Hey Carter 16

Summary: On board an alien ship, belonging to an unknown alien race Jack accompanies Sam as she tries to wipe Earth's co-ordinates from their computer. Naturally before they are done their enemy is approaching and so Jack opts to usher them into the only available hiding space that he can see, but how will a claustrophobic Carter react? Shippy edged Jack/Sam one-shot.

Hey Carter 16: Fitting inside the weird box.

Jack looked round from his position near the door of the alien ship they had infiltrated. "Hey Carter, you think both of us will fit in that weird tall box thingy?"

Sam looked up from where she was trying to reconfigure the ship's settings so that they would never be able to locate Earth using their star charts. Her eyes tracked round to where Jack gazed doubtfully at what could so easily be a storage unit...if these guys had storage units. "That thing? Not likely!"

Jack sucked in a heady breath and offered her a quick shrug. "Well, we're going to have to try...move." he ordered urgently, scooping up her zatgun on the way over to her.

"But Sir." she protested, her words being cut short as she herself got swept up in his all encompassing clearance sweep.

She felt her spine hit the back of the tiny upright space and instant panic rose up in her. "Colonel I really don't-"

"Quiet Carter!" he hissed. "They're coming!" He squeezed in on top of her, one foot on either side of hers as he released the spring-loaded catch.

"Oof!" the both cried in unison as the impact of the heavy magnetic lock closing forced all the air out of their lungs and Carter whimpered slightly.

It was suddenly pitch black and all that Sam was aware off was the feeling of Jack's tightly muscled form pressed up against her and the cramped ceiling close to her head, her heartbeat shot up like a rocket. "Sir?" she whispered breathlessly, trying hard to control her reactive need to batter the hell out of him till he let her out.

"Don't." Jack started, instantly losing his voice as the vibrations of her single word travelled through him and the feel of her hot panicked breath hit his cheek. "It'll be okay, Carter. Just please don't talk."

Sam nodded, instantly realising why that was a bad idea. It brought them even closer together and right now neither of them needed to feel even more cramped...or more physically connected she realised as she sensed his heartbeat rising too.

Time passed and slowly their vision adapted to the dim light of the cubical they were in. Jack was aware of how he could see every single strand of hair on Carter's slightly beaded forehead and Sam was aware of how every single one of the Colonel's calm exhalations defined their environment and helped her relax.

"Think they're gone yet?" Jack whispered after an undetermined amount of time.

"Dunno Sir." Sam whispered just as quietly.

"You okay?" he asked, knowing that she was not overly fond of tight spaces.

"Yeah I'm fine now Sir...I think." The initial tension of her sudden encapsulation and that moment of uncertain terror had passed and now it was just her and Jack in the dark. It would not stay away forever but for now she did not mind, in fact, under different circumstances she was really sure she could be enjoying herself.

"Well..." and Jack tried to shift, causing Sam to let out a small unintended squeak that somehow hinted at something other than the fear he had sensed in her earlier. He looked down, trying to see her eyes. "Maybe, if you are okay with it...we should just wait here a little while longer...you know...just...just to make sure they are gone." He leaned slightly to the left, freeing his hand.

Sam could hear the slight hint of humour that laced through his voice as he justified himself and felt herself respond in kind, the corner of her lip turning up slightly. "I think that's not a bad idea, just for a little while though, Sir. Staying here too long might make things become...difficult to, to...manage." she ended uncertainly. Sam shifted her foot, feeling the inside of his calf and hesitantly looked up towards him through her lashes.

"Captain." Jack warned but it was too late, he had started this and so he could not really blame her if she followed suit.

"Colonel?" Sam asked, her face fully lifted now, her lips mere inches away from his. Suddenly she was in a very different emotional place and she was not at all sure how that had happened.

"We really shouldn't do this." Jack whispered, every inch of his being responding to the unguarded look in her eyes.

"Do what?" Sam asked, watching him lick his lips.

The silence extended and the gap shortened but still they held back. Their bodies pressed closer and Jack's fingers flexed in mild exploration of her side. Sam's chin involuntarily travelled upwards as Jack's head dipped down.

At the last moment they paused, feeling each other's breath, their lips already touching. "Jack." she whispered.

"Sam." he responded and closed the gap between them in a single lingering contact.

Time...disappeared...

"There you are!" Daniel announced as light flooded in around them. "We've been comm-ing you for ages, why did neither of you respond?"

Jack had popped himself out of the tight space and was helping Carter step forward as he scrambled to then failed to find a response.

"I guess we didn't hear you." Sam uttered, her gaze still firmly locked on the Colonel.

"How could you not have heard us? Your radios are right there, by your ears!"

"The container must be..." but Sam's voice drifted off as the realisation of her true feelings for her CO finally hit her.

"Shielded." Jack finished for her, smiling slightly, still unable to take his eyes off her.

Daniel had fallen silent and was now looking back and forth between the two, his vision ran to Teal'c who sported nothing but a knowing look. "That indeed could be one explanation." he rumbled, his voice heavy with jaffa amusement. "Although there well may be others."

At that Jack caught a hold of himself and ripped his eyes from Carter's. "Yeah well, either way we're all here now and I think it's time to go, move out."

No-one made any attempt to move despite Jack's clear order.

"Captain Carter?" Teal'c finally voiced, breaking the intrigued stalemate that had come upon them. "Were you successful in making the adjustments to the ship's computer?"

"Hmm?" Finally she came back to herself. "Ah, yeah. Just let me check one thing and then we can get out of here." With one last look at the Colonel, she moved passed Teal'c and around Daniel to the console. "Yeah it's done. Earth's co-ordinates are no longer on their database. We should get out of here before they take off with us on board or something."

"Yeah." responded Jack, with a fascinated grin on his face. "Wouldn't want to have to squeeze back into that tight space with you again."

Sam's eyes instantly flicked up to his. Was he even aware of what he was saying and how obvious it was to the other two?

Teal'c's eyebrow rose indicating that he did not believe his friend O'Neill was being at all truthful and Daniel's smile was just as fascinated as Jack's. "Yeah about that?" he piped up.

"Not the time Daniel." Jack warned, realising his mistake and he stared hard at the man.

"Oh I wasn't going to say anything, not really. I was just wondering why you didn't just take one capsule each?"

All eyes ran to the archaeologist. "One each?" Jack asked, glancing around the room.

"Yeah, there is another one over there by the door." Daniel answered. "Looks a little different though, but..."

"Oh." Jack shot out, perplexed that he could have missed such an obvious hiding place.

Sam decided it was time to speak. "There really wasn't much time Daniel but that's what I was trying to tell you Sir, before you shut the door on us. But...I guess we both fit in there well enough in the end." she turned away in order to hide her smile.

"Clearly but you do realise that that one only opens from the outside." Daniel commented, examining the magnetic lock.

"Well...no, I didn't realise that at the time but..." Jack felt a little flustered. "It all worked out fine in the end, didn't it?"

Sam tried her best to hide her involuntarily smile by ducking her head. It had all worked out fine alright, who'd have thought a space so small could contain something so hugely revealing. She shook her head as she watched her team move out with the Colonel at the rear turning and waiting for her.

"Come on Captain." he spoke as she neared him, holding out her zatgun. His hand gently squeezed the weapon into hers and his fingers lingered long enough for her to be able to respond. Looking up into his face as she stepped just a fraction too close to him. Jack noted her deliberate proximity. "Getting over our claustrophobia, are we?" he asked half chuckling to himself.

Sam paused to think for just a moment. "Perhaps Colonel, but to be fair I think it might take just a little more work."

With that she shot him a meaningful look and stepped out ahead of him into the open space of the sunny foreign planet.

END

AN: So another wee one down...feeling rusty! Some feedback would be good. Unedited piece, nothing new there then!