#
They made short work of picking up her overnight bag and throwing on the back seat with his. Sam wished she had time to get changed before they joined their teammates at Peterson but any opportunity to do was lost due time spent in their heated embrace and that was something she couldn't bring herself to regret.
During the drive, she couldn't stop herself from shooting glances at him, biting her lip to keep from grinning like a fool. She studied his profile and wondered if he had any idea the effect he had on her. She wondered if he'd ever realised how many times she'd wanted to nip and kiss her way along his jaw until she got to his lips so she could see if they were as soft and warm as they looked. Her gaze dropped to his hands, capable of such extremes, and wondered if he knew how many briefings she'd had to pinch her leg under the table to stop her mind from wandering about what those fingers would feel like on her body.
Jack turned his head to glance at her, quirking an eyebrow when he caught her staring. She arched her own eyebrow in response and smiled when he took one hand off the wheel to rest it on her leg just above her knee.
A soft, content sigh escaped her and she covered his hand with hers, lacing their fingers together lightly. Though this was nowhere near how she'd imagined the night going, she couldn't be happier to have been wrong.
With effort, she tried not to focus on the warm hand burning her skin through the thin material of her dress and coat and began to wonder what the Tok'ra might want with the members of SG-1.
#
"Woah, Sam. You look... great." Daniel grinned, eyebrows raised. He nudged Teal'c, who stood beside him in the parking lot. "Doesn't she look great, Teal'c?"
"I concur, Daniel Jackson. Major Carter looks most becoming," Teal'c agreed. Though his lips didn't twitch, Sam thought she saw a flicker of amusement in his dark gaze.
"So, were you two...?" Daniel asked, gesturing between the two of them with a hand. "I mean..."
"No, Daniel," Jack answered before Sam could make a denial of her own. "I picked Carter up. She had plans."
"Plans?" Daniel repeated, his surprised gaze fixed on Sam.
"Nothing important," she told him. "Do we know anything more about our Tok'ra contact?"
Teal'c came to her aid, accepting the change of conversation smoothly. "We do not, Major Carter. General Hammond merely instructed us to report here, and to bring with us several items from the SGC."
Before she could ask what kind of items, Jack cleared his throat. "Sounds interesting, kids. Let's go see who our friend is."
She'd expected the speculative glances, the sneaky looks darted at Jack and herself. She expected some teasing from Daniel, maybe a comment on her appearance by Teal'c, but she'd hoped she'd be able to steal five minutes to get changed into a restroom before having to meet their Tok'ra contact.
Luck clearly wasn't on her side, and she found herself walking across the tarmac in her slinky dress and high heels, bag slung over her shoulder.
Though they couldn't see the cloaked ship, they'd been told it was there and its occupant was waiting for them. As they got closer to where the Airman had told them to go, the cargo ship was uncloaked and the door was opened. It was a few seconds after that that the Tok'ra made themselves visible and, when he did, Sam muttered a curse under her breath, wrapped her arms around her middle and wished the ground would open up beneath her.
"Samantha Carter, what in God's name are you wearing? Or not wearing as the case may be?"
"Hi, Dad." As her teammates all became suddenly very interested in studying the ship, but not before Sam caught a slight smirk on Jacks' face. "It's called a dress. I had plans. It's what happens when people show up unexpected and you end up dropping everything."
Jacob's glare shifted from his daughter to the man standing beside her – a little too close, in the eyes of the overprotective father. "Who with?" He demanded, noting that while Daniel and Teal'c were wearing BDUs, Jack was wearing civvies like his daughter. "Samantha?"
"Dad."
The standoff between the Carters was interrupted by Jack. "As much as I'd like to see who wins this little of wills, I'm curious as to why my night of beer and stargazing was interrupted."
"You had plans, too, Jack?" Jacob asked, an eyebrow arched.
"Oh, yeah. Big plans. Huge." Jack kept himself from looking at Sam by sheer force of will. "So, you're here, and we're here, because…? Why, Dad?"
Jacob tensed at the use of the nickname, though Jack had used it almost as long as he'd known him. "It's two-fold. We received intel that there is a gathering of two lesser System Lords who may be plotting against Anubis. We've been able to orchestrate an invite for a third, lesser-known Goa'uld but the operative we were planning to send undercover is now unable to do so. The Tok'ra High Council have proposed that Sam might be able to help, so we've arranged a rendezvous to exchange information."
"Me?"
"Carter?"
Jacob noted the glance they shared, noticed the way Jack's jaw clenched as his eyes narrowed. Nothing going on, my ass, he thought, and heard Selmac laugh inside his head. "We were hoping on all of SG-1 joining us but once we arrived, we found we weren't the only ship in the vicinity of Earth. A ship belonging to Osiris is in orbit around the planet; the cloak dropped twice while we were observing it. We believe Osiris or one of her Jaffa has been visiting Earth but for what reason, I couldn't say."
Daniel groaned, lifting a hand to rub his temples. "Oh, I might know something about that."
"Your dreams," Sam started, her eyes widening in realisation.
"Are not just dreams," Teal'c finished grimly.
"Dreams?" Jacob asked, but should his head before any of them could answer. "I don't want to know. I'm assuming you'll want to stay here and sort the situation with Osiris out, so I could just take Sam with me –"
"Oh, there's not a chance of that happening," Jack spoke up before any of his teammates could agree or disagree. "Carter's not going anywhere without us."
Daniel shook his head. "I don't see an alternative, Jack. If it is Osiris and she's using my memories of Sarah, I need to stick around and figure out what she wants. Maybe there's a way we can save her."
"I could remain with Daniel Jackson," Teal'c offered, speaking up before Jack could dig himself into a deeper hole. "O'Neill can accompany Major Carter and yourself on your mission."
Jack looked at Jacob and shrugged; he was clearly unhappy with the thought of his team being split up, but not to the extent where he was going to argue and have Jacob suggest again that only Sam went with him.
After a moment, and another all-too-knowing look at his daughter and her Commanding Officer, Jacob gave a grudging nod. He lowered his head as his eyes flashed, raising it again as Selmac took over. "It is agreed. Jacob and I wish you luck, Daniel. Teal'c, do you have the items we requested of General Hammond?"
"I do." Teal'c removed the backpack from his shoulder and passed it to Jack.
"We must take our leave now," Selmac continued. "We will explain the mission on the way."
He turned and made his way back into the ship, leaving the quartet to say their reluctant goodbyes.
"Be careful, Daniel," Sam murmured, giving in to the impulse to hug her friend.
"Right back at you," Daniel responded, squeezing her lightly before letting her go. He nodded at Jack, who nodded back, their own version of goodbye. "Good luck, guys."
Jack sighed and turned towards the ship as Sam led the way. "I think we're gonna need it."
#
Sorry for the lack of update yesterday! Time got away from me.
But now for the next choice! Who is the Tok'ra Sam and Jack are meeting with? Anise or Garshaw?
And a second question for you all: Do you want to see how it plays out with Osiris, or are you happy for the story to just focus on Sam, Jack and Jake's adventure?