By the time Jack had driven to Sam's house, he was having some major doubts. It wasn't just the frat regs, although they did weigh heavily on his mind, as did her career. He didn't much want to lose his career either, now that he had been given an assignment he actually enjoyed. Oh, sure Daniel could be a pain in the ass sometimes, and some of the planets they visited were downright inhospitable, but for the most part this wormhole travel thing was a real hoot!
No, even more than all of that was something Sam had said to him. Earlier at O'Malley's she had called him a male chauvinist. And she said he was a hypocrite...that he was just like all other men. So, if he understood her correctly, she thought he only pretended to think of her as an equal, when in reality he thought of her as a female, and therefore somehow inferior. And since Jack believed that generally in the heat of anger people said the things they were truly feeling, he couldn't forget what Sam had said. And now, even though tried to ignore what she had accused him of, he began to have doubts about himself and his treatment of her. Suddenly the truth hit him like a ton of bricks.
The truth of the matter was that he did think of her differently than the guys. How could he not? After all, she wasn't just a capable Air Force officer; she was also a very feminine, lovely woman that the old-fashioned man in him wanted to love and protect! So far he had been able to control his natural impulse to mollycoddle her. At least he thought he had. But if they had sex, and he allowed his feelings for her to grow, he knew there was no way he could keep from showing her preference or becoming over-protective of her. So, rather than take the chance that sex with Carter would ruin their working relationship and their careers, he decided to take the high road and do the right thing. And although he hated to admit it, Jack decided he finally understood exactly why those frat regs existed.
Since the next day was Thursday and SG-1 was on the duty roster for a mission to P3X-121, both Jack and Sam were in the briefing room at the scheduled hour. General Hammond made quick work of going over their mission goals, and soon SG-1 was heading down to the gate room.
Since Jack had been late getting to base and he hadn't seen him in the locker room earlier, Daniel was itching to talk to Jack about what had happened after they left O'Malley's. But now he feared that subject would have to wait until they got back to Earth, unless this planet turned out to be even more boring than predicted. As SG-1 walked up the gate ramp together, Daniel stifled a yawn while he thought back to the discussion he'd had with Janet, as he drove her home the night before.
*~*~*~*
She had insisted that this thing between Sam and the Colonel was unavoidable...that the inevitability of it happening between the two was fated, while Daniel reminded Janet of the fraternization regulations.
"Believe me, I know all that, Daniel. I'm just telling you what I've observed and what I believe. Sam and Jack are in love, and they are destined to be together, even if they don't know it yet," she insisted.
"Do you believe that they are currently acting on their feelings, Dr. Frasier?" Teal'c had asked. When they'd found Jack's truck and Sam's car in the parking lot, all three of them had wondered where their two friends had gone and what they were doing. The two nearby motels had not gone unnoticed by the three, although not one of them mentioned them.
"I certainly hope so, Teal'c! And if they are, they have my full support! People who risk everything for their planet almost every day of the week like those two do, deserve some happiness," she said with feeling, tears glistening in her brown eyes. Even though she'd had one failed marriage, Janet was still a romantic at heart.
Daniel reached out and patted her hand where it lay in her lap. Then he moved their hands to his thigh. He smiled at her and she smiled back, batting her long dark eyelashes at him. He sort of felt like the two of them had taken some kind of giant step tonight, but he knew this wasn't the time or the place to discuss exactly where they'd go from here; their big friend currently sat in the back seat of the car, and Daniel was responsible for getting the Jaffa back to base before the midnight curfew.
"Although I agree with you, Jan, I do have to wonder what will happen to SG-1 if they do consummate their relationship," Daniel commented.
"Indeed!" Teal'c intoned.
*~*~*~*
Six hours after they left the gate room, SG-1 was running for their lives with a group of twenty-some humanoid locals chasing after them, each one waving some sort of primitive weapon. They wielded bows and arrows, spears, something similar to an Aborigine boomerang, and even a sort of sling shot that was sending fist-sized rocks hurtling past their heads.
"I think they want to add us to the stew!" Daniel yelled as they huffed and puffed up the trail toward the stargate. He hated being unable to reason with people! And so his conscience contemplated where things had begun to go wrong. They had been treated very hospitably by the locals when they'd first arrived. In fact they had been 'wined and dined' as it were. And the chief had even taken a real liking to Jack, which in itself was a sort of minor victory for SG-1.
But when the chief had suggested a union between his very young daughter and the outspoken colonel, Jack had said something that had insulted her and/or him, or perhaps even their ancestors. Daniel didn't know enough of the language just yet to figure it all out, but he knew when they were in deep shit. Without a doubt, the leader had not taken Jack's remarks or attitude kindly. And since Jack refused to apologize, and no amount of ass-kissing by Daniel could lessen their leader's ire, SG-1 was now having to high-tail it out of the village, chased by a couple dozen of the tribe's finest warriors.
"You're kidding about the stew, right?" Jack huffed as he sprinted toward the first rise.
"No! Didn't you see all of those skulls in the chief's trophy room?" Daniel asked as he led the team up the path. After they'd eaten, the chief had taken them to see his treasure trove, as though it might impress the Colonel into changing his mind. Much of the loot had been skulls and long bones, such as femurs, but some of it was what appeared to be gemstones set in pieces crafted of metal, like cups, crowns and jewelry.
"Yah, but I thought they were just...well, trophies!" Jack replied.
"They were! Primitive people frequently eat their rivals, Jack. It's considered good luck, at least to the victor."
"So lunch was what exactly?" Jack asked, feeling his stomach lurch as he continued to pound up the path.
"Your guess is as good as mine. Did you see any cattle or other livestock, Jack?" Daniel shouted back as they all kept running. Jack didn't reply this time as a mass of arrows hissed past their heads. He was still trying to get his head around the idea that he might have eaten part of someone's uncle Albert, when he suddenly began to pay more attention to the sky.
It had been a thick gray all morning, but it was fast turning black, and large snow flakes were beginning to fall. Jack thought it looked much like a winter's day in Duluth, which normally wouldn't have fazed him one bit. But if they got stuck on this planet, the weather could play a major part in whether or not SG-1 survived this mission.
"Well, this just sucks! Move it, Captain!" Jack said as he urged Carter to run faster, his hand pressed against her ass when they came to a steep portion of the trail.
"I can make it by myself, Colonel," she hissed harshly at him, and Jack quickly removed his hand. Her tone was as cold as the air or colder.
Jack and Sam stopped to fire a few rounds into the air, hoping to scare off their pursuers. And then the trail leveled out for a bit and they were running as fast as they could through a rocky pass in the side of a mountain, when some of their adversaries began to gain on them. Jack knew the stargate was just over the next hill and down in a small clearing, but he wasn't sure they could all make it before the angry mob overtook them.
"Move it! I really don't wanna have to kill any of these folks," Jack yelled as he urged his teammates to increase their speed. He turned around as he ran, slowing his progress as he began firing at the ground. He was trying to make sure he didn't hit anyone, but the loud shots seemed to have no effect on the irate citizens, who just kept running at SG-1.
Just then an arrow flew over Sam and Jack's heads and pierced the back of Teal'c's thigh. The big man didn't go down, but instead pulled it out and kept on running. Daniel was in front of him, and Jack figured the archaeologist would easily be at the DHD in only a few minutes. Just then Daniel and Teal'c disappeared around a bend in the narrow passage, and at about the same time a spear just missed Carter's right shoulder. Jack grabbed her arm and pulled her roughly to the left side of the trail, which was really the only direction they could go. They crouched down behind some boulders while Jack decided what to do next. He knew that in this narrow, winding passageway the villagers were only shooting blindly at them now, but that last shot had been way too close for his liking. He had already seen Teal'c get hit by one lucky shot. He was not about to see Sam get hit by another!
Crouched down with their faces near the ground they could hear feet pounding up the path toward them, and so they did the only thing left to them; they backed away from the path and hid in the undergrowth. Meanwhile, in the near distance they could hear the sounds of the stargate spinning and the chevrons clanking home. At least they knew that Daniel had reached the DHD safely. The villagers, their weapons raised, passed their location at about the same instant as the seventh chevron locked into place
The men were shouting animatedly, but Jack had no idea what they were saying. 'Probably something like death to the infidels!' Jack thought, as he watched the hide-covered legs of his pursuers pass his location. For several more minutes Jack and Sam continued to hear lot of shouting, and then an ominous silence ensued. That was when Jack felt Sam's body shudder, and he realized he was still gripping her arm. Apparently she had noticed it too.
"I can take care of myself, Sir!" Sam hissed, as she pulled her arm out of his grasp. She had snowflakes in her blonde hair and on her eyelashes, and Jack really wanted to take her into his arms to warm and protect her. But he knew that right now he had to keep his mind on finding them a safe place to hide, at least until this storm abated. If only the MALP they had sent here the day before had been able to predict this storm, Jack groused to himself as he peered out from his hiding place.
Soon the men who had been chasing them came down the path, obviously heading back to the village. Jack and Sam watched from their hiding place, relieved not to see their two teammates. So either Daniel and Teal'c had made it through the gate, they escaped and were hiding somewhere over the next hill, or they were dead, their bodies left behind. After what Daniel had told him, Jack sort of doubted the last scenario was true, but that still offered him little consolation. He really wanted to know what had happened to his two friends, but the storm was simply getting too intense for he and Sam to stay out here any longer.
The wind had begun to howl through the canyon, blowing the snow around like cotton candy being spun in one of those big machines, only this stuff was white and freezing cold like icy splinters that pricked his skin. Jack knew they had to find shelter, and so he decided to search the area for a rock overhang, or anyplace where he and Sam could hole up until this storm blew over.
"Come on, Captain, let's look for shelter," he ordered as he headed away from the trail. It wasn't long before they came to a sharp drop off. Jack was about to suggest they go to the right and avoid the steep terrain, when he saw an outcropping of rocks below them...one that might have a large enough area beneath it to provide some shelter from the snow and wind.
"Stay here," he said as he began to slide down the hillside, landing on his butt and getting up quickly before sliding down even further. But instead of Sam staying put, she followed him and soon was balancing on the sloping ground next to him.
"I guess you aren't ever gonna do as I tell you again, are you?" he asked, his teeth chattering from the cold.
"Not when you intend to leave me out here in a blizzard all alone, I'm not," she replied smartly.
"I see you've still got your sense of humor," Jack laughed as he pointed at a small space under the big boulders. It wasn't much of a shelter, but it was better than nothing. "Look, Captain! It ain't the Hyatt, but it should help some," he quipped. Sam climbed carefully toward the rocks, slipping and sliding on the steep, snowy terrain. Suddenly she reached forward and grabbed onto some loose brush, pulling it away from the boulders.
"It's better than you think, Sir! It's a den!" she cried as a two-foot-wide hole was revealed. Jack tossed a few rocks inside, and when he didn't hear anything growl in response, he began to move forward.
"Let's hope nobody's home," he said as he drew his revolver and got down on his knees. Both Sam and Jack held their side arms in front of them in one hand and their flashlights in the other as they got down on their knees and elbows and crawled through the small opening. The interior space was small, probably only six feet wide and four feet deep, and the height barely allowed them to sit up, but it would do for now. Hopefully, after the storm let up, they could get to the gate and go home.
"Okay, one of us is gonna have to get out, while the other one makes up a place for us to sleep," he said, as he sat looking around the small space. Sam scooted backward and sat bent over at the entrance, obviously waiting for Jack to take care of things. Jack shrugged out of his back pack and unfastened the bedroll from the bottom, before handing the pack to Sam. Then he rolled out the sleeping bag and asked her for hers. She gave it to him and watched as he put it on top of his, zipping the two together to form one large bed, which covered the entire floor of the small space. He had to kneel on top of it once he got the bed arranged, and then he began taking his boots off. He set them on the ground under the far end of the sleeping bags and scooted over to the back wall of the little den, making room for Sam to come back inside.
"Okay, come on in and make yourself at home," he said jovially, waving his hand over the small space that was roughly the size of a twin bed. Sam tossed him his back pack, which he put under his head, and moved forward, turning around before sitting with her back to him. She shrugged out of her pack and took out two granola bars, before putting her pack next to his, at the head end of their makeshift bed. Then she untied her boots and took them off, placing them under the foot end of the bed, just as Jack had done with his.
"I'm gonna complain to the management tomorrow about the size of this room," Jack said with a laugh. Sam didn't laugh or even smile, and her face looked downright scary in the light from their two flashlights. Jack figured she was still mad at him for not coming inside last night, and he couldn't really blame her. He just wished she'd lighten up a bit. It was bad enough that they were stuck here on this iceberg!
For a minute she sat there chewing on one of the granola bars, while Jack stared at her back.
"You gonna give me one of those?" he asked quietly, and Sam turned just enough to hand the unopened bar to him. They sat there and ate their meager meal for a couple of minutes. Finally Sam slipped her legs under the upper bag and laid down, pulling the zipper up along the side.
She was now zipped up inside a sleeping bag with Jack O'Neill and feeling like this nightmare between her and him had just multiplied ten times over! She had made a fool of herself behind O'Malley's the night before. Then she had invited him to her house with the expectation of having sex with him, and he had rejected her, leaving her standing on her front porch as he drove away. And just when she was sure that her life couldn't get any worse, now they were stuck here on this God-forsaken planet, and he expected her to sleep in the same sleeping bag with him!
Sam turned on her side and faced the entrance to the den, her knees slightly bent. Jack was not able to lie down straight anyway, since he was taller than the width of the den, so he also turned on his side and bent his knees. Then Jack put his arm around Sam's waist and pulled her toward him, thinking that sharing body heat might keep them warmer, since the sleeping bags they had with them were not rated for below twenty-two degrees. He wasn't really surprised when he felt her body stiffen under his arm.
"Captain Carter, I'm not trying to hit on you. I'm just trying to share body heat."
"Like in that ice cave?" she asked, thinking back to just last year when they'd been stranded in Antarctica. She'd always had pleasant memories of that time, even though it had been frightening at the time, with Jack injured and them thinking they were stranded on an ice planet.
"Yah, like that. Now go to sleep, Captain," he ordered.
"Yes, sir," she replied drowsily. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all, Sam thought, as she let go of her resentment and simply relaxed into his embrace. After all, she admitted to herself, in Jack's arms was exactly where she wanted to be.
He could tell when Sam had fallen asleep, and soon he fell asleep too, dreaming of Sam on a beach with blue waves washing over her naked body. And there on her butt was that little yellow rose.
TBC