They'd stepped out of the wormhole into this cave.
Nothing weird up to this point. The MALP was standing a few feet away. It had shown them pictures of this dark cave and the DHD next to the Gate, so everything had looked perfectly normal and that's why they'd decided - well, actually Hammond had done the deciding - that it was worth a trip through the Gate.
No immediate danger recognisable, a few strange readings which had sent Carter into almost-hyperventilation, no strange other things , yadda, yadda, yadda.
Jack had just wanted to get it over and done with. He hadn't been exactly looking forward to crawling around a dark cave, but hey, as long as it made the others happy - make it, as long as it made *Carter* happy - he'd willingly agreed.
So here he was. In a tunnel leading from aforementioned cave to who knew where, a long, long way from home, wandering around with Carter and one of her 'built-to-read-strange-readings'-doohickeys. They'd left the other two members of their team in the main cave to stand guard or whatever they wanted to do. Jack didn't really care.
He was bored.
Not that he didn't like following Carter and staring at her ... back ... but he had to admit, there'd been times when he'd had more entertainment on a mission.
Not that he didn't like following Carter and staring at her- Okay. Been there already...
He needed distraction.
"Carter?"
"Sir?"
"Find anything yet?"
"No Sir, I'd have told you already."
"Right. Just checking." He sighed.
"Sir?"
"Carter?"
She smiled. "Is it possible that you're-"
"What?"
Alright. Now she grinned. "Uh, nothing Sir...Could you carry this for a while?"
His eyebrows shot up. Was she actually asking him to actually *touch* one of her toys?
"You sure?"
This time it was a mixture between a chuckle and a snort.
Ahh, no, not entirely, but I thought I'd give you something to play with before you start whining, she thought, but opted for another answer.
"Sure, Sir. Just...try not to break anything...okay?"
"Hey Carter, you know me..."
"Yeah, I'm afraid. That's why I said it..." she mumbled.
He whirled around. "What was that?"
He took great pleasure in the fact that his 2IC appeared to be blushing.
"Uh..."
The device beeped. Startled, Jack almost let it drop but Sam was already there, whipping her precious science-thingy away from him, starting to analyse or whatever the heck she was doing like there was no tomorrow.
"Sir, the data indicates some kind of incredibly advanced source of energy. This way..."
And away she was.
Dumbstruck, Jack was left standing in the dark tunnel - Why was it so dark again? Yeah, right, Carter had the flashlight - wondering, what'd just happened.
One minute he'd been about to thoroughly embarrass his Major and looking forward to it, the next minute he was alone, most probably looking very un-Colonel-like, with his open mouth and all, looking after the flashlight at the end of the tunnel which got smaller and smaller.
Getting his body into motion, he ran after Sam before he was totally plunged into darkness, wondering if she could have possibly somehow manipulated the device so that it started beeping at the right moment.
Hmh.
Coming to the conclusion that he might be exaggerating this thinking thing, he was just about to yell after Sam to slow it down a bit, when he rounded a corner and ran into her.
"Oof!"
"Oof!"
"Carter? You okay?"
Quickly picking up her doohickey from the floor, she let out a relieved sigh. Still working.
"Carter...Do.you.hear.me?" He waved his hand in front of her face.
"Wha?" Distracted, she looked up to his amused face.
"You okayyyy?" The eyebrow raising thing again.
She smiled. "Yes Sir, I was just....Wow!"
Deducing, that she might not mean him by 'Wow', he turned around and saw what she saw.
Wow, indeed.
There in front of them was another cave, bigger than the one where the Stargate was in, and much more...colorful. The whole cavern was decorated - as it seemed - with colored... formations, for lack of a better term , which shimmered transparent when Sam let the beam of the flashlight wander over them.
"Cool!" , was all that left Jack's mouth, making Sam smile and once again wonder how old this man really was.
Stepping further into the cave, they slowly made their way to one of the formations - a green one - when Jack was suddenly hit by something glibbery dropping from the ceiling.
"Yuck!"
Sam whirled around. "What is it?"
Jack stood in front of her indicating his head. "Don't know. I doubt that they have pigeons in here but I was just hit by something equally gross on my head. Can you see something?"
Sam had a hard time suppressing a giggle. Here in front of her stood her Commanding Officer, bent in the knees so that she could easier examine whatever had landed in his hair, almost hysterically pointing at his head with both of his hands.
"Can you see it? Can you see it? What is it?" Yep. Definitely hysterical now.
"It's something blue... Sir, would you just hold still. I can't-"
Dark. Very dark.
"Great! Now what happened?"
"Uhm, my flashlight appears to have gone out-"
"No kidding!"
"I'm sorry Sir, I should have checked the batteries before..."
"No kidding!"
"Sir..."
"Ah, it's okay Carter, just get this stuff outta my hair, will ya?"
"Right."
Moving so she was standing directly in front of him, she brought her hand up to touch his hair only to meet his cheek.
Okay, so he must be standing properly again.
Slowly feeling her way along his jawbone, past his ears, she reached his hairline. Hesitating, she tried to judge his reaction.
Well, she couldn't see anything but she had the distinct feeling that the reason for his ragged breathing was not fear. Damn, was it hot in here?
Swallowing, Sam let her hand continue its journey, carefully stroking over his hair, trying at the same time not to make any un-Major-like noises when she felt his warm breath caress her face. When a sigh was really close to break free from deep within her, her hand reached its destination.
"Ugghh! ... That's really gross!"
Snapping out of his trance, Jack had to lick his lips a few times before speaking.
"What is...?" Whoa! Was his voice always this husky?
Ahem. Once more. "What is?"
"The ... stuff on your hair, Sir. It... wobbled."
"Excuse me?"
"Well, feel for yourself."
And so he did. Cautiously he moved his fingers until they touched something glibbery... and it wobbled.
The hysterical tone was back. "Get it off of me! Quick!"
Sam sighed defeated. "Alright, Sir, but could you just not move so much. I'm not really fond of touching this stuff either and it'd go faster if-"
Bump.
He was standing still now.
Very still. Since his chest just bumped into Carter's ... shoulder, he hoped.
Given the fact, that she'd stopped speaking, it probably wasn't her shoulder, but his voice was so not in the condition to ask her.
Right, Jack. Concentrate on the task at hand and not...how her ragged breath is mingling with yours, how warm her body is, how gooood she smells....
"Sir...?" God, why was she whispering? "I have the blue wobbling stuff in my hand now." Still whispering.
"Great." Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. Just breathe normally...
"What shall I do with it?"
"Huh?"
"The blue stuff, Sir."
"I don't care. Throw it away..."
"Well Sir, it reminds me of something. It smells like...Jello..."
"Excuse me?"
"Well, smell for yourself Sir."
"I didn't know that Jello smelled."
"It does Sir. It's a very unique smell. Kind of artificial, but mixed with the respective flavor..."
"So this is Jello?"
"I'm just saying it smells like it."
"Why don't you taste it?"
"I don't think so!"
"C'mon Carter...
"No, Sir!"
"Alright. I'll do it. Give it to me."
Her next move surprised him, to say the least.
Apparently not even considering the fact that she could have given him the substance into his *hand*, she felt her way along his jaw again until she reached his mouth. He opened up without saying a word.
With her left hand still touching his face, she moved her right hand with the wobbling substance and dropped it into his waiting mouth.
At least, that's what she'd intended to do. But when she was about to withdraw her hand, he closed his mouth and in the process trapped the tips of her fingers in it.
God!
Normally, she would have just removed them, blushed a little, smiled a little embarrassed at him and he'd said 'Sorry' in this way of his which screamed that he was anything but.
But right there, alone with him ... in the dark ... , she didn't do that.
And neither did he.
Instead he moved his tongue and oh so accidentally brushed it along her fingertips.
This time she couldn't withhold the sigh.
And neither could he.
They didn't know how long they stood this way, but it sure felt like an eternity until Jack slowly released her fingers. When she didn't say anything he said the only thing that came to mind.
"Blueberry."
Man, clearing his throat three times now wouldn't get the huskiness out of his voice.
Her only response was a silent gulp.
He was just about to say something really profound when-
"Sam? Jack? What are you do- ... Wow! What is this?"
Daniel. Shit! He was so going to strangle this guy the next time they were alone.
"It looks beautiful. What is this?... Guys?"
Turning towards Daniel, Jack all but hold back a growl when he said: "Jello."
"Jello?"
"Yeah, you know the wobbling stuff you can eat and which colors your tongue."
"Are you serious? So you mean, this red formation is strawberry and the green is woodruff, the yellow lemon and the blue is-"
"Blueberry."
If Daniel wondered why Sam's voice sounded *really* hoarse, he didn't show it.
"Alright. But why-"
"You know what, Danny? I don't care why. It looks pretty, don't you think? Why not just leave it here, pretty and all, and go home."
"But Jack-"
"Don't Jack me. We're going!"
Daniel glared at him but then sighed defeated and took one last glance toward the strange formations before heading back towards the tunnel leading to the Stargate.
Plunged into darkness again, Jack fumbled for his flashlight. Switching it on, he pointed it in Sam's direction. She just stared at him...and then his flashlight.
Oops. He must have forgotten that he had one too.
At a loss with words, he just shrugged and gave her a tentative smile. She smiled back, equally tentative and then did something - what she later claimed to have happened *totally* subconsciously - really weird.
She licked her fingertips.
Staring at her - more accurately at her mouth and what it was doing - he gulped.
God, never in his life would he ever look at a bowl of blue Jello in the same way again.
If he didn't move now, he would never gonna be able to leave this cave with the dignity of a man with the rank of Colonel. So he moved.
And in the process didn't see Sam's face. Still licking her fingers - subconsciously his ass - she grinned. Full-fledged.
Yep. She was definitely going to recommend to the guys in the commissary to add Jello - blue Jello - to their card.
thE enD
Story Notes: This came to me yesterday while eating a bowl of Jello (green, if anyone's interested), so go figure. It's probably a bit silly but it was fun writing it.
This is for all you guys and gals on the SJ list. Have fun!
This is for all you guys and gals on the SJ list. Have fun!
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 ]