Jack heard the gate close behind him as he stepped down the sloping ramp and looked around. P8X-782 was remarkably similar to European forests. There were tall, broad-leaved trees all around the small clearing they were in.
"Well, here's something we haven't seen before. Trees. All right, kids." He said military tactics flowing through his head, "let's not make too obvious of a target. Carter, send the MALP back."
Sam shook herself out of her thoughts. "Sorry, sir. I must be getting old and my hearing's going. What'd you say?"
Jack raised his eyebrows and spoke slowly, as if talking to a child. "MALP-gate-home."
Sam nodded and moved toward the DHD.
The colonel frowned as he realized that that was the third aging comment he heard from Sam today. /What's with her?/ He shrugged and made a mental note to ask her about it. Later. For now, they had to move away from the Stargate.
They had been exploring the area for several hours and found no sign of an indigenous culture. Night began to fall and the colonel decided to camp.
"We passed some caves a few hundred meters back and seeing as we don't know what kind of predators are out here, it'll be better than the open forest."
"Unless the predators are giant bats." Said Daniel to which Jack sent him a flat and unfriendly glare.
Carter chimed in, "He's got a point, sir. We don't know what kind of wildlife lives on this planet."
"We'll negotiate a lease." Retaliated Jack before turning towards the caves.
After building a fire and eating the c-rations, which Daniel complained about, as usual, the team lounged around. They had explored the cave and found that it was actually a series of corridors and chambers. While it was large, there were very few forks, so there was little chance of anyone, like Daniel, getting lost.
Jack was teetering on the edge of sleep so he barely noticed Sam slipping away further into the caves. He did however, register the fact that she didn't return for a lengthy period of time. With a glance at Teal'C, who was on guard duty, he went after her. He found her in one of the side chambers, pacing and cursing under her breath by the light of a flashlight.
"Lose your way, Carter?" he asked.
"I'm not THAT old," snapped Sam, adding "Sir," after she saw the colonel's eyebrows shoot up.
Jack leaned against one of the walls, his arms folded against his chest, "Okay, what's bothering you?"
"It's nothing Colonel,"
"Oh, so you always pace around and spew profanity?" sarcasm dripped off his voice.
Sam relented and confessed. "It's my thirtieth birthday today, sir."
"Geez, you should have said something, we would've had a party, got a band…"
Sam interrupted him, "It's not that. It's just, well, I'm getting old."
"If you're old at 30, what am I at 43? A relic?"
"It's different for you?"
"How so?" he inquired.
"You're a man…"
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Jack broke in. "You've got to be kidding."
"I'm serious, Sir. When men get older, they get 'distinguished'. When women get older they become, well…'old and unattractive'."
Jack was tempted to go over to her and show her just how attractive she was, but he restrained himself. Just as he had restrained himself every other time including P3X-595 when she drank that stuff that made her take off…/Stop it, Jack. That way lies madness./ He opened his mouth to say something when Daniel burst into the chamber, his glasses slightly askew.
"Teal'C says to come quick."
Jack cast one final, exasperated glance at Sam before jogging after Daniel. From the mouth of the cave he could see several shadows moving out in the darkness.
"Colonel O'Neill. There is someone outside." Said Teal'C.
Jack peered into the darkness every once in a while. For the last few minutes there was no indication of anyone being outside, but that didn't fool him one bit. He was a highly trained soldier and he knew when he was being watched. And he was definitely being watched. He hated waiting but knew that the cave was the place to do it in. There was only one entrance to the cave. They had enough rations to last a few days and that should be long enough to assess the nature of the people out there. So he sat, and he waited. As the first rays of the sun came over the horizon, a familiar figure walked towards the entrance of the cave and Jack nearly groaned audibly. It was Martouf and he hated the man. The way he acted around Sam irritated him to no end. He never admitted, even to himself, that he disliked Martouf primarily because of jealousy. He tried to ignore the way Sam smiled at the Tok'Ra and how it made him throttle Martouf. He convinced himself that it was because he didn't want a friend to get involved with someone who has reptilian activity in his head. /Yeah right. You can't even fool yourself anymore./
Sam was watching her CO. She had been doing a lot of that lately. She firmly tried to steer her thoughts away from his eyes, hands, lips, tongue…/Whoa girl. Regs, remember?/ She tried to think of something to slow her suddenly frantic pulse. /A cold river, yes icy cold, swimming in it, Jack swimming in it, droplets clinging to his naked chest, skin gleaming in the sun…/ Well, that certainly wasn't helping. She sighed and decided to rest instead. Just close her eyes, not sleep, rest…Sam was woken by the sound of the colonel shifting. She peeked out of the cave and saw Martouf walking towards them.
"I bring you birthday greetings, Captain Carter." He said as he entered the cave.
"You remembered," Sam seemed genuinely delighted at the prospect and Jack felt his gut twist up with jealousy. /How come Martouf knew and I didn't?/
"Indeed. We have a temporary camp set up nearby. We would like for you to join us as our guests." Martouf tore his gaze from Sam's face and looked at Jack with something akin to distaste. "All of you." He added almost as an afterthought. O'Neill moved off to wake Daniel and pull Teal'C out of his medative state as Sam accepted the invitation.
As they walked into the Tok'Ra camp, the colonel was surprised to find that they were living in tents. He thought that they would have built those tunnels. The Tok'Ra gathered around them. Pleased smiles appeared on their faces when Martouf mentioned that it was Sam's birthday. He explained to SG-1.
"Among the Tok'Ra, the survival rate is not very high and so each birthday means another year survived. Therefore we celebrate each one with a large feast, and the Tappe'In."
"Tappe'In?" asked Sam.
"It means 'circle of affection', sort of." Said Daniel. Martouf nodded.
"Well, I'm game," said Sam and Jack was definitely displeased when Martouf grinned widely.
"I hoped you would."
"What does this circle of affection involve?" asked Jack, not pleased with the whole situation.
"All those who wish to participate gather in a circle. The one whose birthday it is, in this case Captain Carter, is blindfolded and placed in the middle. She is spun around several times. The first person from the circle she touches is the chosen one. Then she and the chosen one share a kiss."
Jack scowled darkly and looked at his captain.
She looked back defiantly. "Okay, when do we do it?" she said still holding the colonel's gaze. There were murmurs of satisfaction from the male section of the Tok'Ra, and Jack's face grew even darker.
"It is done before the feast itself, but after the artems."
"Appetizers," supplied Daniel without being prompted.
"If you would care to refresh yourselves, there are tents where you can do that." Continued Martouf.
Sam nodded gratefully and immediately one of the Tok'Ra showed her to one of the larger tents. Inside, Sam was startled to find a fully functioning, though slightly alien version of a shower. Her guide explained to her how to set the temperature. She asked if Sam would like a new set of clothes, but the captain declined, remembering the incident in the Mongolian culture. The woman left after assuring Sam that no one will disturb her and Carter stripped and stepped under the shower.
Jack, Daniel and Teal'C were treated in a similar fashion and they too declined the offer of new clothes preferring the comfort and familiarity of their fatigues. Even the hot water failed to wash away Jack's irritation. /Circle of Affection indeed. If anyone was going to kiss Sam, it's going to be me./ His body instantly responded to the thought and he hurriedly adjusted the water to a lower temperature.
The artems were a delicious combination of fruit and the colonel would have enjoyed them if it weren't for the fact that every so often, he could hear Sam laughing at something that Martouf said. By the end of the appetizers, Jack was ready to blast the other man into next week with Teal'C's staff weapon.
When everyone finished their fruit, Sam was blindfolded while the men assembled into a circle. Jack ended up beside Martouf and he frowned as both Daniel and Teal'C joined in.
He glared at them until Daniel said, "Uh Teal'C, perhaps we should sit this one out."
"Why Daniel Jackson?"
The anthropologist sighed and replied, "I'll tell you later."
They withdrew. A Tok'Ra began spinning Sam. Lurching drunkenly, Sam tried to regain her balance. Picking a direction at random, she began walking. /Oh Hell!/ thought Jack, /she's heading right for Martouf./ She was only four steps away. Three, two…Letting jealousy take over, Jack stepped to the side, in front of the Tok'Ra. Sam walked smack into the colonel.
Sam removed her blindfold to find her CO standing if front of Martouf, the first grinning the second scowling.
"So what do you say, captain?" challenged Jack, "unless you're not up to it?" His teasing brought an answering smile from Sam.
"I'm just worried if you can handle what I've got, sir." Sam couldn't believe that she was seriously considering kissing her commanding officer. /But why not? After all, it was a tradition and they would probably offend the Tok'Ra if they didn't, so it couldn't really be against regulations. Yeah sure, as long as you believe that./ she thought sarcastically.
Jack could sense her indecision and waited, not wanting to have any regret stemming from their first kiss. Finally, she stood on her toes and brushed her lips against his. Once, twice, the third time she lingered and her arms wound themselves around his neck. Jack wrapped his arms around her waist and took the kiss deeper by opening his mouth and tracing her lips with his tongue. Sam gave him the access he wanted and he plundered her mouth. One hand was on the small of her back pulling her hips into contact with his, the other in her hair, caressing her scalp in a possessive gesture. Her hands smoothed up and down his back, touching, learning and claiming.
Long minutes later, they broke apart to find that the Tok'Ra moved off to the tables prepared for the feast. Daniel and Teal'C had also gone with hem. Jack leaned his forehead against Sam's, trying to regain control of his body. He couldn't remember the last time that he had gotten so worked up over a simple kiss. /Not that there was anything simple about it./ He could see that Sam was having the same problem. Her eyes were closed and her chest was heaving. Her tongue snaked out to trace her lips and Jack groaned. She looked up at the sound and found herself mesmerized by the look in his eyes. Passion, a struggle for control and none of the regret that she was afraid that she would find.
"This can't happen again, you know," she said and Jack nodded. They shared one more, intensive kiss before walking to the tables. Throughout the meal, they looked at each other often and smiled unaware of the dark looks that Martouf was casting in their direction.
SG-1 walked to the stargate, Daniel and Teal'C in the front, the anthropologist explaining some earth tradition to the Jaffa, Jack and Sam in the back holding hands. Carter stopped just before the stargate and turned to the colonel. The other two had already walked through.
"Do we pretend that it never happened?" Jack smiled slightly at her question.
"I doubt I could," he responded. "We simply treat it as a one time event that will not repeat itself." Sam nodded but still didn't step through the gate. "Maybe a two-time event." Whispered Jack and lowered his head to hers.
EPILOGUE
Sam was nearly ready for bed. She was standing in front of a mirror in her quarters at SGC, brushing her hair. They had returned quite late and she hadn't felt like driving home. She was wearing the oversized tshirt she usually wore to bed, when she heard the knock on her door. She opened it a crack to find Jack grinning at her.
"Can I come in?"
Sam poked her head out and glanced up and down the corridor. Empty. She stepped back and the colonel entered her room. Sam knew exactly why he was here.
"What about the never-happen-again mffbl." Her words became garbled as Jack covered her lips with his. A flicker of resistance from the logical part of her brain came and went and she pulled him closer.
Much later, as she was drifting off to sleep tucked against Jack, Sam felt him gently kiss her temple and heard him whisper, "Happy Belated Birthday, Sam."
THE END
Story Notes: This is the answer to the "Turning Thirty Challenge" by Jacqueline Smith in which Sam, you guessed it, turns 30. Has to include 1) the Tok'Ra, 2) a celebration that takes place off-world, 3) a jealous Jack. Bonus points for including a Tok'Ra birthday ritual. // show thoughts. Spoilers: Tok'Ra (part 1 and 2) and tiny ones from Tin Man and Emancipation.
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]