Chapter 3: Of Bets and Non-regrets
Disclaimer: Same deal as before.
A/N: Thank you very much!! I'm glad you guys are liking this so far!
This next one isn't that bad. Very cliché actually. I'm saving the really…something…ones for later. LOL. So, I'm putting two in this one 'cause they are along the same lines and it didn't make sense to do them as separate chapters. So…when you see the long line of dots (LOL) it's a new segment.
ENJOY!!
Jack glared at the archaeologist, looking for any sign of weakness. Daniel glared right back, his mouth in a smug smile and arms folded across his chest. He leaned back in his commissary chair and raised his eyebrow, mimicking Teal'c.
Jack was getting bored. He would never admit defeat…but he'd never win if they just sat there staring.
"Lemme see it." He repeated for what felt like the hundredth time.
Daniel shook his head. "Nope."
"Daniel." Jack said in a warning tone.
"Jack." Daniel copied his inflection.
"Daniel."
"Jack."
"Dammit, Daniel! I'm not gonna break it!" Jack banged his fist on the table, sending Daniel's coffee mug crashing to the floor. Jack winced, but appreciated the irony all the same.
Daniel raised his eyebrows and looked pointedly at the shattered mug, then back up at Jack. His smile grew.
"That's…different." Jack averted his eyes.
Daniel cleared his throat. "No."
"No?" Jack repeated sarcastically.
"No." Daniel shrugged.
"I just want to see it." Jack blinked innocently at his friend.
"I. Don't. Care." Daniel spoke slowly and deliberately with the tone of someone who had been repeating himself for over an hour. He shifted as a member of the cleaning staff hurriedly swept up the broken ceramic. "No way are you getting your hands on that artifact."
The artifact in question had been in Daniel's possession for nearly a week and the colonel had been bugging Daniel about it for just as long. It had only been mildly irritating the first two days. Now it was beyond infuriating.
But, Daniel kept the annoyance out of his tone. Mostly.
"But, Daniel! Your "artifact," or whatever, lets people create their daydreams…what was the word Carter used?" He paused, pulling a face as he tried to remember. "Right. Tangibly."
"Yep." Daniel grinned.
Jack looked beseechingly at Daniel. "Oh, come on. Just let me use it. Just once." He gave the archaeologist his best puppy dog eyes. "Please?"
Daniel wagged a finger at him. "Nuh-uh. I'm not Sam; that won't work on me." He high-fived himself inwardly. He loved to mess with Jack and Sam. He and Teal'c had been prodding them subtly to just screw the regs for the last three years. Daniel knew it would never work; they had too much military honor.
But it was still fun as hell to watch them get flustered.
Jack's eyes betrayed no hint of emotion, but his voice was almost petulant as he spoke. "Wrong. Doesn't work on Carter either. She's too damn smart."
Daniel bit back a grin. "Still," he continued. "No."
"Daniel--!" the colonel started, but Daniel cut him off; he was tired of this.
"Jack, what would you do with it anyway? The device doesn't create a daydream, it only enhances what you can already think of." Jack looked like he was going to interrupt so Daniel raised a hand and pressed on firmly. "Besides, the 'dream' is still in your head. You can't actually touch anything."
"But, Carter--," Jack tried, but Daniel cut him off again.
"Sam said that it makes the daydream seem tangible. The device only makes you feel like you're actually experiencing the fantasy firsthand." Daniel waited for Jack's reaction. When the older man remained silent Daniel frowned and squinted his eyes suspiciously. "But you already knew that." Daniel shook his head. Of course Jack already knew that. As dumb as he pretended to be, he always listened to Sam. And, more often that not, she would explain things to him in a way that she knew he would understand.
Jack grinned shamelessly. "Yep."
Feeling slightly peeved, Daniel's eyes glittered mischievously. "What fantasy would you use the device to…enhance…Jack?" He spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully.
Jack flinched inwardly. No way could he tell Daniel what he wanted to do with that artifact. Hell, he couldn't even admit it to himself. It had to do with a certain off-limits major and—'No! Uh-uh. Won't. Think. About. It.' He cut off his thoughts.
Daniel smirked. He knew exactly what Jack was planning on doing with that artifact. Though…he refused to allow his mind to review any details.
"I'd…make my own episode of the Simpsons." Jack said brightly, like his mind hadn't been elsewhere and this was his intention all along.
"Uh-huh." Daniel said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Or," Jack said loudly, ignoring the obvious disbelief. "I'd imagine I was in Minnesota…fishing." His mind wandered again, but he snapped it back to the PG-rated present quickly. "With beer. Lots of beer."
"Right." Daniel said lightly, though his eyes showed that he was anything but believing. Standing up, he grabbed his tray and made to leave the commissary.
"Daniel!" Jack called as the younger man cleared his tray and pushed open the doors.
"No, Jack!" Daniel shouted without turning around, pausing with the doors still open. "It really is a fascinating piece of technology and I don't want you to break it!"
Jack huffed wanting to argue. But…truth be told, he would probably break it. Still…think of the possibilities…
"Fine!" Jack said also standing, uncaring of the stares he and Daniel's raised voices had elicited. "If you don't believe me ask Carter! She knows how good I am with my hands!"
Daniel spun to face Jack, barely contained mirth written all over his face. The entire commissary had Jack pinned with their eyes.
Jack's eyes widened as he realized what it sounded like he meant. "I mean…" he cast around for a better way to phrase it. "Carter knows how good I am at holding things."
This time Daniel didn't even bother to try to hide his amusement. He laughed loudly and was soon followed by the rest of the listeners. Jack flushed out of frustration and embarrassment.
"What I meant was--," he tried again, but Daniel stopped him.
Breathless from laughing so hard Daniel took a minute to compose himself. Wiping at his eyes he said, "Jack, don't. We all know what you meant." Daniel waggled his eyebrows suggestively and left the commissary without another word.
Leaving behind a very embarrassed Jack.
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
It was bright. Too bright. Too fuzzy. Too dry.
Where the hell was she?
Sam opened her eyes and fought against the heavy pull of pain. She was in absolute agony. Pain reverberated through every muscle in her body, making the simplest of tasks torture. She looked around. All her eyes registered was white.
White. White. White.
It was like those blank rooms in movies that people are shown in after they've died. Limbo, or whatever. No windows, no doors, no color, no air.
God, she was suffocating. She couldn't draw a proper breath and could hear the air rushing out of the room.
'Am I dead?' The question played over and over in her head. No, this wasn't right. She didn't remember dying. But the pain…
She squeezed her eyes shut and took as deep a breath as she could. She was surprised when the air willingly filled her lungs. The agony was still there, however, and she had the worst feeling that something was horribly, terribly wrong.
Her eyes snapped open and gratefully took in the calming hues of the forest. Muted mossy greens and pastel blues of water and sky. The dark brown of the soft earth and trunks of the trees. Smells rushed into her nose as well. Deep, earthy scents that immediately made her feel peaceful and calm. It smelled like the moments before a summer rainstorm.
But there was something else too. Metallic and stinging to her nostrils…blood. She smelled blood and the acrid odor of burning flesh. After a moment of nervous curiousness, sounds began to register with her.
Screams bounced off the trees and flew higher than the leaves at the topmost branches.
Terrified screams.
Anguished screams.
Her screams.
Her throat stung as the sounds tearing from her ripped the soft tissue to shreds. She could feel the skin around her eyes tighten as she screwed up her face against the pain that radiated through her entire body. Another pain, something of a less tangible kind, scraped her mind.
Shouts began to fill her consciousness too. Her name. Someone was calling her name.
Daniel.
Daniel and Teal'c. They were calling for her. She tried to answer, but all that came out was a raspy cry. She could feel something under her hands. Something warm and sticky.
Blood.
Sam looked down, knowing even as she did that it was over. There was no turning back. Her body was alive and kicking, but she was dead.
Dead because he was too. Jack…Oh, God. Her Jack was gone.
"NO!" Sam screamed louder than she'd ever screamed in her life and bolted upright. Her hands clenched the sheets as she kicked out, trying to run. Run from the impossible. She was aware of the hands holding her down and voices saying her name.
This wasn't right…
Sam blinked as the infirmary came into focus. The lights above her were suddenly obscured as a face swam into view. A familiar face with worried eyes.
"Janet?" Sam rasped. Holy Hannah, her throat hurt.
"Hey." Her friend said, breaking into a relieved smile. "That must have been a helluva nightmare."
"Nightmare…?" Sam blinked. That's right…SG-1 had been on P4C…something. Her sleep-sodden brain couldn't quite remember where they had been. All she remembered was that they had drunk some of the planet's water and then…nothing. "What happened?" Sam asked through dry, sticky lips.
Janet handed her a glass of water and she sat up, gulping the liquid down gratefully. "You and Daniel had an adverse reaction to the water on the planet. You've been out for awhile."
"Me and Daniel?" Sam frowned. "What about the colonel and Teal'c?"
"Well, we think Teal'c's symbiote protected him and the colonel never got a chance to drink the water. You knocked the canteen out of his hands before he could take a sip." Janet smiled inwardly. Leave it to Sam to help someone even as she's about to pass out. Though, Janet had no doubt that the colonel, being who he was, had a definite impact on her last conscious act. She knew Sam was head over heels and she was just as sure the colonel felt the same.
Damn those regulations.
"But…our canteens have our own water in them. Not the planet's. Why…oh." Sam remembered Daniel draining his canteen within the first four hours on the planet. He drank a lot when his allergies kicked in.
The colonel had taken the newly filled canteen from Daniel, too lazy to get his own out of his pack and…
"Oh." Sam repeated.
Janet smiled. "Yeah. Anyway, he carried you back through the stargate and Teal'c carried Daniel."
Sam's only response was a slight blush in her cheeks and the feeling of faint irony. Why the hell did she have to be unconscious when the colonel had carried her? Her luck really sucked.
Janet stopped herself from commenting on the flush in her friend's cheeks. Sure, when they were off base she could tease Sam about her predicament all she wanted, but…under the mountain she had to remain somewhat professional.
"How're you feeling?" Janet smiled at the major kindly.
"I'm fine, Janet." Sam tried to infuse as much strength into her voice as she could. She knew that Janet would see right through it though. That nightmare had really shaken her up. It had been too real. "How's Daniel?" 'Good.' Sam mentally congratulated herself. 'Change the subject. You know Janet can't resist talking about Daniel.'
Something flashed through the doctor's eyes, but it was gone before Sam could read it.
"He's alright. Woke up about an hour ago. He was also having a nightmare." Janet replied.
"Oh?" Janet's eyes snapped to Sam's. She had sounded exactly like Colonel O'Neill when she said that. 'Which isn't a bad thing.'
"Yeah. Apparently, whatever is in that water is a strong hallucinogen. Brings out fears and such." Janet frowned to herself. "Lab came back a few hours ago, but whatever the substance was, your body absorbed it already."
Sam nodded. "So, I'm fine? Daniel's fine?"
"Yep. So far as I can tell you're both in perfect health." Janet smiled and hugged her clipboard to her chest.
"Great! So I can leave?" Sam raised her eyebrows hopefully.
Janet hesitated. "I don't know. I have half a mind to keep you overnight—make sure there are no residual effects."
"Oh, come on, Janet! You said it yourself. I'm in perfect health. Please?" Sam pouted, causing Janet to laugh and whack her arm lightly.
"Still…I want you to tell me if you have any more nightmares like that." Janet was caving. She really didn't have a good reason to keep her there. It was just…her dream must have been so bad. The way she had been thrashing and screaming…
"Thank you!" Sam smiled brightly, but, upon seeing the worry in her friends' face, sobered. "Janet, I'm fine. I've had nightmares before. Just ask the colonel. He knows how I am in bed."
Janet's eyes widened and the infirmary got very quiet. Sam didn't realize how loud she had been speaking. She also didn't realize the way those words had sounded in her head was not the same way they sounded when spoken.
Unfortunately, this helpful realization hadn't hit her over the head until she had fairly shouted it. The medical staff and every conscious patient had their eyes turned to her.
Janet doubled over in silent laughter, clutching the side of the bed. She couldn't believe Sam had just said that. And judging from the look on the other woman's face…she couldn't either.
"I meant," Sam said loudly fighting a losing battle against the flush in her cheeks. "That the colonel knows I have nightmares all the time. When I'm in bed." 'Well, of course in bed, stupid! Where the hell else does one have nightmares?'
Janet just shook her head, laughing harder than ever. The awkward silence that had filled the infirmary was broken as everyone else began to laugh too. Sam threw her legs over the side of the bed and pushed herself off the mattress.
"I'm glad to know you're all so mature." She said loudly. "Yes, ha ha, very funny." Looking around the room and realizing no one was listening; Sam turned swiftly and bolted from the room.
Damn adolescents.
TBC
A/N: Let me know what ya think!
BTW: In later chapters we'll be having slips from Daniel, Teal'c, Hammond, Janet, Jacob, Walter, and Siler. Maybe others…but this is all I got right now. LOL.