It had been an ordinary day for SG-1.
All four members had left sunny Colorado Springs to come to work in the deep underground of Cheyenne Mountain and later left the same through the Stargate to p7x-957 a snowy planet with high mountains and frozen rivers.
Wrapped in warm BDUs and white camouflage parkers, they'd held their weapons close to their bodies, reluctant to let any warmth escape.
It really hadn't been that big a surprise that the planet's native inhabitants had managed to take our hero's prisoner. Their attackers had been naked after all, well almost naked anyway. Their only clothing had been something that looked suspiciously like a loincloth.
The natives were naked enough to stun the shivering penguins, formally known as SG-1.
So now the big jaffa was chained to the wall, preventing his strong muscles to free himself. Dr. Daniel Jackson sat against the opposite wall, his hands bound in front of him and his legs and waist tied to the wall. The right side of his face was beginning to swell, the soft skin turning into an angry purple.
He had tried to speak to the cold-resistant people, hoping to clear their differences and to find a peaceful solution. Unfortunately talking didn't seem the thing to do on p7x-957.
When his friends had tried to help him their captors had acted immediately, chaining Teal'c to the stonewall and tying Colonel Jack O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter into two neat bundles, now lying on the floor in the middle of the room.
They lay on their stomachs, wrists and ankles bound together uncomfortably behind their backs, reminding Daniel of the various Cannibal-Rituals he'd studied.
"Okay next time Daniel wants to go ski I'll volunteer to pay for the trip to Aspen," Jack growled his mood dangerously bad.
This wasn't part of either of their job descriptions, they'd faced unthinkable danger, had solved situations against all odds and had survived ordeals that had seemed ultimately lethal and still... being caught by naked guys in the snow and be bound into ridiculous positions was not something Jack could tolerate.
"As soon as we're out of here I'm putting in some leave. Real leave, like actually leaving!"
"Yes, sir," Sam's mood was equally low, as her shoulders ached more and more from the uncomfortable position they'd been forced into.
"What about that knife in your boot Jack?" Daniel asked hoping that it had remained hidden during the native's search.
"They took it; they took the whole boots if I may remind you?"
"Oh," Jack had been kicking and trashing to get free of the five people that beat or sat on him to prevent any reaction on his side. When one of his feet had connected solidly with a man's face they had quickly untied/ripped the laces and slipped the footwear from Jack's feet.
Sam started to move and Jack shot her a questioning glance, moving for them meant to shuffle a little, which was also surprisingly painful. Still Carter continued moving, her eyes closed in concentration.
"Whatcha doin' Captain?" Jack asked with slightly shattering teeth.
"There's a knife in my boot, sir."
"There is?" Jack asked just as Daniel mumbled "Really?" and Teal'c raised an eyebrow saying, "This is a surprise."
Sam looked at the two team-mates she could see from her position, the Colonel in front of her and Daniel behind him, "The Colonel isn't the only one who can put a knife in a boot," on cue a small Swiss army knife fell out of Sam's left boot and landed with an audible 'cling' next to her face. "Colonel, could you pass this to Daniel?" she asked before she took the cold object between her teeth and robbed the few centimetres separating her from her commanding officer.
Feeling totally awkward he took the knife between his teeth managing to brush her lips only briefly, before he hastily started turning his aching body around and finally with a fast turn of his head threw the sharp item to the archaeologist.
Daniel crawled as well as he could with bound wrists and ankles and luckily the rope around his waist was long enough that he could grasp the knife with his fingertips. Sitting up again he struggled a little to open the knife and then cut his ankles free as well as his waist, before he started the rather difficult task of freeing his hands. After a few cuts and angry exclamations the bounds finally fell away and he happily moved his aching limps as he stood.
"Guys, I got it," he said with a smile, but neither Sam nor Jack was listening. Teal'c looked up at him and with a shake of his head and a small smile told him to be quiet.
Now quiet, Daniel started to grin and slowly made his way over to Jack and cut him free.
Instead of sitting up Jack simply brought his hands to Sam's face and let his legs fall to the ground.
Still grinning Daniel repeated his actions with Sam's restraints and soon his friends were both free, they just didn't leave.
No, they continued kissing.
The chains around Teal'c's wrist were a little trickier, but luckily the lock wasn't that complicated and with a little fiddling Daniel managed to open them.
"Thank you DanielJackson."
"No problem Teal'c," Daniel answered with a smile before he turned to their friends and his earlier grin returned, he shot Teal'c a mischievous look before asking rather loudly, "Hey Sam! Jack! Ready to go?"
Guiltily his friends sprang apart and scrambled to their feet both first looking at Daniel and Teal'c before their gazes returned to each other, both more confused than anything.
Jack tore his gaze away first and cleared his throat, "Ah, okay let's get out of here, shall we?" he got no resistance for that and quickly SG-1 escaped through the rather large windows.
~*~
They ran to the gate after one of the natives had spotted them and alarmed the others. They barely had the time to punch in the address and sent the GDO-signal with the transmitter Teal'c had managed to hide in his vest, before they saw their pursuers break through the bushes around the clearing the Stargate was located in.
Without a backward glance all four members of SG-1 ran through the event horizon arriving safely back on earth.
"Close the iris!" Jack yelled to the control-room and two seconds later the trinium shield covered the gate.
"What happened Colonel?" the General asked as he saw a the dishevelled looking team walk down the ramp, they'd lost their weapons and he could see angry marks on their arms as well as the dark bruise on Dr. Jackson's face.
Instead of the shoeless Colonel, who looked just as confused as Sg-1's second military officer, Daniel answered him, "Nothing, General, just your ordinary day."
~*~
Jack's mind was totally blank during the whole debriefing, in some back corner of his head he heard Daniel describe the planet and the people they'd encountered, but he couldn't concentrate much less contribute to what was being said. The only good thing was that it seemed like Sam had the same problem.
The General immediately noticed her unusual behaviour and asked her if everything was all right.
"Yes, sir. Just all little sore from the restraints," she answered with an uneasy smile.
"Okay people, I think there's nothing on p7x-957 that demands our attention at the moment, so until further notice SG-1 is on downtime. Dismissed," with a nod the General left the room.
Gathering notes and the necessary paperwork they prepared to leave, Sam was the first out the door almost fleeing the others or rather a certain someone. Jack looked at her leaving form, confused by both his and her behaviour, but mostly by *their* earlier behaviour.
He turned, fully prepared to contemplate the question why he'd kissed his junior officer for a little longer when he came face to face with a dopily grinning Daniel and a pretty pleased looking Teal'c.
"What?" he asked when they didn't offer any explanation for their elation.
"Nothing, Jack. Aren't you going to go after her?" Daniel asked, still smiling.
"Why should I?" he asked, refusing to talk about what had happened on the planet.
Daniel's face fell and Teal'c's hardened before he spoke, "I was under the impression that you and CaptainCarter had something to talk about O'Neill."
"Well I'm not and neither seems she," he answered angrily as he walked passed the two men, but before he could go a hand closed around upper arm.
Daniel's grip on him was surprisingly strong and Jack winced slightly when instead of releasing him the young man squeezed the limb even tighter.
"You are not going to hurt her, Jack," Daniel said with conviction and Teal'c took a step closer to emphasize his point.
"I'm not doing anything," Jack defended himself as he freed his arm from Daniel's grip.
"Exactly, and she's too afraid to come and talk to you. So if you refuse to go and talk to her now you'll only end up hurting each other."
"And why would you be the expert on that Dr. Jackson?" Jack asked sarcastically.
"Take my word for it Jack. You have a chance at real happiness here, both of you do, don't let that pass you by," Daniel looked at him as if he was expecting a response. When he didn't get one Daniel hissed close to Jack's ear, "And if you break her heart we'll make sure we break something of yours too," with that unusually violent statement he left, Teal'c dutifully following him.
Jack stood in the middle of the room dumbfounded, clutching a top-secret folder in his hands as he finally whispered, "Her heart?"
~*~
He'd tried to write that damn mission report, he really had; he came as far as the date, before he'd lain down the pen and just stared at his door.
He contemplated what Daniel had said. Her heart. Could it be? Could this kiss indicate something going so deep? He searched his own heart; there was that huge part that belonged to Charlie, a small part that still belonged to Sara, one middle-sized part that included his parents and relatives and the other large part that belonged to SG-1 and his other fellow officers. There was love, sadness and loss, like, respect and admiration, more respect, some pride and compassion. And there was another large part, nearly as big as Charlie's. And it was empty.
He opened his eyes, realising for the first time that he'd closed them. A large part of his heart, of him, was empty, he suddenly realised with an uncommon clarity. Sara had filled that place long ago, but not anymore.
'Don't break her heart. You have a chance at real happiness here, both of you.'
He tried to imagine his Captain in that place and was shocked that the young woman had already taken over a large part of his heart, subtle and without him realising it she'd become such a big part of his life that he couldn't imagine it without her anymore. She'd evolved from a colleague to a friend whom he admired and respected for her strength, intelligence, compassion and last but not least looks.
The next shock came when he felt that admiration, like and respect he had for her change into something new and beautiful. Something that filled all of him which was empty.
"Oh," he spoke into the empty office.
~*~
Sam sad in her own office, a rather small room next to her lab, and chewed the life out of one of her pens. With a crack the pen surrendered and she nearly cut her lip on the sharp parts.
"Stupid," she scolded herself, referring only partly to the pen incident.
She'd long given up her pretence of doing paperwork and had started drawing meaningless circles on a white sheet of paper from her printer. I hadn't helped a bit to calm her raging nerves just occupied her wriggling fingers. Her mind replayed the kiss, or rather kisses from that day. It had been awkward enough when their lips had touched during the knife exchange, but whatever had possessed her to kiss her Colonel once he'd turned around, she had no idea. Neither was she really sure that she had kissed him, it could very well have been the other way
around, she couldn't remember, all she knew was, that they'd kissed. Had done so for quite a while it seemed, because she hadn't even realised that Daniel had freed them or himself.
"Stupid," she mumbled again and started to throw the broken parts of her pen in the direction of the trash bin. The worst part was that they'd kissed on duty in a dangerous situation; she had let her guard down and had gotten completely carried away. And she'd enjoyed it way too much.
She continued mentally talking herself down until a voice from the door startled her, "Ever thought about a career in professional basketball?"
"Colonel!" she nearly fell from her chair as she quickly stood up. She only glanced at him briefly before she looked back at the trash bin. She knew where his question had come from when she realized that she had unconsciously started to rip the paper she'd drawn on into parts and
thrown little paper balls into the thrash, it seemed like every single one had landed in the rather thin cylinder.
"Got a minute?" she wanted to shake her head, but since he'd caught her staring into space and killing time by playing office-basketball, she couldn't really tell him she had work to do.
"Sure sir, what can I do for you?"
"Can we meet someplace after work? I'd really like to talk to you in private," he didn't seem nervous at all which only made her all the more nervous.
"Uh, sure," she just said, unsure what else there was to say.
"Great, how about O'Malley's? We could meet there at... o-six-hundred? Seven-hundred?"
"O-seven-hundred's okay," she heard herself agree, while she mentally shook her head.
"Great, see you then," and with that and a small smile he left a confused Sam back in her office.
~*~
Jack whistled as he walked down the corridor to the elevators, he'd spent the rest of the day doing overdue paperwork and in his good mood had actually gotten around to nearly finishing all the reports, a little work tomorrow and he'd have the General off his back for the first time since coming out of retirement.
He checked his watch to make sure that he was still in time and with a new grin noted that he had nearly two hours before he had to be at O'Mailley's. Enough time to drive home, shower, change and walk the short trip to the restaurant.
He drove carefully and seemed to notice the scenery for the first time. The world around him looked beautiful and Jack O'Neill appreciated it for what seemed like the first time since his son's death.
On his way to the front door he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. What are you doing? He asked himself. He let the day replay in his mind. His young, beautiful Captain had kissed him while they had been held prisoner and had half been freezing to death. After their return home she had been nervous around him and everyone else at the SGC and then when he'd asked her to have dinner with him she'd agreed. But she'd still seemed nervous and when he thought about it objectively she'd looked as if she'd wanted to run away.
His mood dampened and his steps slower until he mechanically entered his house and started to prepare for the evening, the first thing he consciously realized was the warm water of his shower running out.
~*~
Sam's initial nervousness had somehow settled into an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She'd taken a long bath when she'd gotten home and it felt incredibly good to be surrounded by warmth after the cold environment she'd been in today.
As her muscles relaxed her mind calmed and her rational side slowly took over. The consequences of her actions couldn't be so bad if he actually wanted to talk to her. She had half feared he'd bring her up on charges of insubordination and although in hindsight she was sure he'd never do that to her she remained worried about her position with SG-1.
Kissing your commanding officer for no apparent reason could alienate him, she thought with an unhappy smile. Sighing she started to rinse her hair, she would know soon enough what she'd gotten herself into.
~*~
Jack was early, he'd left his car at home, walking the few hundred metres to O'Mailley's to let the soft breeze calm his nervousness. It was a nice day, in contrast to p7x-957, it was summer in Colorado and Jack was glad that he didn't have to wear five layers of clothing just to avoid hypothermia. He'd been awfully conscious about his clothes when he'd left his home. He was wearing black Levis and a black v-neck sweater over a grey t-shirt. The last time he'd dressed like that had been a casual date he'd went on last year, the only date he'd had since Sara.
He was just reminding himself again that he shouldn't think of their meeting as a date when he saw her. She'd obviously been even earlier then he was and his first thought was that if she wanted to tell him that she'd report his unprofessional behaviour to the General in *that* outfit he'd mess up more often. She wore a loose black skirt which showed a generous amount of creamy coloured leg and a light-blue sweater that was short enough that he could imagine any movement on her part would give him a glimpse of the flat stomach he'd only seen once. He immediately regretted following that train of thought, having even more unprofessional thoughts about his second in command wouldn't help his situation.
'Definitely sweeter than the tank top', his treacherous mind reminded him just as she turned and smiled shyly at him.
~*~
She'd seen him from the corner of her eye as he made his way down the street. Looking for something to distract herself she pretended to admire the dresses in the window before her. Her own cloths seemed totally inappropriate. She'd dressed automatically and in shock had realised that she'd dressed for a date and the outfit was pretty daring, too. For a meeting with your commanding officer anyway.
She'd quickly searched for a more unobtrusive outfit. She'd already unzipped her skirt when she decided that she should just go in the outfit she'd instinctively chosen. When the Colonel was going to reject her she could just as well look good at it.
And so she stood there in her casual, but a-lot-more-feminine-than-the-Colonel-was-used-to-outfit and waited for him to say something. When he didn't offer a greeting she turned and smiled at him. Despite her earlier bravery she now felt very self-conscious in her short skirt, this guy knew her in BDUs, jeans or ridiculous blue dressed that smelled like yak butter 'What have I been thinking?'
"Carter," Jack said as if he'd just come out of some very deep thoughts, "Hi," he added as an afterthought.
"Hi Colonel," she answered, her smile growing when she saw him looking at her, some staring was never bad for a girl's ego.
"Let's grab a table, shall we?" he said and offered his arm, feeling more surreal by the minute as she took it and together they walked inside.
~*~
They didn't speak another word until they'd ordered their food and drinks and suddenly found themselves at a loss of what to say. Finally Jack decided that enough was enough and talking with his second in command about the kiss shouldn't be that big a problem, he only had to convince her not to leave the team or anything, as long as she stayed where she was and remained comfortable working with him everything was all right as far as he was concerned.
"Listen Carter about today. I was way out of line and would like to apologies. I asked you to come here so we could get that out of the way."
So much for her hope that he reciprocated her feelings and after today's kiss had finally seen her as something else than a soldier. She sighed softly before she looked up her expression carefully guarded, "There's no need to apologies Colonel. We can just dismiss as one of those strange things people does under stress."
He was equally relieved as he was disappointed it was the easiest way out and as he'd promised himself earlier he'd do anything to ensure that she'd remain with SG-1, if that meant pretending that the kiss hadn't meant anything to him, it was a small prize to pay.
Funnily enough similar thoughts ran through Sam's head. She reminded herself that the work she did at the SGC was so important that as long as she could have the best job at the place everything else would have to take second place, she had accepted long ago that that may include lacking a social life or a significant other. It just hurt more than she'd expected. But she'd still have his company and if his smile was any indication she still had his friendship.
His smile turned into a grin, "So tell me Carter since when do you have a knife in your boot?"
Sam blushed as he waggled his eyebrows at her, "I'm not incapable of learning, Colonel," she admitted gritting her teeth while her eyes held the humour she tried to suppress.
"Oh, the Captain Doctor learned something from her old, dumb Colonel? Who would have thought?" he said with a smile feeling a lot more relaxed now.
Sam didn't smile back and some of the earlier tension returned to his shoulders. She leaned her head slightly to the sight and regarded him with an intensity that would have made him shiver if he hadn't been so tense. He was just about to ask her what was going on when she spoke, "You're neither old nor dumb Colonel. Why do you want to appear either?" Her voice sounded innocent and open and Jack wondered if she'd really thought about asking him something so personal.
"Ah. I don't. "Jack found himself at a loss for words and at that moment felt gladder then ever to see a waiter approach their table with a tray of drinks.
Sam cursed herself for making him uncomfortable after they'd just gotten over their unprofessional behaviour earlier that day. She just knew for a fact that her commanding officer was not half as dense as he wanted others to think. She took a sip of the water the waiter had placed on her side of the table and saw the Colonel do the same opposite her, both were stalling and they knew it.
"You know I'm no Einstein," he said after a second, surprising her, "nor am I a Carter," he shot her a quick grin and saw that he had her undivided attention. "I'm no expert in physics or archaeology or medicine," again he paused and she could see that he was about to admit a truth to her which you usually avoided acknowledging. "I'm an expert at killing Carter. I can teach you a hundred ways to kill a single person or tactics to overwhelm an army with just a small team of trusted soldiers and enough firepower... I guess I don't really want other people to know that I'm so good at it," he shrugged not looking up at her until he heard her softly call his rank, "Colonel?"
His head rose slowly and he was surprised to see her smiling at him with the most trusting and admiring expression he had ever seen directed at him. He was so mesmerized by her gaze that he nearly didn't realise that she spoke, "That's not how I see it Colonel."
"Then how do you see it Captain?" he asked in a hoarse whisper while he cursed himself for being so needy of her approval.
"I think that you save people. You do a hard job to ensure our country's, even our world's, safety. The enemy forces you to use any means necessary and your obligation to everyone who needs our help makes you do things you obviously hate yourself for doing. And still you are clever enough to find ways with the least amount of casualties, you still care enough to do it for people and you are so much more than a mindless soldier who merely does what he's told, because he doesn't know better. That's how I see you, sir," she took a slow deep breath feeling
exhausted from the rather long emotional speech. On a slightly lighter note and with another soft smile she added, "You're my hero."
She watched with wide eyes as he stood up and walked over to her. He slid into the booth right next to her and she automatically scooted over to leave him room to sit. His eyes betrayed no emotion, but she was pretty sure she had stirred something behind those hazel depths. She would have allowed herself a smile when her suspicions were confirmed only a second later if his actions hadn't shocked her so much. With a quick, but still hesitant looking motion he brought his arms around her and after half a second she relaxed enough to allow their position to resemble a hug.
She found her traitorous body relax more and more into his arms, despite her intentions to not let herself enjoy their closeness.
"You know Carter, you are sooo good for my ego and self-esteem," he said right into her ear and her chuckle efficiently hid the shiver his breath against her cheek had provoked.
"Glad to be of service, Colonel," she whispered before she briefly squeezed her arms around him before on an unspoken signal they simultaneously released each other. Sam watched him sit straight and close his eyes before he leaned back against the wall behind him. Her eyes remained on him for a few seconds before she adopted a similar position.
She felt the warmth of his hand brush against hers even before flesh met flesh. Wrapped and sheltered in his hand she felt disconnected from her own limb. Her fingers tingled, the digits sending tickling jolts of unexplainable energy through her palm up her arm.
"Carter?"
"Hmm?" she just hummed her attention, her eyes still closed and her hand still in his.
"I'm glad you're my friend," he said his voice more honest and vulnerable than she'd ever heard it. She opened her eyes again and leaned over the table to get both hers and Jack's glasses from the table.
When she looked back at him she saw him watching her with one eye cracked open. Wordlessly she handed him his glass and raised her own, "To friendship."
"To friendship," he echoed her words as they clinked glasses.
~*~
FINI.
Story Notes: Author's Notes: Feedback will be held dear and cuddled :) This isn't betaed and English is not my first language, so please forgive any mistakes
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 ]