Title: Camping Can Be Fun
Author: spacegypsy1
Rating:
Teen +
Category: Action/Adventure/Romance
Season: After Season
10
Featured Character(s): Jack, Sam, Daniel, Vala, Teal'c,
Mitchell
Pairings: D/V and J/S
Warnings: None
A/N: Marishal wins the golden lasso award for pulling me back from way out there – Thanks Mari. Supershipper beta, super as ever.
Synopsis: Vala, fashion icon, boggles Daniel's brain. Camp counselor Jack, pulls camper Sam into the woods! Daniel lags and gets the best view, Mitchell and Teal'c observe.
Chapter Five: A Hiking We Will Go
They gathered, preparing for the hike. Vala stood staring up the trail with a walking stick she had fashioned from a relatively straight tree branch. The other five stared at Vala's hiking attire. Turning to see what was keeping them she noted their peculiar stares.
"What are you wearing?" Jack asked, perplexed.
"Lederhosen. That's what they wear in the Alps for hiking. I researched it on the internet before we left. Aren't they charming?"
All five of them blinked in answer.
"Oh, yeah, just charming." Mitchell hunted for a spare pocket for the extra protein bar he held.
"Cameron, I can take that for you," she turned so the pack faced him. Her eyes lifted to Daniel, before she turned away, peeked over her shoulder at Mitchell and cooed, "I have plenty of room. Put as much in there as you like."
Daniel took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes and put them back on before tying the bandana on his head. Thank you Mitchell, that was so gallant, he mimicked her voice inside his head. He watched her obvious attempt to make him jealous. Ha! She might be his friend, and he was truly sorry he'd hurt her feelings, but she certainly couldn't make him jealous. There would have to be some kind of foundation beyond friendship for that scenario to fly!
"Alright, campers, listen up." Jack wiped his sun glasses on his shirttail, slipped them into place and looked skyward. "Watch your step. Follow your leader. Everybody pick a buddy." Vala took a quick step up beside Mitchell. Grinning at Jack's antics, Sam moved closer to Teal'c. That left Jack in the lead and Daniel alone on the six.
Daniel wanted to go home. Lagging behind he followed them up the mountain trail.
Sam had left her 'buddy' and moved to walk far ahead, beside Jack. Mitchell, Teal'c and Vala meandered along the path, barely keeping them in sight. Vala occasionally would turn to look behind her, but never spotted Daniel. They could hear him coming up the trail behind them. But he was moving slow, never catching up.
Safely distanced from the other hikers, Jack took Sam's hand. When she looked down at their laced fingers, Jack explained. "It's still muddy, I wouldn't want you to slip and fall."
"Good plan."
Neither of them spoke again as they quietly moved along, enjoying the peacefulness.
Suddenly, Jack darted into the clump of woods, pulling Carter with him. Taking her shoulders, he pushed her back against the trunk of an Aspen and kissed her. Then, just as suddenly, he yanked her back on the trail. All before Sam could utter more than one short lived, lip muffled squeak.
Hearing the others approaching, Sam let go of his hand, smoothed her Jack tousled hair, took a calming breath and waited for their companions.
"Where's Daniel?" she questioned the troops.
Shrugging shoulders, Mitchell said, "I don't know." Followed by Vala's, "Who knows? Behind us somewhere."
"We could hear him following along the trail, moving slowly. I believe he purposefully lags behind. It may have to do with…." Teal'c stopped mid sentence seeing the looks of surprise on his friends' faces.
"Wow, Muscles," Vala commented, "I'm not sure I have ever heard so many words come out of you."
Teal'c answered with a raised eyebrow.
Removing his pack, Jack retrieved his canteen and took a swig, passing it on to Carter. He brushed off a fallen tree trunk, indicated for Sam to sit, then sat close beside her.
Sighing, rolling her head, stretching her back, Vala lowered her pack to the ground and sat on top of it across the trail from Jack and Sam, elbows on knees and head in hands. Both Mitchell and Teal'c sat Indian style beside her. Teal'c passed his canteen down, and drank when it came back to him.
Coming up the path, Daniel moved into view. He stopped when he spotted them waiting there for him.
Luckily for Vala she was not sitting on a log to fall off of. He looked utterly delicious. There was something about that blue bandana that made his eyes look unnaturally beautiful. She closed her eyes to block the image, but it had been permanently burned into her pupils.
"Hey, guys," he said coming to stand in the middle of the trail between them. "What's going on?"
"Nothin', just sittin'." Jack answered. "Water?" He offered up the canteen.
"No thanks, just had some."
"Takin' the scenic tour?"
"Yep."
"Care to join the group?"
"Nope."
Jack nodded. He stood and slipped on his pack. The others followed suit.
As the hikers headed up the trail, those unnaturally beautiful blue eyes could not look away from how nicely Vala's backside fit in her tight, suede lederhosen. One day, when he lay dying, that image would still be burned to the inside of his eyelids… Yep, to the brink of madness.
Next: Chapter Six: Okay, Here's The Plan. The ladies take a slip and slide. Jack does the 'damn it Carter' routine repeatedly, Daniel does the heart in the throat routine. Teal'c cracks a joke. Mitchell tries to invent a new word.
