Prompt 12 – "Oh, there's not a snowball's chance in hell."
"This doesn't look good," Jack muttered out of the side of his mouth to the rest of the team.
They had gated to a planet that was in the middle of its winter period and the snow was thick on the ground. The village had been set a little way away from the stargate but the path had been well travelled and they'd been greeted by some locals when they'd walked through.
They'd been invited to accompany the people back to the village and had followed along after the group, keeping an eye out for any signs of trouble. It had looked completely fine, there had been people interested in them, as would be expected, but no one seemed to be overly scared of them, which told the team that the Goa'uld hadn't been here in a while.
Now, they were standing in a covered area in the centre of the village and had just finished talking to the leaders of the village, who had gone off to one side to discuss what they had been told between themselves. That was fairly normal and SG1 were pretty used to it by this point, what had Jack worried was the amount of attention and looks that Sam seemed to be getting from everyone present, all of whom were men.
"No sir," Sam agreed. She glanced at Daniel and raised an eyebrow in silent question. Jack followed her gaze and then went back to scanning the area to keep an eye out for any threats, Teal'c doing the same.
"We don't know anything yet," Daniel said in a quiet voice, "It might just be your colouring rather than you being a female."
Sam hummed. She was the only person with blonde hair in the area, and she was a lot fairer than anyone else as well. But she had a horrible feeling that this wasn't going to go as easily as it had first looked.
Jack shifted beside her, moving fractionally closer, giving her silent support and letting her know that he was there if needed. Sam straightened her spine slightly, standing taller but keeping her eyes downcast. In the past trying to hold the eye, or even looking at certain people, had caused more problems than it was worth, so now Sam kept her eyes on the ground and had to rely on the others to keep a lookout on the surrounding area. Yes, it made her blind, but it lessened the chance of weapons suddenly being pulled on them, which had happened more than once in the past.
"Here they come," Jack muttered out of the corner of his mouth. He nudged Sam slightly with his shoulder and she looked up, although she made sure she didn't look at anyone directly.
"We would like to invite you all to join us for a meal this evening," the leader of the group said.
Daniel glanced around the group quickly before he answered. "We would be honoured to join you Oro."
Oro nodded. "If you'll follow me," he then invited. Without waiting for an answer he turned and walked towards the large town hall looking building on the other side of the village to the path from the Stargate.
Jack, Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c all shared a look and then followed after him, Daniel taking the lead while Sam and Jack walked side by side and Teal'c brought up the rear.
"You ok Carter?" Jack whispered to Sam, barely moving his mouth and keeping his eyes forwards.
"Yeah sure ya betcha," Sam replied equally as quietly.
Jack's lips quirked into a tiny smile as she used his phrase but as quickly as it had arrived it vanished again as he concentrated on their surroundings. Something was bothering him about all of this, and he knew from the way Sam was holding herself that she had a similarly bad gut feeling.
Oro led them into the build and then gestured for them to take a seat around the table. Daniel quickly took a seat and Teal'c took the one on one side of him. As Sam went to take the seat on his other side Oro shook his head. "The woman must leave us and go and eat with the other women."
"With all due respect Oro," Daniel was quick to say, in his most placating tone, "We would rather stay as a complete unit instead of separating."
Oro shook his head. "Women do not belong here," he was quick to say, his tone sharp, "Unclaimed woman especially."
Jack frowned at the word 'unclaimed' but before he could say anything, Daniel was speaking again. "Sam is part of our team and we stick together."
Sam could see that Oro was beginning to get angry and made an executive decision. "It's fine Daniel," she said in a low voice, "I'll go and sit with the other women."
"Carter," Jack said in an equally low voice.
"I'll be ok sir," Sam replied quickly, "It's this or leave."
"My moneys on leave," Jack muttered, but he knew that Sam was right. They needed to play nice for now, until they could learn more about the planet and the people.
She nodded at Daniel and he turned to speak to Oro. "Could someone show Sam the way please?"
Oro narrowed his eyes for a second before he nodded. He clicked his fingers and within the space of a few seconds, a woman, who looked to be in her early to mid-twenties, with downcast eyes came into the room through a door in one of the walls. She went immediately to Oro's side and bent to hear him speak.
"Take the woman to eat with you and the others," he instructed in a firm voice, staring at Sam as he spoke, "Then she is to return with the other unclaimed once we have eaten." He turned his full attention to Sam. "She leaves her weapons with you," he stated in a tone that brokered no argument, "Our women are not permitted to carry weapons."
"She's not one of your women," Jack snapped back quickly, "She keeps her weapons."
Oro narrowed his eyes at Jack. He looked Sam up and down. "The large gun she leaves with you, she may keep her smaller one," he bargained.
Jack and Sam shared a look and Sam nodded. She was ok with that, plus she also had a zat and her knife, neither of which Oro had mentioned. Jack nodded in response and in short order Sam had unclipped her P90 from her vest and handed it to Jack.
"Take her," Oro then instructed the woman.
The woman glanced at Sam and then looked at the other members of SG1 before she looked back at Oro. "Yes," she said in a low voice.
The woman began to walk towards Sam and Sam caught Jack's eye and gave him a tiny nod. Jack returned to motion and then took the seat next to Daniel.
"Please come with me," the woman said as she reached Sam.
Sam nodded and as the woman turned and began to walk she followed after her. She glanced back at the guys and Jack subtly touched his radio, masking the movement as he carried on raising his hand to pull off his hat.
Sam got the message loud and clear, any signs of trouble all she had to do was sqwark and the guys would come for her.
In silence, she followed the woman out of the room and along a dimly lit corridor until they came to another room. It was the same size as the room that Sam had just left, and was set out the same way, a large central table with chairs set around it at intervals and a large central fire pit. There were a few less windows but the room was still bright and was painted in some soft pastel colours, and there was artwork on the walls.
"This is the hall of the unclaimed," the woman explained, "Come, sit, eat."
Sam followed her in silence and took a seat on one of the benches, the woman who had led her taking the seat beside her. There was food already on the table, some sort of stew and a hunk of rough bread.
"Please eat," the woman said, gesturing to the food.
Sam nodded and picked up the bread and pulled off a piece and dipped it in the stew and then ate it. As she chewed she looked around the room. Everyone here appeared to be a similar age to the woman who had shown Sam the way, early twenties, and they all had the same downturned eyes, although there seemed to be an air of excitement in the air.
"I'm Sam by the way," she introduced herself, "Thank you for showing me the way."
The woman stared at Sam for a moment. "I am Helena," the woman then replied, "And I did as asked."
Sam didn't know how to respond to that so she took another bite of food and chewed it thoroughly, to give herself some time to think. She swallowed once again and opened her mouth to speak but Helena shook her head. "Now is not the time to talk," Helena told her firmly, "Now is the time to prepare."
Sam snapped her mouth shut and concentrated on eating the food, hiding her confusion. She didn't eat much, she wasn't really that hungry, and the food wasn't really all that good.
Around her, the other woman were finishing up and getting to their feet. When Helena got to hers Sam followed suit. Helena glanced between Sam and the half-eaten bowl of food but said nothing about it. Instead, she looked towards the door. "Come with me," she said, "We must go and change in preparation for the ceremony."
"What ceremony?" Sam asked as she fell into step beside Helena.
"The choosing of course," Helena said, as if the answer was obvious.
Sam frowned. "What's the choosing?" she asked, slightly dreading the answer.
Helena stared at her. "You do not know?" she asked, "Do you not have the choosing in your village?"
Sam shook her head. "I'm not from this planet," she explained in a soft voice, "My team and I came through the Stargate this morning." She saw Helena's blank look and wracked her brain for the term that Oro had used to name the gate earlier. "The water portal," she said, finally remembering.
That obviously shocked Helena. "The choosing is where the unclaimed women of a certain age are presented to the men of our community, and the men of other communities who have not found a suitable partner within their own area," she explained as they continued to walk.
"Right," Sam muttered. She almost reached for her radio but she knew that if she did that then that would be the end of the mission. Hopefully, Daniel would work out what the ceremony was and would be able to get her out of it. There was no chance that she was going to change though, that was taking it one step too far.
The women all filed into rooms along to corridor but Sam refused to walk into one, she just stayed in the corridor. There were a few older women present and they gave her dirty looks but she still refused to move, she just lent against the wall and waited for Helena to remerge.
When she did she was now dressed in what Sam would have called a nighty. The other woman also came out wearing the same sort of clothing, although all the colours were different. Helena gave Sam a confused look but she didn't say anything.
The women all then began to walk back towards the main room that Sam had left the guys in earlier. The layout of the room had changed in the time since she'd left, the tables were gone and now there were lots of men standing around. They had been talking when the women first started walking in but now they all fell silent and stared at the women. Sam looked around the room until she found Jack's eye. She widened her eyes and with her eyes gestured towards Daniel, telling Jack without words that he needed to sort this out before it got too far.
The other women may be happy to be here but Sam wasn't. She had absolutely no desire to end up with an alien husband.
"Thank you all for joining us today," Oro said, standing so his back was to the women and he was facing the men, "I hope that you can all find your life partner."
That was obviously a sign because as he finished talking the people in the room began to move. Sam stood still for a moment and then regretted it as she was suddenly swarmed by men, she was sure that they were all lovely people but she really didn't want to be here for this.
Smiling and gently pushing past as many people as she could she went in search of the rest of the team. She got waylaid a few times but she was able to reach them without too many issues.
"Daniel," she hissed at him, about to tell him to sort this out. She didn't get any further though as Oro appeared at their side.
"You should be with the other women," he told Sam, "This is the perfect time for you to find yourself a partner."
"Thank you for letting me be part of the ceremony," Sam said, trying to be diplomatic, "But I have no desire to find a partner among your people."
"But you are well past the age that our people would marry at," Oro said, "I thought this would help you."
Sam didn't know what to say, she didn't want to ruffle any feathers, but she also really didn't want to take part in this. There were plenty of eager women here and she would hate to take any attention away from them.
"That is not our custom," Daniel explained. He gave Sam a look that told her without words that he was sorry he'd gotten her into this, it was after all his responsibility to try and keep the cultural misunderstandings to a minimum.
"The ceremony has begun," Oro said, his voice taking on a slightly apologetic tone and Sam wondered if she'd misjudged the man, "Which means that your woman will not be able to leave until someone has declared an interest in her, or until no one has declared an interest in her."
Jack, Teal'c, Daniel, and Sam all looked around the room and realised that there was no chance of that happening, there were just too many men staring at Sam right now.
"You did not explain this ceremony to us," Daniel said, "We can not expect one of our team to go through with this."
"There is nothing that I can do."
"Oh for crying out loud," Jack suddenly exclaimed, "There's not a snowball's chance in hell this is going to happen."
"And why is that?" Oro demanded.
"Because Carter isn't unclaimed," Jack said, speaking without really thinking.
"She isn't?" Oro asked, confused, "But she does not bear the sign of her partner."
"She's my wife, my partner," Jack suddenly said, "And she doesn't need to wear my sign because that's not how we do things where we're from." He was glad to see that Teal'c managed to keep his face a blank as normal. Sam's eyes widened slightly but then her professional mask slipped into place and she kept her expression blank. Daniel was the biggest giveaway, his eyes widened and he gasped in surprise. He did manage to cover it however with a coughing fit.
Oro looked between them all, his eyebrows narrowed. He then suddenly smiled. "Congratulations," he said, "And I am sorry for any misunderstanding that occurred here today." He looked around the room. "Stay here for a moment please," he then said before he moved away, grabbed something from one of the tables, and then made his way back towards them. "To avoid any further confusion and to show that you are joined I will ask you both to mark each other with this." He held up the small pot of paint that he had just grabbed. "The marks can be of anything but I would suggest something unique to the pair of you. The more intricate the better." He looked between the two of them. "And they must match. But you may not discuss what you will be drawing. In our culture, the way that people prove they are meant to be together is by being able to draw the same thing on each other skin."
Sam and Jack looked at each other and then Sam quickly looked away, fighting back a blush. She and Jack touched all the time, probably too much if she was being honest with herself, but that was little brushes of the hand, maybe a hand on the small of her back, not painting marks on each other.
"What if they do not draw the same mark?" Teal'c asked.
"Then they are not meant to be together," Oro answered, "And Major Carter will go back into the ranks of the unclaimed."
Sam swallowed hard and out of the corner of her eye saw that Jack was doing the same. "No pressure then," Jack muttered under his breath.
Sam smiled at him and then looked to Oro. "Can you explain to us, in detail, exactly what it is we need to do please Oro?" she asked, "So that there is no more confusion between us?"
Oro inclined his head in response. "It is simple," he began to explain, "All you must do is dip your fingers into the paint and draw a pattern on the others face. If you are meant to be the pattern will come to you and it will be identical."
"Ok," Jack said, avoiding Sam's eye as he spoke, "What happens then?"
"Then you are bound, and tomorrow morning you will join with the others who find partners tonight and affirm your partnership."
Jack winced slightly at his words but he nodded. "Thank you Oro," he said, keeping his voice even. He turned to look at Sam. "You ready for this Carter?" he asked her.
Sam nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Oro held up the paint between them and Jack and Sam held each others gaze for a long moment before they both dipped in their index fingers. Around them, they were barely aware that they had an audience gathering, they only had eyes for each other.
Hesitantly they both raised their hands towards the others face. As Sam touched her fingertip to Jack's face she felt a shock of something travel up her finger, along her arm, and hit her heart. Her eyes widened and as Jack touched her face he must have felt the same thing because his eyes widened too.
They both froze but then a compulsion to draw overtook them both and without even thinking about what they were doing they followed that compulsion, every so often taking their finger away to get some more paint.
Above the pounding of her heart in her ears, Sam could hear that the people around her, who had been talking, had all fallen silent. She traced the final line and let her hand drop away. She stared at Jack, she had no idea what she had done, but it was finished. Jack's hand also stilled but he held his hand against her face for a fraction longer than he needed to, his warm palm cradling her cheek for a moment before he dropped his hand as well.
They kept staring at each other, completely lost in each others eyes. It was Daniel clearing his throat that broke them out of it. They immediately turned their heads to look at him and Teal'c. The pair were staring at them, Daniel with wide-open eyes, clearly shocked by what he saw. Teal'c was also shocked, but he wasn't as obvious about it, the only way they knew was that one of his eyebrows was raised and it was staying there.
"You are meant to be," Oro said in a formal tone, "Congratulations."
He then turned and walked away, and everyone else who had gathered around them began to disperse, going back to their own thing.
"I need to wash my hands," Sam said.
"I'll show you the way," Jack said, his tone subdued.
Sam just nodded and the two of them walked away, Sam sticking up Jack's side as they made their way through the crowd. A few people stopped them and congratulated them but they got through without too many issues.
"What was that?" Daniel asked, turning to Teal'c, "They looked like they were in some sort of trance."
Teal'c nodded. "It might be worth finding Oro and asking him for more details DoctorJackson," he suggested.
Daniel glanced over to where Sam and Jack had just gone and then back to Teal'c. "Yeah," he said, "I think I'll do just that."
"Here," Jack said, showing Sam to a sink that he'd been shown earlier.
"Thanks, sir," Sam said in a low voice. She stepped forward to start washing her hands while Jack lent against the wall.
"Sorry Carter," Jack said.
Sam turned her head to look at him. "You have nothing to be sorry for sir," she told him firmly, "Better you than someone else in there."
"Better the devil you know?" Jack asked.
"Something like that sir," Sam said with a smile.
Once her hands were clean she moved to one side, leaving the sink free for Jack to use.
"If anything sir I should be thanking you," Sam said.
"Yes, well," Jack said, "I couldn't have my second ending up married to an alien could I." He glanced at Sam and then back to his hands. "Hammond and your dad never would have forgiven me."
Sam laughed.
The two headed back into the room and spent the rest of the evening close to each other. There were a few more drawing ceremonies and they made sure to watch a few, to try and get an idea of what they had done, and how they'd looked while doing it.
When the evening came to a close they were shown to a room by Helena and the man that had the same patterns on his face that she did.
"Congratulations," Helena said as they stopped in front of the room, "We wish you many years of happiness together."
"We wish you the same too," Sam replied.
She and Jack looked at each other and then they headed into the room. Once the door had shut behind them Sam sighed and leant against the wall.
"You ok Carter?" Jack asked in a worried tone.
"Fine sir," Sam assured him quickly, "Just tired."
Jack knew that there was something else bothering her but he decided to leave it for now. Instead, he looked around the room. It reminded him of the hotel room on Earth, there was a comfortable looking bed against one wall and an ensuite bathroom on another. "Well there's a bed right there," he said, "How about we call it a night?" He looked around. "Give me some of the pillows and I'll sleep on the floor."
"Don't be silly sir," Sam told him, "We can share, we're both adults."
Jack nodded and the two of them headed for the bed, peeling off so that they stood on one side of the bed each. Turning their backs to each other they undressed until Sam was standing in her tank top and underwear and Jack was wearing only his boxers. They got into the bed without speaking and settled down.
They turned so they were lying on their sides facing each other. "So what's up Carter?" Jack tried again, his voice soft.
"Tomorrow," Sam said. Her single word answer told Jack all he needed to know.
"It'll be fine Carter," Jack assured her, "We don't need to worry about anything. What happens on an alien planet stays on an alien planet."
Sam laughed. "Unless of course, Daniel feels the need to tease us," she pointed out, "Or lets it drop at a thoroughly inappropriate time."
"There is that," Jack accepted. His eyes flicked down to rest on Sam's lips before he tore his eyes away and looked back into her eyes. "Good night Sam," he said in a low voice.
"Night Jack," Sam replied.
Jack turned over and turned off the light.
-/-
The next morning when they woke up they had moved in their sleep so that Sam now had her back pressed against Jack's chest and his arms were hugging her close to him.
Some parts of Jack's anatomy were even more aware of their position than others. He tried to calm himself down but couldn't bring himself to let go of Sam. He felt as her breathing quickened and she work up.
"It's my sidearm I swear," he muttered into her ear.
He felt Sam begin to shake with silent laughter. "Of course it is sir," she said, "And I'd totally believe you if I hadn't seen you put your gun on the bedside table last night."
"Sorry Sam," Jack said.
"It's ok," Sam assured him.
He tried to let her go, to move away, but Sam wouldn't let him, she clasped her arms over his and made it impossible for him to move.
"Sam," Jack said in a warning tone.
"We're not doing anything Jack," Sam told him, "Just lying here."
Jack tried to find a reason to let go, and he knew that there were plenty, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead, he pulled Sam closer and gently kissed the nape of her neck. He knew that that was pushing it but he couldn't help it.
Before anything more could happen though there was a knock on the door. "Jack, Sam," Daniel called through the door, "You two awake."
Jack sighed as Sam let go of him and rolled away. "Yeah Daniel," he called back, "Give us a minute and we'll be out."
The two got out of bed and got dressed. They then headed for the door and opened it to find Daniel, Teal'c, and Oro waiting for them.
"Morning," Daniel said with a smirk.
Jack just glared at him. "So what's the plan for today?" he asked.
"You will take part in the joining today," Oro said, "And then you will consummate your relationship, that is when the paint will soak into your skin and you will be joined."
Sam and Jack both looked like deer in headlights as they caught each other's eye. Daniel however was smiling wildly at them. "Let's get this show on the road," he said in a teasing tone as he, Oro, and Teal'c all turned and walked away from Sam and Jack.
"Damn it," Jack muttered.
"Aye sir," Sam replied in an equally low voice.
"Better the devil though, right Carter?" Jack asked her.
"Yes," Sam replied, "Just…" She left it hanging.
"Oh yeah," Jack said, "This so does not leave the planet."
The two of them then followed after the other three. "I am sorry about this Carter," Jack told her.
"It's fine sir," Sam assured him. She glanced at the group they were following and then back at Jack. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop. Jack gave her a confused look. "Sir," she said, "Unless something has changed I think you want to do this as much as I want to." Jack opened his mouth the disagree but then snapped it shut. She was, of course, correct. "It won't change anything," Sam said softly, "I'll still respect you as my commanding officer."
"And I'll still respect you," Jack assured her, "It's just."
"Yeah I know," Sam agreed.
They left it at that and continued after Daniel and the others, jogging slightly to catch up.
They both knew that tonight would change everything and nothing, they both just hoped they'd be able to put it back in the room when they were done.
And I'll leave the rest to your immagination.
Hope you liked all of these now I've finally managed to get them all posted.