Prompt 5 – Christmas Offworld
"Daniel," Jack barked, fanning himself with his cap, "How's it going?"
"Getting there Jack," Daniel replied, "Just like I was the last six times you asked."
Sam ducked her head to hide her smile as Jack glared at Daniel.
"Well excuse me," Jack muttered, throwing himself down to sit beside Sam.
Sam turned to look at him, an apologetic look on her face. "It's not too bad sir," she said in a quiet voice, "At least it's warm."
Jack huffed. "But it shouldn't be warm," he moaned, "That's the problem."
"Sir?" Sam asked him.
"It's Christmas Carter," Jack groused, "Therefore we should be wrapped up in front of a fire staring at Christmas tree lights. The only thing that should be cooking is Christmas dinner, not us."
Sam bit her lip to keep from laughing as Daniel responded. "People in Australia always have a warm Christmas Jack," he told him, "And you never hear them complaining."
"Well in case it had escaped your notice," Jack snapped back, "I'm American, not Australian. Christmas is meant to be cold, preferably with snow."
"Snow is indeed cold," Teal'c said, speaking up for the first time in a few hours. He hadn't had a lot of experience with snow, the Gou'ald tended to like warmer planets, but since he'd been on Earth it had snowed every year.
When Teal'c said nothing more Jack looked at Sam with a raised eyebrow. Sam smiled at him then buried her head in her book. Jack sighed and looked at Daniel. "So how long Daniel?" he asked.
Daniel sighed and turned to glare at Jack. "Every time you ask me how long it'll take it makes it take longer," he told the older man firmly, "Go find something else to do, please."
"Someone needs to keep an eye on you," Jack said back, "You always manage to get into trouble."
"Sam," Daniel said, his tone taking on a begging quality, "Please."
Sam sighed and got to her feet. "Come on sir," she said, placing her book on the spot she'd just left, "Let's go and see if we can find something to do."
"There's nothing to do Carter," Jack whined, even as he got to his feet, "We already looked around when we first got here and there wasn't anything."
Sam just rolled her eyes and started walking. Jack watched her retreating figure and then glanced between Daniel and Teal'c. "Keep an eye on Daniel please Teal'c," he said, "Make sure he stays out of trouble."
"Of course," Teal'c accepted.
Jack glanced at Daniel one more time, and Daniel glared back at him, and then Jack shook his head and hurried after Sam, catching up with her just as she got to the trees that ringed their chosen campsite. Other than the fact it was nearly Christmas and they should have been back on Earth on leave like most of the rest of the SGC staff, the mission had been an easy one for all involved.
They'd been on the planet for three days so far. There had been ruins for Daniel to explore, with plenty of writing that needed to be translated, so he was happy. Teal'c had been entertaining himself helping Daniel and meditating. Sam had brought a book with her and had been taking a chance to relax and catch up on some r and r. She would have felt bad about not working, except that there was nothing for her to do. Jack had been ok for the first two days, setting up camp and exploring the immediate area for any signs of threat, of which he'd found none, but now that they were halfway through day three he had started to get antsy. He appreciated that Hammond had sent them on an easy mission, but he was bored.
"I still don't understand why we had to do this now," Jack muttered as he and Sam walked through the trees, "It's Christmas for god's sake. Basically every other team has time off, so why are we stuck doing a looky-loo mission that could have waited until the new year, and that really didn't need to be done by us. This would have been perfect for the science team."
Sam rolled her eyes. "Orders sir," she reminded him quietly.
Jack shook his head. "Carter really," he teased, "Orders? We're on a milk run over Christmas, that's some orders."
Sam sighed and then speed up, trying to get enough distance from Jack to stop him from asking her questions. She had no idea what to do, but Daniel had really needed a break from him and in all honesty, she had needed to stretch her legs.
"Carter," Jack whined, easily matching her speed. "You know something don't you," he suddenly exclaimed.
Sam kept her head down and carried on walking, speeding up again. She suddenly had an idea of where to go and aimed in that direction. It took Jack a minute to match her speed but when he did he grabbed her arm and tugged on it. "Come on Carter," he begged, "Spill."
Sam ignored him and when he tugged on her arm again she shook off his hand and then grabbed it in her own. "Come on sir," she said, pulling him along behind her, "I've got an idea."
Jack stared at their joined hands for a moment but Sam tugged on it again and he fell in beside her. The two of them were walking fast now, nearly jogging, Sam threading through the trees as she headed in the direction of her plan.
Jack stayed quiet, just enjoying the feeling of her hand in his. Sam came to a halt and Jack stumbled slightly at the unexpected sudden halt in movement. Once he regained his feet he looked around, looking at where Sam had brought them.
"Carter?" he said eventually, not really sure why they were here, "This is beautiful and all but why?"
Sam smiled at him and looked at the waterfall that was flowing into the pool in front of them. "I remembered this from when we did our recon walk," she explained, "And I figured since it is so hot why not go for a swim?"
Jack stared at her as she undid her vest and then dropped it to one side. He turned his back as her hands went to her pants and she started to undo her belt.
"It's safe," Sam said, "Part of the testing I did on our first day was a water test and the water is safe. And it's so clear that we'd be able to see anything that might be dangerous. Plus, I threw some stones in yesterday when I came here to read for a bit and I didn't disturb anything."
He heard as she pulled off her boots and then dropped her pants, the jingling of her pockets giving her away.
"You coming or what sir?" Sam then asked.
Jack swallowed and turned to look at her. She was standing in front of him wearing a tank top and standard-issue underwear, and Jack couldn't keep his eyes off her long legs.
"Um sure," he croaked out. He then frowned, his voice should not have sounded like that. "I'll join you in a second," he then said, his voice stronger this time.
Sam smiled at him and then made her way down to the water's edge. "Well you'll get your wish of cold sir," Sam called back as she dipped a toe into the shallows, "The water is freezing."
Jack was about to ask if Sam really thought this was a good idea when she walked back past him and walked to stand on a small rise just above them. He caught her eye and she smiled at him before she took a running leap off the rise and dived into the water. He watched as her body cut through the water, barely creating a splash, and then Sam resurfaced.
"Come on in sir," she called up to him, treading water, "The water is lovely."
Jack shook his head and then quickly stripped off until he was standing in just his boxers near the edge of the water. He piled all his clothes next to Sam's and then made his way to the edge of the water.
Sam lazily paddled around so she was in front of her and then stayed there treading water, the challenge clear on her face.
Jack steeled himself and walked into the water. It wasn't as cold as he was expecting and the smile on Sam's face told him that she'd been teasing him when she'd said it was freezing. The water got deep quickly and soon Jack was also treading water. He propelled himself towards Sam and the two of them floated facing each other.
"This is nice," Jack said eventually, "Thanks, Carter."
"No worries sir," Sam replied, "I will admit I took a bit of a dip yesterday."
"Oh really," Jack replied with a quirked eyebrow, "And here I remember you telling us that you were going for a walk to see if there were any natural resources around that we could use."
Sam shrugged. "I did that too," she said, "I just took a break to go for a swim and then read my book as I dried off."
Jack laughed. "Glad someone is having fun on this planet at least," he said.
Sam shook her head and then smiling she turned and started to swim towards the waterfall. Jack followed after her. She paused briefly in the rougher water at the base of the fall and then duck dived under the water and swam under the fall. Jack watched as she resurfaced on the other side and stared back at him.
"You coming sir?" Sam called to him, raising her voice so he could hear it over the water.
"This is a dangerous game you're playing Carter," Jack called back.
"I have no idea what you mean sir," Sam called back with a smirk.
Jack shook his head and then copied what she had just done, he duck dived under the water and then kicked a few times until he hit his head on something. He raised his hands to find out what he'd hit and felt Sam's smooth legs beneath his hands. He climbed his way up her body and as his head broke the surface his hands came to rest on her hips.
"You moved," he accused, as he let go with one hand and used it to push his hair off his face and wipe the water from his eyes.
"You're still holding on," Sam pointed out, her voice low.
Jack looked down at where his hand was still resting on her hip and then back to her face. "Sorry," he said, dropping his hand and taking a step back. The ground beneath him wasn't flat however and as he put his foot down he lost his balance and started windmilling his arms wildly, trying to regain his balance.
Sam grabbed his arm and pulled him upright. She overcorrected though and ended up pulling Jack into her hard enough that she fell backwards into the water, Jack following after her. They resurfaced coughing and spluttering and let go of each other and found their feet. They both pushed their hair out of their faces and then looked at each other and started laughing.
"Well this isn't how I expected to be spending today," Jack commented after they stopped laughing, "But it's been fun."
Sam smiled at him. "Glad you're enjoying yourself, sir," she said, "I'm just sorry that you're missing Christmas on Earth."
Jack shrugged and then splashed water at Sam. "I don't mind," he replied, "I'd only have been spending it with all of you anyway." He smiled at her. "Don't tell Daniel I told you this but having a warm Christmas rather than a cold one is a nice change."
Sam laughed and splashed him back. As he shielded himself from the water she quickly closed the gap between them.
"Merry Christmas Jack," she said quickly as she kissed his cheek.
"Merry Christmas Sam," Jack replied, kissing her back.
She smiled at him and then got an evil twinkle in her eye. Jack frowned and then yelped as Sam gave him an almighty push that put him under the waterfall. As he fought to stay on his feet he heard rather than saw as Sam dived past him and headed back into the main pool. He ducked under the water and pushed himself back into the clear water and then started treading water again, searching for Sam.
"I'm so going to get you for that Carter," he called after her retreating back.
"You've got to catch me first," Sam called back as she kept swimming.
Jack laughed and started swimming after her, intent on catching her and dunking her just like she'd dunked him.