~ 9 ~

'Note to self: order stronger clips for the tactical vests' Jack thought as he stared at the ceiling, aching to hear any further movement.

He and Sam stood in perfect silence, though try as he might, Jack could not silence his own breathing, or the steady thump in his head from the headache he'd had since yesterday. Of course, he hadn't told Carter that, she was fussing over him enough already.

After a full two minutes of staring at the roof, Jack shifted his eyes to Sam. She continued to eye the ceiling. Jack turned his head completely towards her, hoping to attract her attention. She caught his movement in her peripheral vision and tilted her head a fraction to look back.

Jack flicked his eyes up to the roof and then back to Sam, asking the question that had been previously cut short. Sam simply shrugged.

"Maybe a rock fell on the roof or something?" She whispered. Yes, that was the most likely answer.

"Hey, you hear that?" Jack became more animated as realisation hit him.

Sam looked around and up at the roof, then turned back to Jack and shook her head; she wasn't sure what she was meant to be hearing.

"It ain't raining," Jack grinned. He didn't hesitate to hobble to the door and throw it open. "Now that's a view!" Sam snuck up behind him and slid in the gap between his shoulder and the door.

"I think we should consider leaving today, Sir," Sam looked down at the gorge below. They were low on food supplies and in need of medical attention.

"You said the river forked. Are you suggesting we just guess which way we came?" Jack turned to face her in the doorway.

"We don't have a choice Sir. We need to go back and to be honest; this place kind of gives me the creeps." She grimaced slightly and shook her shoulders. Not wanting to give away any more of her discontent, she turned back to look out the door.

"It's not that bad here. I mean, you have a fantastic view, a nice little river to catch spider fish, and bearable company. What's there to complain about?" Jack teased. Her earlier jitters disappeared and were replaced with a smile.

"You're more than bearable company, Sir," Her voice had been just that little bit suggestive; at least, Jack thought it had been. Oh hang on, that was definitely an eyebrow waggle. What the hell? Sam tipped her head back a little under it touched the frame. What was she up to? Then came the sexy little grin. Jack gave her an 'excuse me?' look, which only made her little smile grow.

Samantha Carter, what game are you playing?

Jack couldn't deny the temptation to play. Even though he knew for certain that they were alone, he looked to his left, finding only trees and a lot on mountainside, then to his right, seeing only dark cabin. Jack wondered what would happen if her closed the gap between them. Would she freak out? Would she push him away? or, heaven forbid, would she allow it? Well, like Jack's senior physics teacher had told him when he was worried about getting into the USAF academy: 'you'll never know unless you try.'

So that's what Jack did. He took that teeny, tiny step forwards and lay one on her. To say that Sam responded with enthusiasm would have been quite an understatement. For every movement he made, she responded. She tasted incredible and felt even better beneath his fingertips. Jack was very ready to get lost in this woman; he let his hands roam as he kissed her. And then...

"Sir?"

...and then someone was tapping his cheek.

Jack opened his eyes and found Carter looking down at him. His face felt dirty and wet; he soon realised he was lying flat on his back, head on the muddy stone outside the cabin and Carter holding his face.

"Are you alright sir?" She asked, her eyebrows arching in concern.

'I was better than alright ten seconds ago...' Jack thought as he tried to focus on his 2IC. Obviously he had fainted. It probably had something to do with that bump on his head.

"Sir, don't do that to me!" Sam was practically telling him off for fainting. Fair enough, he would have told her off if she had fainted randomly. "Does your head hurt?" She asked. Surely, someone somewhere, knew that that was a dumb question. He had a massive gash on his forehead. Of course it hurt!

"No. I'm dandy." He said sarcastically. She clearly wasn't amused.

"Do you have a headache?"

"Yeah. A bit. Had one since yesterday." He grunted and tried to sit up. Sam pulled her hands from his face and offered him a hand. Jack took it and pulled himself into a sitting position in the doorway.

"You should have told me. I'm sure you have a concussion from yesterday, but you seemed okay. You were up and about when I came back last night." She frowned, still holding his hand in case he decided to check out again.

"Yeah, well, I almost drowned too. I figured the headache went with the territory." Jack pulled his hand from hers and began wiping the mud from his cheek.

"We definitely need to go back. When we get to the fork we'll decide which way to go." Sam practically made it an order. Well, if Jack was ever going to take an order from a subordinate – excluding the CMO – then Sam would be the one to take it from.

"Whatever you say, boss," Jack shrugged in defeat. She had a point. The weather had broken and they had a whole day to travel. If they went the wrong way, they'd still have time to go back.

"You keep calling me that..." Sam observed as she lifted him by the elbow to his feet. "I'm not going to swap jobs with you Sir; I hate paperwork as much as you do."

"Then why did you become an officer?" Jack enunciated the 'office' part of the title.

"So I could fly those shiny airplanes, Sir," Sam threw a cheeky grin at him. Oh, he was so in trouble.

An hour later, he and Sam were slowly creeping down the mountain. The going was slow and definitely uncomfortable for both. Sam had insisted on carrying the backpack, as she had two good shoulders. Jack had pointed out that he would only need one and it was have been painful for her to carry it with the bruising on his back, as well as her rolled ankle. Eventually, Jack had to pull rank.

Jack knew that sometimes, when you work with a subordinate for a long time, you're own behaviours rub off on them. Unfortunately for Jack, Sam had picked up his stubborn streak. He still outranked her. That was a small bonus.

So he ended up carrying the pack on his good shoulder. Sam followed close behind him as they carefully climbed down the mountain. This arrangement was fine with Jack; it saved him from having to watch Carter as they walked. Then again, he wouldn't be able to look at her backside, which was always a good way to pass the time on a long trek.

They walked along the river for a good hour until they came to the fork that Sam had talked about. She was right; it was hard to tell which way they had come from. Mutually agreeing that this was a good time to stop and take a break, Jack looked up the two rivers. They looked pretty much the same. He was considering the left, but it was six of one, half a dozen or the other, really. They would need to cross the river to go along the left side. It was risky. He turned to his Colonel, curious of her opinion, which had begun to mean a lot in the last twenty four hours, and found her staring downstream.

"Carter?" She hesitated before turning to him. "What's up?"

"I don't know, Sir. I keep feeling like we're being watched." She frowned. Jack looked down the river. After those noises on the roof this morning, he didn't want to think they weren't alone. Sam seemed genuinely disturbed by the thought, and although, yes, he felt the same way, he didn't want her to work herself up.

"I don't see anything. There's nothing there Carter." Jack did his best to sound convincing. Like he believed what he was saying. He suspected that Sam didn't quite buy it. Time to change the subject.

"So, left or right?"

~ SJ ~

The female had looked it in the eye. She didn't seem sure of what she had seen. It watched the two beings stop where the rivers merged. The female seems to have a stronger sense of smell and hearing, but like the others, poor eyesight. It lowered its massive body onto the thick pine branch, hunching its shoulders to remain concealed. The male was not as sensitive as the female. It continued to look up the river they had come from.

The male attracted the female's attention. Their interactions were odd. It could smell the hormones in the two creatures from a great distance. They were a bonded pair; that much was clear. But why did they maintain a distance? Was the female dissatisfied with the weaker male?

It continued to watch as the humans began to walk up the other river. They had not come that way.

It quickly rose up on the branch and crawled down the trunk. It decided to follow the two humans until night fell. It wanted to get closer, close enough to taste the sweat on their brows. The moon would rise tonight but it would not be seen. Their eyesight was too poor. It crept silently through the trees, maintaining a good distance from the wounded pair. It would get closer tonight.

It wanted the female.

~ SJ ~

I know, not exactly a real kiss. Again, it's not the right time or place. What can I say? I'm an characterisation Nazi.