Reality
Sequel to “Back to Reality”
Jack O’Neill watched as his team entered the wormhole headed back to the SGC. It had been an uneventful mission, thankfully. Jack was tired of ‘eventful’ missions. Well, except that one a month ago. He could live with that eventful mission!
A wild animal had attacked him, and his team, especially Sam, had taken care of him. He watched his gorgeous 2IC disappear through the wormhole as memories of their last night on that planet drifted through his mind. She had seduced him. Not that it took much to accomplish her mission. They had slept in the same bed for three days when it was finally too much for both of them. It was a night outside of time. They hadn’t discussed it since they got back but their relationship was less strained than it had been in a long time.
Jack entered the wormhole after Sam. The feel of the wormhole around him diverted his thoughts. He stepped onto the ramp in the SGC to see General Hammond waiting for them.
“Welcome back, Colonel. Debriefing in one hour.”
“Thank you, sir! It will be a short debriefing. We came, we saw, we left. That about sums it up.”
General Hammond smiled at his irreverence. He had noticed a marked change in Jack in the last month. He seemed happier than he had been in a long time. He knew it had something to do with the mission where Jack was injured and they met Arunum’s people.
“Colonel, if you don’t stop toying with my instruments, I will have you restrained!”
Sam silently laughed on the other side of the curtain. Janet’s tone was definitely irritated. Sam could imagine Jack over there playing with the hated penlight and anything else that Janet left lying around. She laughed aloud when she heard Jack’s vocal protests about the injection he was about to get.
“Why do you insist on giving me so many shots? I feel like I’m a pincushion!”
Janet’s voice was molasses sweet when she answered him. “Why do you insist on aggravating someone that has the right to give you so many shots?”
Jack’s inflection went up. “I knew it! It’s revenge!”
Sam was bowed over laughing as Janet came through the curtain with a huge grin on her face.
“I haven’t touched a thing,” Sam managed to gasp out between breaths.
Janet’s voice was low as she whispered, “I know. And you don’t have to tell him that you got a shot as well. I want him to think that it just him.”
“I won’t!” Sam giggled. “Just make sure you let Daniel and Teal’c in on it!”
“I can hear you giggling, Major! Against the rules!”
“Yes, sir, Colonel,” Sam said loudly as she and Janet both giggled harder.
They heard Jack make a disgusted sound as he left the infirmary.
“He is in such a good mood these days. I wonder why,” Janet’s voice was slightly accusing.
“I don’t know,” Sam said innocently.
“He’s actually been in a good mood for about a month now.”
“He has, hasn’t he,” Sam replied with a slight grin.
“I would say that he’s been in a good mood since you two got back from the mission on that arctic world.”
“Really?” Sam said with exaggeration. “I hadn’t really noticed.”
“You are holding back on me, girl. I know you are! You’d better watch out or I’ll start giving you extra shots!”
“Needles don’t bother me,” Sam laughed.
As Jack said, the debriefing was quick. They had been searching for naquadah or natives and found neither. They wrapped up quickly and went to file their reports. Sam had just finished hers when Jack appeared in her lab. He was already in civvies, khaki pants and a long sleeved black shirt with the sleeves pushed up to the elbow.
“Wha’cha doin’?”
“Just finishing this report,” she said as she clicked on the print icon to send it to the printer. “What are you doing?”
“Bugging you,” he said as he picked up one of her doohickeys to play with. “Daniel and Teal’c suggested we go get some dinner in town. You wanna go?”
“Sure, give me time to get changed.”
“No problem. I told them we’d meet them at that new Chinese food restaurant in about an hour.”
“You knew I’d say yes?”
“No, but if you said no, then I would meet them in about an hour. It would give me time to bug you some more.”
Sam smiled her mega-watt smile at him. “Ten minutes. I’ll meet you in your office. You shouldn’t be left here unsupervised.” She removed the instrument he’d been playing with from his hands and replaced it on the desk.
“I’m hurt! You don’t trust me with your doohickeys!”
Sam bit her lip to keep from responding the way she really wanted to. Jack saw her look and laughed. He knew exactly which doohickeys she was thinking about!
“Go, I’ll meet you in ten minutes.” She sighed as he left her lab. They were much more comfortable around each other now. The fact that they had actually talked about the situation between them seemed to clear the air. As Sam headed for the women’s locker room, a thought struck her. Janet had noticed the difference and had chalked it up to the events on Arunum’s world. Would anyone else?
For Janet to guess the truth would be one thing, but if General Hammond caught wind of it, that could be trouble. She wondered if she should say something to Jack. She really didn’t want to do anything that would upset their newfound rapport but it could lead to problems. She sighed as she opened her locker to change. Well, she’d think of something.
Sam followed Jack’s truck to the restaurant. Jack had been waiting outside the women’s locker room when she came out. That wasn’t good. She was going to have to say something. He was spending a lot more time in her lab also. They weren’t doing anything but any hint of what happened on the planet could be trouble.
Sam’s memories of that night were as fresh as they had been the morning after. She had loved the feel of his hands and body on her. He was every bit the attentive lover she had imagined him to be in countless fantasies. Reality was even better than the fantasy! A shiver ran through her body at the memory.
‘Okay, Sam. Stop thinking about that now!’ she cautioned herself. She tried to limit thoughts of that night to when she was alone. She could feel the flush on her face rising just thinking about it.
It didn’t help that she and Jack still shared a tent off world. They had agreed that it would look strange if they changed the status quo. It might be a good idea though, since they usually woke up spooned against each other in their sleeping bags. Sam smirked at the memory of the first time it had happened. Jack had his face buried in her neck and his body pressed so close to hers that she could feel his ‘sidearm’ pressed against her butt. They had both been a little shocked that they had ended up that way but it continued to happen more times than not. It wasn’t as if his closeness had no effect on her!
For the most part, this new aspect of their relationship had not affected anything except their relative sleeping arrangements. The missions went smoothly and they were able to continue working together efficiently. There had been a couple of missions that were a little tense when they had run across Jaffa but neither of them reacted any differently toward each other than before.
Sam’s thoughts ended as she pulled up in the parking lot next to Jack’s truck. She quickly got out of her car and met him at his truck.
“I don’t see Daniel’s car? Are we early?” Sam asked.
“Maybe. I don’t think so.”
“Maybe he got tied up with something.”
“Well, let’s go on in and get a table. I’m sure they will be here soon,” Jack said as he led the way in.
They both looked around for Daniel and Teal’c but no sign of them. They told the waiter they needed a table for five, just in case Janet showed up. It seemed that Janet showed up more often where Daniel was involved. They had just sat down and ordered drinks when Jack’s phone rang.
“O’Neill.” He paused for the caller to speak. “Do we need to come back?” Again, a pause. “Okay, you want us to bring you something?” He waited for the response. “Okay, talk to you later.” He was smiling and shaking his head when he hung up.
“What’s wrong?”
“That was Daniel. SG12 just came back with some new rocks that Daniel think has a significant meaning to that city we were talking about.”
Sam nodded her understanding. He was talking about the
“He wants to examine them and he wants Teal’c’s help. He said they would be skipping dinner.”
Sam squirmed a little in her chair. “Maybe we should just go then. I wouldn’t want anyone to think anything if we are seen.”
“What’s to think? Daniel and Teal’c cancelled at the last minute. I mean, we are sitting at a table for five in the middle of the room. Doesn’t look like a secret rendezvous to me.”
“True, it’s just that Janet has been questioning me lately about our change in…moods. She seems to think that something happened on that mission a month ago.”
“Well, something did happen. I got jumped by a really big cat.” His voice lowered to a whisper. “And a really beautiful woman.”
Sam blushed slightly. “Shush… You are so bad.” Her eyes darted around the room to see if anyone was there that might recognize them.
“Relax, Sam. Let’s just have dinner like two friends. We were supposed to meet the guys here and they cancelled. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Sam nodded and tried to relax.
Sam waved at Jack as she pulled out of the parking spot. She had eventually relaxed and they had a wonderful dinner. Of course, Jack had kept her laughing through the whole meal. He was incorrigible. However, that was one of the things that she loved about him. She sighed heavily as she thought about how nice it would have been for him to go home with her after dinner. This platonic agreement until sometime in the future was going to be difficult.
She shook her head as she saw in her rearview mirror his headlights pull out of the parking lot and turn in the other direction.
The wormhole snapped shut behind them. Another tree covered planet but this one had promise of some old naquadah mines on it. Sam led the way with a nod from Jack. The readings from the UAV indicated that the mines were about 20 kilometers north of the gate. There was no evidence of any recent traffic on the path. The vegetation was high and hard to pass through. The temperature was moderate but the M.A.L.P they sent yesterday had indicated low temperatures at night. They would have to stay over at least two nights to accomplish the survey.
Jack called a rest stop about third of the way to the mines. Sam was relieved. She hadn’t slept well the night before and pressing through the high grass and weeds was tiring. Jack came over and sat on the ground near her as she rested on a convenient tree stump.
“What’s up, Carter? You look a little beat.”
“Nothing, sir. I just didn’t sleep well last night. Add the heavy foliage we’re tramping through and I’m just a little tired.”
“Why couldn’t you sleep?”
She turned her head to smile at him so that Teal’c and Daniel couldn’t see her face. “I just kept having interesting dreams that kept waking me up.” The smile let him know exactly what kind of interesting dreams they were.
“Okay, I think I’ll go check on Teal’c and Daniel before I say something I shouldn’t!” He got up and wandered over to the guys.
Sam smirked as she watched him go. He was easily flustered when she made comments or looks like that. She enjoyed watching him squirm. After years of controlling their reactions to each other, she enjoyed knowing that she affected him as much as he affected her.
Sam sat quietly enjoying the cool air and watching the trees around them. She knew that Jack’s irritation at always finding trees was a joke. He loved this kind of surroundings as much as she did. Time seemed to pass too quickly before Jack was urging them on.
It was nearly dark when they finally reached their objective. They quickly set up camp and started a small fire. The readings from the M.A.L.P had indicated that the temperature had dropped sharply the night before. They made sure they had their tents and gear secure before the sun went down. They sat around the fire laughing and talking while they ate but it quickly became too cold to enjoy it any longer.
Teal’c took first watch. Jack would be on second, Sam, third and Daniel last. It was the usual order so there were no orders given. Jack, Sam and Daniel just got up, said good night to Teal’c, and retired to their respective tents.
Jack and Sam faced away from each other as they stripped down to their fatigue pants and t-shirts. They quickly slipped into their sleeping bags and said goodnight. Sam shivered slightly in her sleeping bag waiting for it to warm up. She pulled the edge of the material up over her nose. The temperature had taken a serious drop. She rolled over on her side and curled up to make the most of her body heat.
Jack saw that she had turned her back to him and curled up in a little ball. She liked to sleep like that anyway but it was probably warmer. He was tempted to just roll over next to her. He would in his sleep eventually. He seemed to do it more often these days. Not that he minded waking up with his face buried in her neck, but it could get a little uncomfortable. Being so close to her reminded his body of what it had been like making love to her. That definitely got uncomfortable. Especially if Sam awoke before him and found him that way.
She had been right though. On Arunum’s planet, she said that it would be easier to handle something happening to him if she had at least one night to remember. It seemed easier for him somehow. Also, if they managed to survive their chosen occupation until he retired, they had that one night to remind them of what they were waiting for.
“Oh, the hell with it,” he mumbled as he rolled over behind her. His long legs curled up against hers, his stomach lined her back with warmth. “We’re just going to end up like this anyway!”
Sam giggled as she pushed up against his warmth. “Probably,” she mumbled, her voice muffled by her sleeping bag. “It will be warmer at least. This planet is damned cold!”
He managed to find her hair although her neck was buried in her sleeping bag. He inhaled the fragrance of her hair and lightly pressed his lips against her head, not really a kiss but close enough for now. “Good night,” he whispered.
This was the third tunnel that they had explored. The first two didn’t have anything except trace readings of naquadah indicating played out deposits. Daniel and Teal’c once again would stand guard outside while Jack and Sam investigated the readings. They wanted to make sure that someone was outside of the mines in case something happened. Some of these old mines were not shorn up well and the possibility of cave-ins was always a concern.
Jack and Sam both donned their helmets as a precaution against falling rocks. They used miners’ lights on the helmets in addition to flashlights. It was very dark once they had gotten away from the entrance.
Jack’s voice was almost a whisper to prevent his voice from carrying back to the others. “So, Sam, tell me about those dreams you were having the other night.”
Sam laughed quietly. “I think you can guess the subject matter.”
“Yeah, I probably could but it would be fun to hear anyway.”
Sam knew that he couldn’t see her face from the glare of her miners light in his eyes. He couldn’t see the amusement or the love. “You will just have to wait. These readings are getting stronger.”
“Anything interesting?” The tone of his voice went back to all business.
“Yeah, it looks like there is still a large deposit left here. Although that wouldn’t make sense. Why would the Goa’uld leave here if the mine was still viable?”
“Watch your step. Every time we think we’ve found something we need, we end up with a problem to go along with it.”
Sam nodded as she continued to monitor her readings. “We should probably set up some seismic monitors before we let our people in here. It appears to have quite a few cave-ins down here. It might be that there was too much seismic activity to make mining feasible.”
Jack looked up at the ceiling of the cave uneasily. “Seismic activity, huh?” He wasn’t comfortable in confined places. Chalk it up to spending time in an Iraqi prison cell that was not much more than a box.
“What’s the matter? Claustrophobic?”
“Kinda, not really…” His tone indicated that he didn’t want to discuss it, especially not at the moment, when the cave had narrowed to less than a yard because of a rock fall.
Sam nodded and continued through the narrow passage, skirting the edge of the fallen rocks. “It seems that there are a lot of these. I don’t think it is due to the construction of the mine. It looks like they tried to reinforce it. It has to be due to earthquakes.”
She stopped to look at the solid wall of rocks that lay between her and where her instruments indicated the large deposit was. “I want to place a directional marker here. Maybe our people can get to the naquadah from above and avoid these passageways.”
“Good idea.”
The passageway had narrowed even further for the last twenty feet and turning around with their packs was difficult. Finally, they had to just back out. Sam noticed Jack’s sigh of relief to be in a more open area. Well, relatively more open because although they could turn around now, it was still close quarters.
They could see the dim light that indicated the entrance of the mine when they heard the unmistakable rumble of the earthquake.
“Move, Carter! Now!” Jack yelled as he led the way toward the entrance. Sam was close behind him as the earth began to shake. Dust and rocks tumbled down from the ceiling bouncing off them. Jack could see the light clearly from the entrance as they ran toward it. He kept glancing over his shoulder to check on Sam’s progress. She was less than two feet behind him.
The entrance was there. Daniel and Teal’c were both motioning them to hurry.
“Get away from the entrance,” Jack yelled. He hit daylight and looked over his shoulder just in time to see part of the entrance begin to collapse, just in time to see the shock on Sam’s face as she went down in a hail of rocks.
“SAM!” Jack felt Teal’c’s strong hands restraining him. He knew that he couldn’t help her and would only get injured himself if he ran back into the cave.
As quickly as it had started, the ground shuddered to a stop. The entrance had not completely collapsed. Sam lay on her left side under some dirt and rocks but he was able to get to her. Teal’c and Daniel started to clear away the debris as Jack checked her life signs. His sigh of relief answered the question for the other two. She was alive.
“Get something to make a stretcher. We need to get her out of here but I don’t know if anything is broken.” He had seen her take a rather large rock to the head. If it hadn’t been for her helmet, she would probably be dead! It could have caused a neck or back injury. He wanted something to stabilize her before they moved her.
He was clearing some more of the debris off her legs when he heard her soft whisper.
“Jack…”
He moved quickly to her head. “Sam! How do you feel?”
“Like a ton of bricks fell on me. How do I look?”
Jack smiled softly. “As beautiful as ever,” he whispered.
“Injuries, Jack,” she smiled painfully.
“I can’t tell much. Cuts, scrapes and there will definitely be some bruises. Can you tell me where it hurts?”
“Yeah, but it would probably take less time to tell you where it doesn’t hurt.”
“Well, humor me. Can you move your neck?”
Sam moved it slightly at first and then with a little more confidence.
“Good. Any pain in your back?”
“Some, not too bad.” She moved her arms up and down, checking the joints. She could see torn places in her uniform and some blood mixed with dirt. “My legs feel okay but my left ankle hurts like a son of a bitch.”
Jack moved down to check her ankle. He couldn’t tell if anything was broken because of her boot. He didn’t really want to try to remove it before they got her out of here and settled. “Let’s leave the boot on for the moment. Until we get you out of here, it will act like a splint.”
“Okay and when will that be?”
“The guys are trying to find something to make a stretcher.”
“I think it’s okay for me to get up if you will help me stay off that ankle. I really don’t want us to be sitting here if there are aftershocks.”
Jack nodded. “Okay.” He carefully placed his arms under her to help her sit up. He pulled the quick releases on her pack and let it fall behind her.
She put a hand to her head. “Dizzy.”
“Okay, then let’s do it this way. Put your arms around my neck and hold on.”
She nodded and did as he asked. He slowly stood up, pulling her up with him until she was standing on her good foot.
“Okay?”
She nodded. He leaned down to capture her legs, lifted her into his arms, and carried her clear of the mine. There was a fallen log nearby. He set her carefully on it and waited for Teal’c and Daniel.
She leaned into his chest as his arm moved around her to support her. His other hand unsnapped the chinstrap on her helmet and pulled it off her head. He tried to wipe some of the dust and dirt off her face with his equally dirty fingers. He gave up until he could get something to use clean her up.
“You gave me quite a scare there.”
She chuckled softly. “Gave me one, too!”
His arm held her a little tighter. He heard Daniel and Teal’c returning but he kept his arm around her. It wouldn’t look wrong considering she was injured. He was just holding her up.
“Sam, how are you feeling?” Daniel’s concerned face appeared before her.
“Okay, I guess. I may have broken my ankle or at least sprained it pretty bad.”
“We have constructed something with which to carry you. It will be easier to return to the Stargate,” Teal’c’s voice rumbled from behind her.
She craned her neck around to see a makeshift stretcher. “Thanks, guys, but I don’t think we’ll make it to the gate tonight.”
Jack looked around at the lowering sun. The days on this planet weren’t that long and they had spent far more time in the mines than he realized. In his fear for Sam, he hadn’t noticed that it was getting dark. “True. Okay, Daniel, we will need extra water to get Carter’s wounds cleaned up so look for a water source. You go look while Teal’c and I get her to the campsite. Stay in radio contact.”
Teal’c and Jack carefully put Sam on the stretcher and moved her there. While Jack and Teal’c dealt with Sam. Daniel started a fire. He had found a stream a couple of hundred yards from their campsite. He took Sam and Jack’s helmets and pulled the helmet liners out, leaving the steel shell. He removed the camouflaged helmet covers, went to the stream, and washed the inside out carefully. He filled them both with water and placed them in the fire to heat. He dropped several water purification tablets in each and then went to check on Sam.
Teal’c and Jack moved Sam into the tent and laid her on a ground cover. They carefully removed her BDU’s so they could check her wounds better. Jack finally had to cut through the lacings and part of the boot to get it off her left foot.
Sam groaned as Jack finally managed to remove her boot. “What is this, payback for setting your leg?”
Jack just chuckled at the memory of her setting his broken leg in
“How’s it looking?” Daniel said as he poked his head in the tent. Teal’c and Jack had removed her BDU’s leaving her in her t-shirt and the long black shorts that she liked to wear under her field uniform. There were spots of blood and some tears on her remaining clothing.
“It’s not as bad as these two are making it out to be,” Sam groaned as she tried to find a comfortable position on her bruised back.
Jack just grimaced at her attempt at humor. “She’s got a lot of cuts and scrapes. They’re gonna have to be cleaned and treated.” He ran his hand through his short hair. He wasn’t about to let Daniel or Teal’c see anymore of Sam than they had too. He could do this alone. “Bring me the water when it finishes heating and both of your first aid kits. I don’t know how much of what I am going to need.”
Daniel nodded and glanced at Teal’c. They understood. They had figured out that something had happened between Sam and Jack while they were left behind at Arunum’s village. Jack wasn’t going to let anyone help him if it put Sam in an awkward position. They came back with the first aid kits and one of the steel pots of hot water and then returned to the fire to fix some food. Jack lit both of the camp lanterns and set a flashlight nearby.
“Okay, we need to get you out of the rest of these clothes. There is too much dirt in those wounds.”
Sam just nodded and tried to sit up. Her right arm and shoulder were starting to hurt more. Jack helped ease her up when he saw her grimace of pain.
“Easy…” he said as she tried to remove her t-shirt. “Let me.”
He worked the shirt up under her arms and carefully slipped it over her head. He then slid the shirt forward and down her arms so she didn’t have to lift them.
“Not exactly the way I pictured you undressing me the next time you had the chance,” she said through gritted teeth as he unhooked and removed her bra. She was grateful she wasn’t wearing a sports bra that would have had to come over her head.
“Me either,” he laughed softly. There was one fairly deep cut on the side of her left breast and several cuts and scrapes just below it. “Let’s get the rest of your clothes off so I can get you cleaned up before I treat the cuts.” They weren’t still bleeding but they were encrusted with very fine dust from the cave-in.
Sam nodded as he started to ease her shorts off her. She was glad she had them on when Teal’c was helping remove her BDU’s. She knew the guys just thought of them as shorts but there were really boxer briefs. They work well off world because of the close proximity to the guys. They never realized that she was literally walking around in her underwear.
Jack hissed at the sight of the bruising on her right thigh and hip. She must have been hit pretty hard for it to be so dark already.
“What’s wrong?” Sam asked.
“Major bruise on your hip. A lot of scrapes, scratches. Your BDU’s probably protected you from the smaller stuff. But whatever hit you here had to be pretty big.”
Her pale skin was covered in abrasions and rapidly darkening bruises. He tried not to think about the last time that he had touched her soft skin. Such different circumstances then. He started washing her carefully with a warm wet cloth. He took care of all the smaller stuff before he got to the one on her breast. He was afraid that when he washed the dirt away it would start bleeding again. And he was right. He used some saline wash in the first aid kit to irrigate it and then used butterfly bandages to close it. He applied antibiotic cream and a gauze bandage.
She didn’t speak while he was treating her. Her body ached in more ways than one. The pain from her injuries was joined by an ache in her heart for the man that was tenderly cleaning her wounds. They had agreed that they could wait but the pain on his face as he pulled her from the debris of the cave-in showed how difficult it was for him. His face was now neutral but he couldn’t hide the pain in his eyes.
Jack carefully pulled a sleeping bag over Sam and called to Daniel to bring more hot water. He smiled at her as she grimaced in pain. “Almost done, Sam. How’s the head?”
“Hurts but I’ll live,” she said with a small smile.
“Glad to hear that,” his smile disappeared as the image of her falling in the entrance of the cave flashed through his mind.
“I’m okay, Jack,” she whispered as her hand slipped out from under the sleeping bag and rested on his.
Jack just nodded as Daniel opened the tent flap to hand Jack the water he requested. Jack’s hand slipped out from under Sam’s to take it.
Daniel let the tent flap drop. He had noticed Sam’s hand on Jack’s. She was the one injured but it looked like she was comforting him. Daniel knew he was badly shaken up by watching Sam caught in that shower of rocks. He shook his head as he returned to the fire.
Jack dipped a clean cloth in the fresh water and pushed the sleeping bag off Sam. He went back over the cuts and scrapes before he helped her turn over so he could check her back. She had a few good-sized bruises along the right side of her lower back as well. He desperately hoped that there were no internal injuries. One of the worst bruises was close to her right kidney. Most of her back had been protected by her pack.
He cleaned and then treated each cut and scrape with antibiotic ointment. He spread out the sleeping bag near her and helped her slide over on to it. With her on her back again, he treated the rest of her wounds with the ointment.
He wrapped her ankle with a sports bandage. He used another bandage to attach two cold packs from the first aid kit to each side of her ankle. He surveyed his handiwork before covering her up with his sleeping bag.
“I should probably put something on, Jack. It’ll hurt worse in the morning trying to get dressed.”
He nodded and rummaged through her pack until he found a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. He pulled the sleeping bag off her and carefully helped her dress. He hadn’t said much during all of this and neither had she. Finally, she was dressed and covered. Jack checked her pupil dilation. She didn’t appear to have a concussion. No nausea, her eyes were dilating okay. He was relieved at that much. He just wished they could have gotten her back to the SGC tonight.
He rummaged through the first aid kit and pulled out a small packet of pills. He grabbed a canteen and helped her sit up enough to take the pills. He sat close to her side and looked at her. “Since I don’t think you have a concussion, you want something to eat.”
“Maybe a little something. Thanks,” she said. She wasn’t that hungry but it seemed to relieve him that she agreed to eat something. She watched as he left the tent.
“How is Major Carter?”
“Okay, I think, Teal’c. There was only one deep cut and a whole lot of scrapes and scratches. She has some amazing bruises already. She’s gonna hurt like hell all the way back to the gate tomorrow. I don’t want to give her anything more than an anti-inflammatory for the pain. I’m afraid to give her anything stronger in case she has internal injuries.”
Daniel nodded. Jack looked worn out. “Teal’c and I will split the watch so you can look after Sam. I think she’ll be more comfortable having you there.”
Jack looked at him sharply. He wasn’t sure how to interpret his comment but he decided he didn’t care. He hadn’t been looking forward to leaving Sam for his watch. He nodded. “Thanks, guys.”
“Thanks are not necessary, O’Neill. We, too, are concerned about Major Carter.”
Jack just nodded at Teal’c before returning to the tent with food for Sam and himself.
Sam was hurting badly. Jack was curled up next to her under the sleeping bag with his hand on her stomach. She didn’t want to wake him up. He looked exhausted by the time he finally agreed to lay down. She knew that she shouldn’t take anything more than an anti-inflammatory until Janet had a chance to check her out but she’d kill for a real pain pill right now.
She couldn’t help the soft moan that escaped her mouth. She felt Jack’s hand stir. She bit her lip to keep from making any more noise but it was too late.
“Sam?” His voice sounded groggy.
“I’m okay,” she said but she couldn’t keep the pain from her voice.
“I’ll get you some more pills,” he said sitting up quickly.
She just nodded slightly in the dark. The lantern blinded her briefly as he searched the first aid kit. He helped elevate her head enough to let her swallow the pills with a drink from the canteen.
“How’s the ankle?”
She managed a small laugh but there was no mirth in it. “It hurts. Just like every part of my body.”
Jack smoothed her hair from her eyes. He could see the unshed tears. “It’s okay to cry, Sam. I know you are in pain. It doesn’t diminish you in anyone’s eyes, especially mine.”
Sam bit her lower lip as a tear escaped one eye and trailed down her bruised cheek. Her throat was tight with the need to let the tears out. A ragged sob escaped as more tears flowed. At first, Jack’s fingers caught the tears but then it was his lips. She reached up to touch his face softly as he continued to kiss her tears away.
“I’m sorry. I should be handling this better.”
“It’s okay to cry, Sam,” he whispered. “You’re in pain. Sometimes crying helps relieve some of the pain.” His forehead rested on hers as his fingers wiped at her tears. It only took a slight twist of his head to find her lips. He kissed her lovingly. “It’s okay.”
Sam nodded and sniffed slightly. She felt his lips against hers again. This time she kissed him back. The distraction of his lips helped ease her misery but not for long. She hissed in pain when she moved her other arm to reach for his face.
Jack pulled back to look at her. “Maybe I should check you out again.”
“No, I’m just really sore. It would hurt too much to move.”
He nodded and reached for the lantern. “Try to get some more sleep. It’s almost dawn. We will leave as soon as it’s light.” He slid his body as close to hers as he could without touching her. His hand came to rest on her stomach. He felt hers grasp his in the dark. He quietly listened to her breathing ease into a fitful sleep. It was going to be a tough day for her.
Tough was an understatement. Sam was in agony by the time they reached the gate. Every step the men took on the rough overgrown path caused more pain in her battered body. She nearly cried with relief when the gate came into view.
Daniel ran ahead as Jack and Teal’c carried the stretcher. He quickly dialed the gate but it didn’t connect. He tried again with the same result.
“What’s wrong?” Jack asked tersely as they lowered Sam to the ground.
“I don’t know. It won’t connect.”
Jack glanced quickly at Sam. “Try it again!”
Daniel dialed once more and this time the gate opened. Jack closed his eyes and exhaled sharply with relief. “Send the code.”
Teal’c and Jack picked up the stretcher and started for the wormhole as Daniel dialed the code into his GDO.
The chaos they emerged into quickly explained the failure of the gate to connect. It must have been open for SG11 and SG3. They were spread out around the gate room. There looked to be numerous serious injuries. Evidently, they had been caught in a firefight. Janet looked up as another injury was carried through the gate.
“What happened?” she asked quickly.
“A cave-in. No broken bones that I can tell but her ankle may be fractured. Severe bruising, multiple scrapes, scratches, and one deep laceration on the side of her left breast. She doesn’t appear to have a concussion. I cleaned and treated all the wounds with antibiotic ointment. The only meds have been anti-inflammatory.”
Janet nodded approvingly at Jack’s quick rundown of the injuries. “Get her to the infirmary and have them x-ray the ankle and I want an MRI and CT scan to look for internal injuries.”
Jack and Teal’c carried the stretcher to a nearby gurney and set Sam gently down. She breathed a sigh of relief as the pressure of the stretcher gave way when they eased down the sides. She closed her eyes as they wheeled her quickly away from the sounds of chaos in the gate room.
The doctors had run them out. Jack didn’t want to leave until he was sure that Sam was okay but it was too busy in the infirmary for non-wounded bystanders. After a quick shower, he headed back up to the infirmary to see if he could find out anything. Janet was directing chaos and Sam wasn’t in there. He guessed that she was in x-ray or the radiology lab. He turned in that direction when General Hammond found him.
“Jack, what happened to Major Carter?”
“She was caught in a cave-in, sir. It appears that the Goa’uld abandoned the naquadah mines because of earthquakes. We had almost cleared the entrance when she twisted her ankle and went down. She caught a lot of debris and several large rocks.”
“What’s Doctor Frasier say about her condition?”
“It’s total chaos in there. I couldn’t ask. I didn’t see Carter, though, so she’s probably in x-ray or something. I don’t know if her ankle is broken or not but the rest of her injuries didn’t seem too bad, painful, but not life threatening. Unless, of course, there were internal injuries. She took a pretty hard blow near her kidney.”
“Thank you, sir,” Jack said as
Jack found Sam getting her ankle x-rayed. “How are you feeling?” he said from the doorway.
“Better, they gave me some real pain pills!” She smiled a tired smile at him. “No internal injuries, just really bad bruises.”
“And the ankle?”
“They don’t think it is broken but the x-ray will determine that.”
The lab tech nodded to Jack as he finished placing Sam’s ankle where he wanted it. “Colonel, you have to leave while we take the x-ray.”
Jack nodded. “I’ll be in the hall, Carter.”
Once outside, he let his relief show. Even if her ankle were broken, she would be all right. He had questioned the decision to stay off world last night when she woke up in so much pain. He knew that it would have been difficult to travel in the dark but if Sam had serious internal injuries, it would have been better to get her back to the SGC as quickly as possible.
He was still mulling over his decision when the door opened and an orderly wheeled Sam out. Jack smiled at Sam and then the orderly. “How long to know whether it’s broken or not?”
“Half an hour or so, sir. We’re kind of busy in here today.”
“I understand.” Jack walked along beside her as the orderly returned her to the infirmary. He managed to sneak into a corner near her gurney before Janet realized he was there. He just wanted the reassurance of being close to her. Her eyelids were heavy as she smiled at him.
“I’ll be okay, sir. You don’t have to wait.”
“As Teal’c would say ‘undomesticated equines…’”
Sam’s smile widened into a grin. “I am really tired. I think I will sleep for a while.”
“You do that, Sam,” his voice was barely a whisper in the noisy room. He leaned against the wall and watched her eyes close. It wasn’t long until her breathing was steady and deep with sleep. He simply watched her until he saw Janet headed his direction.
“I see you managed to get back in here,” she said, her tone amused and irritated at the same time as she pulled an x-ray film out of a large envelope.
“Well, I’m staying out of the way. What does it look like?”
Janet snapped the film into the lighted frame on the wall and examined it closely. “It looks like a very bad sprain. She’ll need to be off of it for at least two weeks, maybe longer.”
“Are you keeping her here?”
Janet snapped off the light and replaced the x-ray in its envelope. “I would like to but as you can see I have a full house tonight. I guess I could send her to my place and let Cassie keep and eye on her.”
“We’ll take care of her,” Jack said softly. “Cassie doesn’t need to be up all night worrying about Sam.”
“We, Colonel?”
“I’ll get Daniel and Teal’c to help. General Hammond gave us all time off until Sam’s better. That’s what a team is for.”
Janet sighed. “Yes, it is. You did a good job, you know. Taking care of her.”
“I was worried I didn’t do enough. I wanted to bring her back last night but I was afraid of hurting her more stumbling around in the dark.”
Janet’s face was soft with understanding. “It’s all right, Jack. You did the right thing. She’ll be okay once that ankle heals. Since there were no internal injuries, I gave her something stronger for the pain. Why don’t you go talk to the guys? She’ll be out of it for a while.”
Jack let his fingers trail down Sam’s arm as he nodded and headed out of the infirmary. Janet just shook her head at the situation between her two friends.
Jack lifted Sam up into the cab of his truck. She was still sleepy and well under the influence of her painkillers so she didn’t feel any pain. Daniel and Teal’c would follow in Daniel’s car. Both men had readily volunteered to help care for Sam. Of course, they all knew that there would be little for them to do other than act as chaperones. Jack would insist on doing everything for her but they knew he needed company to avoid the hint of impropriety. Janet would be by when she could get away to check on her. She had given Jack a list of instructions and a couple of bottles of pain meds as well as some analgesic cream that would help with the sore and bruised muscles.
Jack carefully strapped her in her seatbelt. His hands were careful of the bruises that he knew were beneath her sweat suit. Her hand squeezed the back of his hand as he finished with the belt. She smiled a droopy smile at him.
“Thanks,” she murmured. “I can’t believe that Janet agreed to let me go but I am glad.”
His hands turned over and squeezed her fingers. “What are you hungry for? Daniel and Teal’c are going to go shopping.”
“Not hungry…just sleepy…” she mumbled.
“Okay, you sleep then,” he smiled as he made sure she was clear of the door before he shut it. She was asleep before he could get in the driver’s seat.
Sam was still asleep when Jack pulled up in front of her house. He went to open the front door before he tried to wake her up. She was extremely groggy so he simply carried her into the house and straight to her bedroom.
“Jack,” she mumbled as he quickly pulled back the covers and helped her into bed.
“What is it, Sam?” he said as he pulled the covers up on her.
“I am so sleepy,” she mumbled.
“Well, you can go to sleep now. Just rest, babe. Just rest,” he whispered as he kissed her forehead.
Her hand reached up and her fingers slid down his cheek. “Love you,” she whispered as her hand fell back on the bed. She didn’t hear him say that he loved her too.
Jack sat on the edge of the bed and watched her sleep. The bruise on her left cheek had darkened even more. The scratch that ran through the bruise looked angry and red. His fingers softly brushed her hair off her face. Her helmet had protected her head and she had thrown up her arm over her face when she fell. The damage to her cheek was from where she had hit the ground. Likewise, the cut on the side of her breast was the result of falling on something rather than having something fall on her. Her right hip, thigh and lower part of her back were bruised from the rocks that fell on her once she was down.
He ran his fingers lightly through her hair. It felt right being here. He should be taking care of her. He just wished that he didn’t need the subterfuge of the ‘team’ taking care of her. They had agreed to wait until things were different at the SGC. Neither of them wanted to leave with things the way they were. The search for the
Nevertheless, being here, caring for her injuries…well, it felt right. He wanted to be here for her permanently. Of course, they hadn’t really discussed a future. They had just agreed to wait for each other. What their life together would be was never discussed, only implied. She stirred slightly in her sleep. He removed his hand from her hair, afraid he might wake her. He would have to be content with just watching her.
Her hand moved toward him in her sleep. He moved his hand so she could find it. Her fingers tightened on his. Maybe he wouldn’t have to just watch after all. She wanted contact with him even in her sleep. Her sleepy blue eyes looked up at him through droopy eyelids.
“Hey,” she whispered.
“Hey yourself,” he smiled. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Hold me?” she mumbled.
Jack smiled as he pulled his shirt over his head, leaving his t-shirt on. He kicked off his shoes before he carefully crawled in to the bed beside her. He let her find a spot that was comfortable against him before he cautiously laid an arm over her waist. Her side felt warm and soft against him. Her hand found his and her fingers intertwined through his. With his head propped up on his elbow, he watched her. This felt right. He didn’t think he could wait until the Goa’uld were no longer a threat. He didn’t want to wait.
“What are you thinking about?” her tired voice interrupted his thoughts. “You look so serious.”
He laughed lightly. “Just about how nice this feels. Being here with you.”
“Such a serious look for such a nice idea.”
He sighed. “I guess the serious part is the fact that I want to be here all the time. Not just when you need someone to help you when you’re injured.”
“I know. I like having you take care of me though. It…feels right. Just like when I was taking care of you.”
He smiled at her in the dim light of the room. “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.”
She moved her head closer to his. “Kiss me…” she whispered.
Jack knew they were crossing the line. They shouldn’t be here like this. But then, they shouldn’t be sleeping spooned against each other off world either. Jack nodded slightly as he leaned over to savor her lips. They were soft and pliable against his. For a long moment, they simply tasted each other’s lips, sampling the texture and feel. Jack felt her tongue slip along his lower lip. Before they realized it, the kiss had deepened into a long, slow exploration of each other’s mouth. Their tongues tangled gently in their investigation. Finally, the kiss softened back into savoring each other’s lips and stopped as Jack’s forehead came to rest on hers.
Sam sighed as the contact between them broke. “I want you…,” she whispered.
Jack smiled softly. “I want you, too, but you are in a bit of pain at the moment. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea. Besides, Daniel and Teal’c should be here soon.”
Sam tilted her head to lightly kiss his lips again. “I don’t think I can wait until it’s over,” she murmured in between light kisses.
“Until what’s over?” he said, though he was pretty sure he knew what she meant.
“The war with the Goa’uld.” Her lips returned to his.
He let the kiss deepen again, savoring the warmth of her body next to him, the taste and feel of her mouth. “Me either,” he whispered as she released his mouth. His hand rubbed her stomach soothingly.
Their activities and conversation were interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the door. “Guess the guys are here,” he whispered as he planted a tender kiss on her forehead before he rose from the bed.
Sam lay awake for a while thinking about the events of the last month. She didn’t want to wait anymore for a future that might never happen. When Jack was injured last month, it had made her realize how much she w