"Hey, Dad, do you have any dramamine?" Jack yells as Jacob Carter and Selmak push the pel'tac hard into the nebula they mean to hide in, throwing mere mortal stomachs around like pinballs. He groans and feels what seems like his stomach doing a full repeat tumble pass as he looks over at Sam, who is also groaning and holding the outside of her forearm to her mouth as the ship lurches every which way. He glances toward Daniel, who is actually throwing up. "Jacob!" he shouts again.
"Calm down, Jack," Jacob shouts over the wet heaving of Daniel and the screaming of the ship's own alarms.
When the ship settles, Jack reaches an arm around Sam to pull her closer and rub along her back to calm her. "You okay, Carter?" She nods, but they're both clammy under their t-shirts and, he suspects, only by the grace of regulated breathing and years of flight training are they spared the indignity of tossing their lunch onto the glossy floor of the ship. Jack glances back at Daniel and grimaces. "Ew, Daniel."
Daniel raises a hand and a middle finger between heaves.
"Real mature, Doctor," Jack says. He looks back at Sam, who is grinning, the worst of her nausea seeming to have passed. He gives her shoulder a couple pats and a squeeze and raises his eyes just in time to meet the gaze of Jacob. His hand releases Sam's shoulder in an instant and he straightens up, a reflex as natural to him as breathing when he sees someone with stars on their shoulders, whether they still wear them or not. "Jacob," he says, smiling in a way he hopes broadcasts innocence.
"Jack."
"You got any towels?" Jack flicks his thumb in the direction of Daniel and shrugs, hands awkwardly smoothing his t-shirt and fidgeting along the hem. "Danny doesn't like your driving."
"Fuck you, Jack," both Jacob and Daniel say in unison.
Sam rolls her eyes and shakes her head, angry and annoyed. "That's enough, both of you," she shouts, and Jack is pleased to see it's not directed at him. He tugs her by the elbow to follow him a bit away from her father and raises his eyebrows. "Sir?"
"You think Dad's got it covered or do you need to help?"
"He knows what he's doing; we'll be fine, and he'll tell me if he needs me," she says.
"Then why don't you relax for a few?"
Sam is surprised by the quietness of him, the relaxed tone of his voice. "What are you suggesting, Colonel?"
"Wanna play cards?"
She thinks about it for a minute, their obviously dire circumstances and also her inability to do much about it. For once this might be the moment she can enjoy the downtime and not be the person responsible for pulling them out of the fire they've landed in. She smiles and nods, "What's your game, Sir?"
"Oh, Major," Jack says, thrilled with her participation. "Your choice."
They laugh together as they settle on the floor and start shuffling cards, ignoring the chatter of Daniel and Jacob. Jack smiles brightly at Sam and she returns it with warmth. The nebula outside hangs over them in the windows of the ship, too amazing to pass their mention.
"It is pretty cool," Jack says.
"Yeah," Sam replies. She looks up and down the long, narrow window of the pel'tac. She glances at Daniel and then back to Jack. "At least we didn't throw up," she laughs.
"Right?" Jack hands her the deck of cards to deal. "Space Monkey indeed!"
