Chapter 14

Jack looked around at their new accommodations. It had a bed, wood framed with a large hide stretched out to form the surface and a rather nice blanket, a small table with pitcher and ewer and a few bowls and mugs. There was enough room to stretch out his arms and not quite touch the walls. There was another hide to cover the doorway if they wanted privacy or keep out the weather.

"I could make us a better house than this. Now that there's water we could make mud bricks - cooler in the summer and less drafty in the winter." As soon as Jack said this he realized by the expression on her face he had said the wrong thing.

Sam looked dismayed. "That seems ...ah...permanent. Are we going to be here that long?" Was that a statement of fact or a desperate plea?

Jack had no answer for that and deflected. "This is fine, nice, cozy."

Sam was worried too that living so close together and pretending to be mates would put them on a whole different footing. Would it be difficult to switch back from this to their military command structure?

After the evening meal Jack took Sam's hand and they took a walk in full sight of the entire villagers. He did it for her protection against the avarice of the village chieftain. It was to stake his claim so to speak. If he were honest with himself he did it for his own benefit as well. He enjoyed the look on the village chieftain's face when he had Carter on his arm. He had made a show of it evicting Daniel from their hut. He alone possessed the beauty. Yes, he did it for her protection and he tried not to smirk.

Sam leaned into him, whispered something just for him. He told her to make it obvious - some people do not understand subtle.

"And remember, this is all Daniel's fault."

She laughed.

He put his hand on her hip possessively. She allowed him to do things she'd eviscerate another man for doing. He was proud that the act was keeping her safe, only it was not only an act, and they both knew it. He led her back to their hut and inside he was at a loss as to what's next.

She took the bed and he the floor.

The floor of the hut was hard packed dirt and O'Neill did have his sleeping bag for comfort, cold comfort, cold hard comfort.


This new abode of theirs, well it still was a hut, had all the comforts of home - a bed of sorts, and a table with a bowl and pitcher of water for morning ablutions. Carter got up, dressed in the thin filmy shift, poured a bit of water in the bowl and scooped up a handful of water to wash the sleep from her eyes.

He had a memory so vivid he felt as though he were reliving it. He could see Laira, doing virtually the same thing, in one of her more obvious attempts to seduce him. Here in this humble hovel the graceful and beautiful Sam was natural and unpretentious.

When they first came to Edora he had been trying desperately to turn his burgeoning affection away from Samantha Carter. She was everything he wanted, not just beautiful but kind and smart and funny and a kickass soldier and a dead eyed shot and utterly brilliant and he could go on and on. And most of all, anything between them was forbidden. So he purposely turned his sights from the forbidden Carter, proclaiming her a buzzkill, and turned his attention to the uncomplicated, undemanding and most willing Laira. The team would only be there a few days so some mild flirting didn't matter. And as fate would have it, 'fire rain' filled the sky and decimated the planet, forcing Carter to Earth and he was stuck on Edora with Laira.

As Sam washed the sleep from her eyes Jack thought of Laira. She had played her game of wanting something but not telling him. Letting him think about it, think about her, she tried not to appear too needy, to be elusive. "You'll know when the time is right".

He didn't blame her or himself. She had offered him a place to sleep, food to eat and kindness and friendship, even if she were needy.

Both their worlds had been turned upside down. Both were lonely for the lives they had before and would never have again.

It was months on Edora that made him realize how much he missed Carter, wanted her, needed her. If so, why did he wind up in Laira's bed? He thought at the time he needed a warm body and welcoming loving arms. It wasn't enough. And he never went back.

It took him no time at all to realize or finally to admit to himself, he didn't want to live without Carter. It wasn't just the loyalty to a teammate, it was that and so much more. He loved her.

After Edora and the Za'tarc fiasco and the Ice Planet they had been yo-yoing back and forth. He felt like an accretion disc around a blackhole, pulled in, endlessly circling, never making any real progress. And he wondered if he did make progress and get totally sucked in, would it mean his destruction.

Was he a fool to try to fight the inevitable? Or in fact was this the perfect time to reassert military discipline. That thought drove him out to kick stones until his toes were bloody. Sandals didn't do it like steel toed boots did.

Maybe it was time to be realistic about what was possible, maybe there was no return to their former life. Sometimes you've got to play the hand you're dealt.

Now they were stuck on this damn planet and he'd be damned if he was going to wait three months.

Sam turned and smiled at him and all thought dissolved in that fair light.