"Carter, let go." He hated to give that order, especially when their peril was so… pointless. It wasn't like they had fallen under enemy fire, or undertaken a dangerous mission to rid the world of the goa'uld menace forever. They were just scouting out possible sources of Naquadah, for cryin' out loud. He had always said he didn't want to die for nothing, light years from home. But at this point, he might not have much choice, and he refused to take Sam Carter with him.
It had all started when they came to p2x-497. It was uninhabited, as far as they knew. SG-1 had been through a lot lately, so they had volunteered for this simple scouting mission instead of taking downtime. 'Shoulda taken the downtime,' the Colonel thought. They had split up as soon as they came through, looking for signs of civilization as well as deposits of Naquadah. They had planned to meet back at the Stargate in 5 hours. On this planet, that would have been about dusk. Now, it had been about 3 hours. Which meant Teal'c and Jonas were probably a few hours in the opposite direction. Sam had radioed them as soon as he'd fallen, but even running, they would probably not be here before he fell.
They had hiked until they came to some rocky terrain that led up to a 200-foot drop over a riverbank. Near the edge of the cliff, Carter got some positive readings. She figured the top layers were just shale, but underneath there must be a few Naquadah layers. He had knelt down next to her when the rock beneath him suddenly gave way, causing him to slide precariously toward the edge of the cliff. He had caught himself with his left arm, but some more rock broke loose, and the weight of his pack on that arm had nearly pulled it out of its socket. It was useless now. Carter had slid down to where he was and braced herself, looping her left arm through his right vest sleeve. She had hold of some shrubs with her right hand, and was effectively holding him up with her left. But the loose layers of rock kept giving way, and she couldn't get enough footing to pull them both up.
To make matters worse, he had bounced a little as he slid down, and now his right side hurt like hell. That made it hard to use his good right arm because any movement brought waves of fresh pain. He knew his only choice was to make Carter let go and take his chances in the river below. Hence, the order he had just given.
_____________________________________________________________________
"Carter, let go," Colonel Jack O'Neill grunted as he winced with pain as the straps of his webbed vest bit into the flesh beneath his arms. The pressure only served to add to the excruciating pain in his shoulder.
"No, sir" she grunted in return as she carefully attempted to get a better grip on the stunted bush she clung to with her right hand. Doing so put even more strain on her left arm and shoulder. Sam gritted her teeth and pushed the pain aside.
"Let go, Major!" O'Neill rasped. The dark spots dancing across his vision and the ringing in his ears told him he would soon lose the battle to remain conscious. His shoulder felt like it was on fire leaving Jack no doubt that it had been dislocated, and the trouble he was having drawing breath told him several of his ribs were cracked. The pain wouldn't be this bad if they were broken.
"Teal'c and Jonas will be here soon, sir" Sam told her commanding officer forcing the words out between her tightly clenched teeth.
"Not soon enough," Jack countered as more rocks rained down on his head from above as the lose shale that composed the cliff continued to break apart under their combined weight. "You can't hold me, Carter, and this ledge won't hold both our weight. Let go."
"No!" she yelled. "I won't."
O'Neill started to tell her once again to let him go, but was stopped as pain exploded through him radiating from his injured side. As the pain receded he realized Carter's left leg was now hanging beside him. It was her leg swinging down off the ledge and banging into his side that had caused the sudden explosion of pain. He tipped his head back to assess their worsening situation. He could see the bush she had her right arm wrapped around. Her right leg scrabbled for purchase at the edge of the small ledge on which they'd fallen. Her upper body hung half off the ledge as she held on to his dangling body. Carter's left hand, tangled in the material of his vest, was all that kept him from plunging into the river below them. He doubted he could survive a fall into the river in his current condition, but he would not let her die with him. "Carter, let go," he told her then added, "That's an order, Major."
For a moment Sam didn't respond as she considered the options. She knew as well as O'Neill that the force of the fall on his wounded ribs and shoulder would make him black out as he hit the water. The weight of his gear would then pull him under, and he'd drown. The colonel was also correct about the ledge. With her face pressed to the rocks as it was, she could clearly see the cracks that were rapidly forming. He was also right about Teal'c and Jonas. Their two teammates could arrive at any second or it could take them much longer. Having considered the options and knowing O'Neill was about to repeat his order, Sam made her decision. Being the woman and officer she was, Major Samantha Carter chose to interpret the colonel's orders in a way he perhaps should have anticipated. She let go of the bush.
She tried to kick off from the ledge as she let go, to keep them from bouncing against the rocks on the way down.
“Carter! What are you—“ The Colonel’s yell was cut off as the speed of their descent increased. His mind began to fade from the unbearable pain. Only the fear that Carter was going to get them BOTH killed kept him from passing out as they plummeted 150 feet into the river.
Sam’s thoughts moved a mile a minute as she prepared for their arrival in the rapidly moving water. As soon as she let go of the bush, she pulled her right arm out of her pack. Her left arm was threaded through the Colonel’s vest, so she would have to cut that strap as soon as possible to keep it from pulling them under when they hit the rapids. Thankfully, her Gerber knife was on her right hip. Now, if only she—splash! They had hit the water, backsides first, by the grace of God. Their gear broke the fall and kept the force of the impact with the water from giving them both concussions. Sam fought her way to the surface, trying to get a breath.
In the meantime, she had pulled out her knife just in time. Feeling her way under the water, she reached over to cut the left side of the pack… there! She got it, and felt a short wave of remorse as the pack disappeared into the white river. They could use those supplies, if they ever got out of this maelstrom. But it was easier to fight her way up for breath now. If only she could cut the Colonel’s pack away. It was too risky. She might get the vest that she was using to hold onto him, or worse yet, cut him.
No, she had to try and get them both to safety without losing the pack. The pain in her left arm matched the pain in her lungs as she fought for control in the swirling water. Whoosh! She sucked in a huge breath as she finally broke the surface. She vaguely realized all these events had taken less than a minute as she tried to turn her head and check on Colonel O’Neill. Barely a glance was all she could afford, and it appeared he was unconscious. ‘The question is, is he breathing?’, she thought as she turned and began to kick her way toward the shore. The current swept them rapidly downstream despite her efforts, and it was all she could do to continue holding onto him. ’Please, God, a branch or something to hold on to would be good here.’
Sam had her prayer answered in spades a few hundred yards downstream. She was sucked under the water for a moment, and then, suddenly, she came to the surface in calm water. It was a small pool of water surrounded by boulders, which cut it off from the rapids and created a pocket. One she could almost stand up in! The best part, she noticed, was that one side of the pool was bordered, not by rocks, but the shoreline!
Struggling with exertion, her muscles screaming from head to toe, Sam pulled herself and the Colonel to shore. As soon as they had reached solid ground, she turned to the Colonel to assess his condition. He was cold, and pale, but he had a heartbeat. ‘Thank God’, she breathed, and felt for breath. ‘Shallow to nonexistent’, she thought, and opened his airway to give him a breath. She had just lowered her lips to his when a sputtering cough interrupted her.
“Carter, what are you doing?”
The approaching dusk hid her furious blush. “Rescue breath, sir. Thank God you’re ok. I didn’t know how much water you swallowed in the river. It’s amazing we’re both alive, and that you are even conscious.”
“Gee thanks, Carter. What happened, anyway? And why did you defy my order? I told you to let me go.”
“No sir, you told me to let go. I did follow your order.” A small grin appeared as she said, “You didn’t specify which hand to let go.”
There it was; That smile that always disarmed him. Despite her twisting his intended meaning, he was glad to be alive, and he admired her strength, her willingness to risk her life rather than leave him behind. She was talking. “…and I lost my pack in the water. I’m afraid all we have for supplies is what is still in yours. My radio was lost with the pack. Yours is right here.” She pulled it off his vest and tested it. “Teal’c, Jonas, come in.”
Static. “It must be waterlogged. We were in the water for several minutes. I figure we were swept downriver a mile or two, at least. There’s no way Teal’c and Jonas can find us in the dark. We’ll have to set up camp and hope the radio dries out by morning. How are your injuries?”
“I have a few cracked ribs, and I think my shoulder’s been dislocated. Nothing life threatening. Just a little hard to breathe.”
“Are you sure, sir? The last time you broke ribs—“
“I said cracked, Major, there’s a difference. No, I don’t think I punctured a lung this time. Besides”, he smiled, “I don’t think I want you bandaging me.”
She laughed as she recalled the splint she’d placed in the Antarctic a few years back. “Hey, I thought that was a pretty good first field dressing, besides, I’ve done quite a few since then.” She was glad they could joke. It took their minds off being cold, tired, and in pain. She stood up.
“Well, let’s see if we can’t get comfortable.” Sam began pulling off the Colonel’s pack and emptying it of equipment. Everything was pretty wet, but there were waterproof matches. She could build a fire and lay out the thermal blanket to dry. The MREs, of course, were in waterproof packs. “Looks like we have chicken, or… chicken, for dinner, sir.”
“Chicken, I think. Carter, can you get us set up? I think I need some rest if I’m gonna trek back up the riverbank in the morning. Wake me when you’re ready to eat.”
“Sure, sir. I’ll be right back. I need to find some firewood.”
Jack awakened what seemed like hours later. Carter was sitting by a warm fire, just finishing her MRE. “Sorry. You looked like you needed sleep worse than food. I can open yours if you’re ready.”
“I got it. Thanks.” Jack took the MRE from the Major. “How long did I sleep?”
“About an hour. I’ve been drying out our supplies and scouting the area. I can’t tell in the dark, but it looks like the terrain leading back to the gate is pretty rough. If we can get hold of Teal’c and Jonas, we should probably get them to send for help. Also, you should let me bind up your ribs.”
The Colonel winced. “We’ll see about that,” he said wryly. “How about the radio?”
“I think I can get it working once it dries out, sir. I took the faceplate off and set it near the fire. I planned to put it back together and try to reach them before I go to sleep. I was going to take the first watch, since you’re injured. You need the sleep more than me.” Sam handed him the thermal blanket. “Here you go. It’s pretty dry.”
Jack suddenly wished his ribs weren’t cracked, so he could take full advantage of the solitude and the blanket. ‘Then again’, he thought, ‘if I hadn’t fallen, we wouldn’t even be here. Mixed blessing, I guess.’ He spoke. “Actually I’m not tired right now. I was thinking we could just enjoy the fire. Never have time for a good roaring fire, you know. All that saving the world stuff…”
Sam smiled in the dark. “All right, sir. I’d enjoy that.” This was a bit too close for comfort. Sam preferred to keep her distance when it came to the Colonel. She didn’t trust herself, any other way. She realized it had hurt their friendship, pulling away like that. After all their admissions of deeper feelings, it was natural to want to do something about them. They both knew their work was too important to let that happen, but sometimes Sam felt like the bad guy. She had seen the look in the Colonel’s eyes, the one that said he would give in if she did. That was always hard to fight. So she stayed away. She kept it strictly professional, and sometimes late at night she would lie awake and cry from the loneliness.
Perhaps it was a pang of that loneliness that made her get up and move around the fire to sit next to the Colonel. Something unspoken passed between them, and he put his arm around her, throwing the blanket over their legs.
“Carter?”
“Sir?”
“We haven’t really seen any unfriendlies on this planet.”
“No sir.”
“I don’t really think we need to take watches. I’m a light sleeper anyway (he was lying…). We can just share the blanket.”
“Yes, sir.” Sam’s heart rate increased. ‘Just two comrades trying to stay warm’, she told herself.
“Oh, and Carter?”
“Yes sir?”
“You can fix the radio in the morning.” Really high heart rate now.
“Yes sir.”
“Carter?”
“Sir?”
“Stop calling me sir. If we’re gonna enjoy this fire together, you can call me by my name. It’s Jack, remember? You used it once or twice.”
“I remember. But sir…”
“Carter, that’s an order.”
“Jack. I was just going to say, my name is Sam. You stopped using it a long time ago.”
“Had to.”
“Why?”
“Because it would have been obvious.” If she had noticed, had everyone else? For cryin’ out loud.
“Oh, I see.” Sam definitely understood. Whew, that fire sure was warm.
Suddenly they both turned to face each other at the same time. Their faces were inches apart.
“Hi.” It was all he could think of to say. Anything else that came to mind would just get him into trouble…
Sam smiled. “Hi. Shouldn’t we try to get some sleep?” She tried to mean what she said, but she was vaguely aware that neither of them had moved from their position. There went that heart rate again.
Suddenly, his lips were on hers. Something in the back of her mind screamed for her to pull away, but none of the rest of her body was listening. She returned his kiss, long and deep, until they both knew they were about to cross a line. They pulled back. This time, Jack spoke first. “Is this a line we want to cross?”
“Honestly, yes. But would it be the best thing for us? Probably not. But I have to admit, I’m really tired of restraint.”
“That makes two of us. So, what now?” Jack didn’t like their options. Then again, he never had. In the long run, the last six years were a heck of a lot better than the sorry state he was in when the Air Force reactivated him. At least the damn Goa’uld had allowed him to find a reason to live. Because of them, he’d met his team—his family. Because of them, he’d met her. Still, that didn’t mean he had to like it.
Sam had to be crazy for what she was thinking. It must have been the situation. The brush with death, the exhaustion, the warm campfire… “S…Jack, have you ever thought about whether it would work? I mean, if we got permission, or if we… ehem… kept it a secret, do you think we could still work together?”
“Hey, it seemed to work in all those other realities.”
Sam laughed. “Yeah, I guess it did. Do you know how jealous I was when you kissed that other Sam?”
“Oh really? Well, she wasn’t you, ya know. She asked me that—if I was him. I said no. But what I really meant was she wasn’t you.”
“So, does that mean…”
“If it’d been you, it would have been different. In fact it was different. I never told you what happened during the time loop, did I?”
“Oh no, what did you do?”
“Nothing. Just gave Hammond my resignation. And then I laid one on you that you would never have forgotten, if we hadn’t looped.” His grin was insufferable.
“Somehow I had a feeling you’d done something like that. That day at breakfast, you looked like the proverbial cat that ate the canary.”
“No, I just nibbled a little bit.” That grin again.
“Well, since I don’t remember it, maybe you could reenact it for me.”
“I’d love to… Sam.”
They had fallen asleep in each other’s arms. After kissing like two teenagers on a couch, they had decided they didn’t want to make any mistakes they might regret. So they talked a while longer and snuggled down by the fire. When they awoke, it was just after dawn, and the fire had dwindled. Sam stretched and started to get up, but Jack stopped her with a good morning kiss. “It’s back to reality. I just wanted to put it off a few more minutes.”
“I know. So what do we do next?”
“I asked you that last night, remember? Do you think we ought to ask Hammond to cut us some slack?”
“Seems like he already cuts us plenty of slack,” Sam laughed, “but I know what you mean. I don’t really want to go back to the way we were. I also don’t want to change the dynamic—what if we endanger ourselves or the team?”
“I don’t think we will. We’ve been working together a long time, and we always get everybody out alive. I loved you yesterday and it didn’t affect my decisions. I don’t see why it would today. Distract me, yes, but cloud my judgement, naah.”
“What did you say?”
“I said you distract me—“.
“No, I mean before that, about yesterday.”
“Oh. I love you?”
“Do you?”
“Do I what?”
Sam groaned. “I love you, Jack. Were you trying to tell me you love me?”
Jack realized he was a bit slow this morning. “Yeah, I guess I was. What about it?”
Sam had snapped the faceplate back on the radio. “Are you willing to leave all this in the woods? I don’t think you are. I think we should talk to General Hammond.”
“Well, right now we gotta talk to Jonas and Teal’c. Lets talk about Hammond when we got home, huh? Say, over dinner?”
“Deal.” She turned the radio on. “Teal’c, Jonas come in.”
“MajorCarter. We have been trying to contact you for some time. Are you well? Is ColonelO’Neill with you?”
“Yes, Teal’c, we’re fine. The Colonel is injured. Our radio got wet so we set up camp for the night. It will probably take us some time to get to you. What’s your position?”
“We returned to the gate when we couldn’t reach you. We had planned to begin searching for you this morning.”
Sam handed Jack the radio. “Negative Teal’c. Report back to Hammond. Let him know we are gonna be slow getting back. I cracked a few ribs, so it will take a while for me to hike out. See if they can send an ATV through. Maybe we can barrel our way over this hillside. In the meantime, we can track your RDF signal as we hike back. O’Neill out.”
Sam helped him to his feet and said, “I’ll shoulder your pack. Here’s an energy bar. Not much of a breakfast, sorry.”
“Major, if you are gonna make me breakfast, it had better be in bed. Preferably a nice, warm, real one. We’ll call this a snack.”
“OK, sir. Shall we get going?” Sam’s heart felt lighter, despite all the decisions weighing on them when they returned home. It had been a good night, indeed.
Sam Carter and Jack O’Neill clasped hands as they began to navigate the rough terrain back to the Stargate, and then home.
Story Notes: EMAIL: mjscfan@yahoo.com
CATEGORY: Sam and Jack
SPOILERS: tiny one for solitudes
SEASON: six
ARCHIVE: S/J, and anywhere else you'd like…
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is a response to the challenge posted on Friday. I left the orphan piece alone (No editing, etc) and placed it between black lines. The rest is mine. Enjoy!
CATEGORY: Sam and Jack
SPOILERS: tiny one for solitudes
SEASON: six
ARCHIVE: S/J, and anywhere else you'd like…
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is a response to the challenge posted on Friday. I left the orphan piece alone (No editing, etc) and placed it between black lines. The rest is mine. Enjoy!
End Notes: Finis~
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Feedback, please!!!!!
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 ]