put the last pillow down when Sam came back into the room, her arms full of food and drink. She smiled at him, the firelight illuminating her with its soft light.
Jack smiled back and took the items from her and piled them off to one side. Sam went back into the kitchen and came out with another armful which she put in the same pile.
"Got enough?" Jack teased.
Sam shrugged. "I think so," she said back, "If not the kitchen is right there." She gestured over her shoulder and then shivered slightly. Jack jumped to his feet and grabbed one of the blankets and threw it round her shoulders before he grabbed one for himself and did the same thing.
"Let's get comfy," Jack then suggested, gesturing to the half-constructed fort that he'd started making in front of the fire.
Sam nodded and studied the fort for a second before she sat down and rearranged some of the pillows slightly before grabbing another blanket and using it to pad out her corner. Jack smiled at her and then sat down next to her. The two of them stared into the fire in silence.
"So," Jack said, grabbing a pack of cards from the coffee table, "Fancy a game?"
Sam looked away from the fire and towards him. "Sure sir," she said with a smile, "What you go in mind?"
"Can we drop the sir tonight and just go with Jack?" Jack asked.
That caused Sam to pause for a moment. "Um, ok," she then said, "But only so long as you call me Sam, not Carter."
"Sure thing Sam," Jack said with a smile, "How about go fish?"
"Go fish?" Sam asked, "Really?"
Jack shrugged. "Sure," he said in a joking tone, "It's the closest I'm likely to get with fishing with you anytime in the near future."
Sam laughed at him. "Deal," she then told him.
Jack smiled back and then pulled the cards out of the box and started to shuffle. He dealt out the cards and then left the rest in the centre between them. He then grabbed two beers from the pile that Sam had made earlier and handed one to Sam, keeping the other for himself. He knew drinking alcohol wasn't necessarily the best thing to be doing when it was this cold, alcohol did after all make you lose body heat faster, but he figured they could both do with loosening up a little, and a bit of beer should help with that.
They played go fish for nearly two hours, pausing only once for Jack to throw some more wood onto the fire. When they finished up with their last hand, which Sam won, Jack put all his cards onto the duvet and looked at Sam.
"Warm enough?" Jack asked Sam.
She nodded. "Yes thank you. You?"
Jack nodded. "Do you fancy another game or do you want to do something else?"
Sam thought for a moment. "No more go fish," she said, "It's been fun but I'm a little bored of it."
"But you won more than you lost," Jack pointed out.
Sam shrugged. "Doesn't stop it being boring," she said quietly.
At some point while they'd been playing they'd moved closer together so they were now sitting with their shoulders almost touching. Jack nudged her should with his. "So what do you want to do instead?" Jack asked.
He felt Sam shrug. They both stared into the flames. "How about," Jack said slowly, still staring into the flames as he spoke, "Poker?"
"There's no chips," Sam pointed out, "And opening one of the bags of snacks just for betting material would be a waste."
"We could play for something else," Jack suggested. He kept his eyes firmly on the flames, not daring to look at Sam.
"Such as what?" Sam asked. She had a fairly good idea where he was going with this but wanted to be sure.
"Clothes?" Jack suggested.
When Sam didn't answer, or make any sound at all immediately, Jack thought he'd screwed up and had turned what until this point had been an enjoyable evening spent with Sam into something that was now just going to be an awkward mess. He was about to open his mouth and tell her to forget it when Sam spoke.
"Sure," she said, "But I warn you, Jack, I'm not going to pull any punches just because you might get cold when I take all your clothes."
Jack barked out a laugh and threw two more logs onto the fire. "I promise not to complain about being cold so long as you do the same," he said, looking her in the eye, "Because you may think you're good at cards, but I know I'm good at them."
Sam laughed in response. "Deal," she then said to him before she drank the last of her current bottle of beer. It was her third of the evening and she was starting to feel the effects. She debated whether or not to get another one but decided to hold off, for now at least.
She knew that if she hadn't been drinking she never would have agreed to play this game, and she also knew that Jack never would have suggested it. But they were both adults, and with only the firelight providing illumination to the room, she knew that they weren't really going to be able to see that much of each other.
She watched as Jack dealt the cards and then placed the deck to one side. She picked up her cards at the same time as he picked up his.
"Texas hold 'em," Jack said as he discarded the top card, "And here comes the flop." He dealt three cards. He glanced between the faceup cards and his own. "No cards for the dealer," he declared, "How about for the lady?"
Sam chewed on her lip for a moment before she held out one card. "One card please dealer."
"One card for the lady," Jack said. He took the card from Sam and placed it on the discard pile before he dealt her a new one from the deck.
They then went through the flop and then the river. Both of them had excellent poker faces, and with the only light coming from the fire they were both doing a pretty good job of not letting the other know what they were holding.
"Two pair," Jack declared with a flourish, showing Sam his cards, "Jack's over eights."
"Not a bad hand," Sam said, "But not good enough I'm afraid." She showed her own hand. "Jack's over nine's."
"No way," Jack griped.
Sam smirked at him. "You lose," she told him, "And I believe that means you also need to lose some clothing. And socks only count if you take off both."
Jack huffed but Sam was right, he'd lost the hand, therefore, he needed to lose some clothes. He quickly pulled his sweater off and balled it up to one side.
He then offered Sam the deck. "Deal," he told her.
She dealt and they played another hand. This time Jack won and Sam copied him and pulled off her own sweater and piled it on top of Jack's.
They played a few more hands, neither really gaining the upper hand. At one point Jack paused to throw some more wood onto the fire, not wanting the fire to burn too low and either of them getting cold, and they kept playing.
At one point either he hit a run of bad hands, or Sam was just having the best luck because she won four hands in a row, leaving Jack sitting in nothing but his boxers. Jack could just see in the firelight as she raised an eyebrow when she saw his choice of underwear.
"Like what you see?" he teased.
Sam laughed. "They're very you Jack," she said.
Jack smiled at her. "Daniel got them for me as a joke," he admitted, "But I like them."
He was still wrapped in a blanket but Sam could see just enough of him to make out Bart Simpson saying Eat my Shorts.
"Do you want to stop?" Sam then asked.
"Not a chance," Jack told her, "I need to win some of your clothes."
"You might end up losing more of yours," Sam pointed out, "And you really only have one option if you do lose."
"I'm game if you are," Jack said. He opened another beer and handed it to Sam before opening another for himself.
They were getting onto dangerous ground but neither of them cared.
"Sure thing Jack," Sam said with a smile, the firelight glinting off her teeth.
He dealt and they carried on playing. "Ha," he said, "Beat that." He showed Sam his hand, revealing a royal flush.
Sam didn't answer, she just pulled her t-shirt over her head and added it to the pile of discarded clothes. Jack was disappointed to see however that she was wearing a tank top underneath.
"Playing strip poker in this weather is a great idea," Jack said, "We've got on so many layers the game just keeps going."
"Some of us are wearing more than others," Sam teased.
Jack just laughed.
They carried on playing, the luck now swinging in Jack's direction as he won the next two hands, meaning Sam lost her tank top and pants, leaving her just sitting in her bra and panties, both of which were decidedly not military issue. Jack tried to ignore the feelings that seeing the underwear stirred in him, which was made easier by the darkness and the blanket, but he couldn't help but think what a bad idea this had been.
"We should stop," he said in a low voice.
Sam looked down herself and then across at him. It could have been a trick of the light she knew but she was fairly certain that her state of undress was causing a reaction from Jack, a reaction that was visible thanks to his own state of undress.
"You're probably right," Sam accepted. She began to gather up the cards, keeping the blanket around her shoulders as she moved. Jack watched her and threw some more logs onto the fire, anything to take his gaze away from Sam's body.
"Jack," Sam said, her voice low and a lot closer than Jack was expecting it.
"Yes?" he said, keeping his eyes on the fire.
"Jack," Sam said again, her voice even softer.
Jack couldn't help it, he turned to look at her. She was kneeling beside him, so close that they were almost touching.
"I'm cold," she whispered. Jack reached to grab another log but Sam stopped him by grabbing his hand, her eyes flicked from his eyes to his lips to his boxers and then back to his face. "Just this once Jack, please."
"We can't," Jack said softly, "Because I can't do this just once."
Sam nodded her head in understanding and started to move away. This time Jack grabbed her to stop her from moving. His hand was on her thigh and he slowly traced patterns on her warm skin. "Sam," he said in a whisper, "Trust me, I want to do this, but we can't ok. I won't compromise you."
"I'm already compromised," Sam told him, "I have been for a long time, but I've still been able to make the hard decisions."
Jack stared at her, he couldn't believe what he was hearing, but he knew she was right. He'd been compromised for so long he could barely remember a time when he hadn't been, but he had still been able to make the hard decisions. "If this gets out," he said softly, "That would be it. You know that right? This would ruin your carer."
Sam shook her head. "I don't care," she told him firmly, "And anyway, they owe us something for all we've been through."
"We can't start thinking like that," Jack said softly but he barely believed what he was saying, and it showed.
As they spoke they moved closer to each other until they were staring each other straight in the eye, barely inches apart. They could feel each other's warm breath on their face. "Are you sure this is what you want?" Jack asked. His hand was still on Sam's thigh but his movements had stilled.
Sam didn't speak she just reached out with her hand and touched his cheek tenderly. She licked her lips and then slowly pulled his head towards hers. Their lips touched and both felt a thrill of lightning travel up their spines.
Jack's hand moved from her thigh and travelled up her side until it came to a stop tangled in her hair.
That evening the amount of heat the two of them created in their fort would have melted any amount of snow, and it definitely kept the pair of them warm as the snow continued to fall outside.