One moment to last a lifetime
One moment to last a lifetime
by Christy
TITLE: One moment to last a lifetime
AUTHOR: Christy
EMAIL: Chrizty02@hotmail.com
CATEGORY: Romance, Action/Adventure
PAIRING: Sam/Jack
SPOILERS: Divide and Conquer
SEASON / SEQUEL: 4
RATING: PG
CONTENT WARNINGS: none
SUMMARY: While visiting a strange planet, Jack is forced to marry Sam in order to save her from a fascist dictator.
STATUS: Complete
ARCHIVE: Heliopolis
DISCLAIMER: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. We have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the authors. Not to be archived without permission of the authors.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Now as I said earlier this is my first swing at this go easy. If you want to write me, I will take any compliments or criticism, just go easy on the criticism, my ego can only take so much. Oh, and one more thing, if you want to place my story on any other sight other then Heliopolis, please just let me know where, so I can go see it. I would like the ego boost :). Well other then that I hope you enjoy.
Jack stood in the rec room. It was just recently added, and there wasn't much in it yet, just a dartboard, and a pool table. Currently Jack was flinging darts at the board, and it was about 1:00 am. He couldn't sleep, and for the third night in a row he had a reoccurring nightmare where him and Carter were back in the Gou'ld ship, him on one side of the forcefield, her on the other. Each time he could see the horror and desperation in her eyes. But the dream then takes a hideous turn, as the Serpent Guards take fire, killing her before his eyes. Jack almost always wakes up screaming, and the temptation to check on Carter. So right now he was fighting that with the darts, and that was when the door opened.
He spun around, afraid and at the same time hopping it was her, but instead it was Daniel.
"Oh, it's just you." Jack turned back to the dartboard and continued his game.
"Oh, thanks." Daniel smirked and walked over to the a cheap table set up, setting down two beers, "Couldn't sleep?"
"Nope, I just thought I would catch up on my dart game."
Daniel and Jack had been friends for a long time, so he was the first to see Jack's feelings for Sam evolve, but he did not know of the magnitude till the last couple of weeks, with the mind probe, and the time loops, even though Jack didn't say it in so many words.
"You had a dream about the ship again didn't you."
Jack didn't look at Daniel, but continued on with his game, "Yup, and those bastards shot her this time."
"Any idea why these dreams keep coming back."
Jack finally stopped his game, and sat down at the table, grabbing the beer and taking a sip, " I dunno, maybe because I dreamed about fuzzy bears last week, I was overdue for a nightmare."
"Come on Jack, be serious. You are afraid of loosing her."
"No shit Sherlock. I mean this all started out as a harmless admiration, and it grew, and now I am at the point that I don't know what I would do if I allowed something to happen to her. I am putting you and Teal'c at risk, maybe I should request a reassignment for her."
"You know she would never forgive you. And besides, they would move her to another team, and how would you feel if she got hurt or killed then."
"I dunno." Jack rose a finger, "You see, this is why military people should not get involved it just gets all to complicated."
"But you would gladly give to those complications, if it meant...." Daniel trailed off, but Jack knew exactly what he meant, "Wouldn't you?"
Jack took a moment to think about it, "Oh yea." He took another sip of beer.
Carter walked into the briefing to see that Jack was already there, his head down and asleep on the table. She had noticed that ever since they had gotten back from Px-5673, he hadn't gotten much sleep, and neither had she, but she couldn't be sure if it was for the same reason.
She moved behind him and tapped his shoulder, "Sir."
"What, huh?" Jack jerked up, and then his eyes caught Carter, "Sorry must have dozed off."
"Haven't been getting much sleep sir?" Carter sat in the chair beside him.
"No, just a bunch of nightmares."
"Yea, me too." Carter said, and Jack turned to look at her.
Before he could ask her, General Hammond walked in and the two rose to their feet. Hammond took a seat, and the two followed suit, Teal'c and Daniel weren't far behind.
"We just got the telemetry back from the MAP sent to PX778321. The atmosphere seemed be breathable, and from the images there seems to be no life next to the gate. If there aren't any questions you will leave in an hour."
The group shook their heads no, "Alright you are dismissed." Everyone rose, and Jack turned to Carter to say something when the General interrupted, "Corneal, if I could speak to you for a minute."
"Um, okay." Jack reluctantly followed Hammond into his office.
Sam was left there, debating whether to wait for Jack to return, but at last cowardice won out, and Carter left to work on experiment.
"Go ahead and sit down Corneal." Hammond motioned to the seat, which Jack hesitantly sat in.
"I hope this won't be too painful, sir." He said.
"Well it all depends on your definition of painful. I talk to Dr. Fraiser."
"Oh boy." Jack said under his breath, knowing that she was there for both his and Sam's confessions.
"Now don't blame her, she wasn't going to tell me, but I wanted to know how two of my people went from being Zantargs to be A-Okay."
"So how much did she tell you."
"I hope everything. Now I have to know Corneal, is this going to effect your working relationship?"
"No, sir. I can't speak for her, but I have had these feelings for her almost since the beginning, had it hasn't effected us so far."
"But now you both know, it won't create any problems."
"No sir, just a lot of frustration."
"Oh?"
"Well," Jack shifted in his seat, he didn't like admitting his feelings, but he was his superior and his friend, "Off the record?"
"Yes, this is off the record."
"Before I never dreamed on acting on such feelings because I thought their wasn't a chance in hell she would feel the same way, and now that I know, it is the military that is standing in the way."
"Actually that is the reason I called you in her, Jack. If you honestly feel that it wouldn't harm your working relationship, I don't see why you can't pursue a romantic one."
"But sir, the court martial."
"Since when has anything in this facility been by the book? You are two of our best and finest people. The way I see it, sooner or later you two will start that relationship and I will end up losing one of you to resignation. At least this way I get to keep both of you, and I will know what is going on."
"Really sir."
"Yes, really. Just try to keep the flirting down to a minimum."
"Yes sir." Jack jumped to his feet eager to find Sam, "Permission to leave."
Hammond smiled and rose to his own feet "Permission granted. And Jack, Congratulations. You are one lucky SOB."
"Don't I know it." Jack shook his hand, and practically ran out of the office.
"Sam are you down here?" Daniel called off into the dark lab
"Over her Daniel." Sam took off a pare of night vision goggles she had on and flicked the lights on. "I was just seeing how certain elements would react with the Naquida, and it reacts on a level that can't be seen by the human eye."
"Um, isn't that kind of dangerous." Daniel said nervously.
"Not if you use elements that aren't as reactive as something like Potassium."
"Oh." Daniel said, still not understanding, he was more then willing to leave the science to Carter, and he would stick to the mythology, "I just came down to see how you were doing."
"Huh, I am fine." Carter looked at him briefly, then returned her sight to a computer, just missing Daniel's 'Yea right' look.
Daniel and Sam have grown close, but not the same way her and Jack had. The relationship she had with Daniel was like a brother, and luckily he felt the same way. The two often poked fun at it, but that truth was they liked the friendship a lot better that way.
Daniel just kept looking at her, "Sam...come on, I know you haven't been sleeping."
"Yea," Sam lowered her head to her hands, "Its just so much as happened, and I spent so many nights debating our relationship, and now that I know, there is a part of me that wishes that I didn't."
"Why?" Daniel moved to sit next to Sam, "Maybe its just me, but this is great, you two finally admit your feelings, I mean it was obvious."
Sam rose her head to look at Daniel with a smug smile, "Oh it was?"
"Well, at least to me, it took a little bit of explaining to Teal'c."
Sam laughed, but the smile faded, "It's just I don't know what to do, I really do love him Danny."
"I know." Daniel pulled Sam close, and embraced her, and all the of week's stress melted into a flood of tears.
"There you are!" Jack came walking into the gate room, just as the fifth chevron was locked.
"You were looking for me?" Carter said as she secured her helmet.
"Uh, yea. I had something to tell you."
"What is it?" Just as she asked, Daniel and Teal'c turned around to look at Jack.
"Um, maybe now isn't the best time." All the chevrons were locked and the pool of light exploded. "Let's head out." Jack rushed up the ramp.
Sam turned to give a baffle look at Daniel; "He's your friend."
"Yea, but I am not the one..." Daniel fell silent as Sam shot him a death glare, "Like Jack said, let's head out." And Daniel shot up the ramp after Jack.
Sam just sighed and followed after Teal'c.
When they arrived on the other side, they were confronted with a loud humming noise, which seemed to be orienting from large pillars around the gate.
"Daniel what is that?"
Before Daniel could respond, a great white light began to come from all of them, and it became apparent what was going to happen next.
"EVERYBODY DOWN!" Jack shouted, just as the lights shot out towards the team.
Instinctively Jack turned to Sam next to him and tackled her, trying to shield her from the weapons with his own body, but in the end, the weapon rendered all of them unconscious.
A group of people started to come out of the woods and tentatively walked over to the strangers. They were quite and kept their distance, but slowly they started to move closer. One of the younger boys moved closer to Jack and Sam, and looking at the two he smiled. All of the group looked up at each other, and they nodded, as they started to get ready to take the strangers back to their village.
The village people were carrying the members of SG-1 in what looked like gurneys, two by two, back to the village. When they reached the outskirts of town there was a man there waiting. He wore lavish robes, and by the way he carried himself it was clear he was a man of great importance.
He made his way to the travelers, "So these are the visitors that came through the circle?" He asked but he already knew the answer as his eyes traveled from person to person, finally resting on Carter. "HALT!" The people stopped moving and the man moved to the women, "This one is very beautiful, take her to my palace, I will make her my own."
"NO! Wait!" The boy from earlier burst through the crowd, "You can't, she is not yours to claim."
"Excuse me?" The man was outraged at the boys boldness.
"She is already claimed, by him." He pointed to Jack on another gurney near by.
The man looked at Jack and sneered, "We shall see."
Jack moaned and rubbed his eyes, trying to remember where he was, "Carter, Daniel, Teal'c?" He called out, as is slowly came back. At about the same time he realized he was stripped of his weapons.
Teal'c to his left bolted up, "I appear to be fine O'Neil."
"Aug!" Daniel rubbed his head, "Despite the headache from hell, I guess I am okay."
"Carter?" Jack said leaning forward, expecting her to respond, but when he looked around she was no where to be seen, "Carter?"
The boy from earlier stepped in, "Shhhh! You are suppose to be sleeping."
"Where's Carter?" Jack demanded.
"Carter." The boy was confused, and then it dawned on him, "Oh your wife, she's sleeping in the next tent."
Jack blinked and shook his head, "Wife?"
"Yes the woman with blond hair, that you protected from the blast."
"She's not my wife."
The boy gulped clearly nervous now, "She's is not. Then she is yours?" He pointed to Daniel.
Daniel held his hands up, "Oh no."
The boy turned to Teal'c, and before he could ask Teal'c said, "Major Carter is not married."
"This is not good." The boy put his hand on his forehead, "This is not good."
Jack didn't like the looks of this, as he jumped of the bed and grabbed the boy by the arms, "What is not good?"
"She is not married, meaning the king can take her."
"What?" Daniel jumped off the bed.
"The king has an agreement with the people, he has a choosing of any women he wants, if they don't have a husband. He has already taken in an interest in this Carter, but I told him that she was married to you," he pointed at Jack, "Oh he will think I lied on purpose, he will be very angry."
"We can explain it was a mistake." Daniel said.
"Yea, but what of your friend, the minute he knows, she will be his."
"We won't let that happen, just tell us where are weapons are?" Jack said, already on the edge.
"The light stripped you of your weapons, we don't know how it works, but it protects us."
"Damnit." Jack cursed and stomped his foot, "We are just going to have to grab Carter and run."
"Wait Jack, shouldn't we find out who put those pillars there?" Daniel stepped in.
"It was probably Thor."
"What if it wasn't, we should find out. Maybe we can adapt something like it to work at home."
"Damnit Daniel, if we stay, Carter could be in major danger." Jack was growing more frustrated by the minute.
"Not the way I see it." Daniel smiled and his eyebrows rose.
Carter felt a finger brush against his cheek. First she smiled, but then she didn't smell HIS cologne, and her eyes flung open to see a strange man standing over her.
"Who are you?" Carter demanded as she bolted up.
"I would watch your tone, young one. If it wasn't for you husband..."
Sam held up a hand, "Excuse me?"
Before she could say anything else Jack burst into the tent, "Honey you are okay!" He moved to her and lightly kissed her on the lips.
It wasn't much, but it was enough to stun Sam into silence. Jack continued on as he sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "I was so worried." He brushed a hand across her cheek lovingly, and then turned towards the king, "If you don't mind I would like to talk to my wife alone."
The king said nothing, but instead bowed his head and took his leave. As soon as he was gone Sam turned to Jack, "Sir?"
"Shhh!" Jack held a finger up to his lips, "That guy is the king and I guess he has a pick of any women in the kingdom. Willingly or forcefully."
Sam looked at him, still not getting it, "And the problem is..."
"The problem is we don't have our guns," and for the first time Carter looked down to see that she too was stripped of her weapons, "And Daniel wants to stick around, figure out who put those stick-thingys by the gate are, and whatever other mysteries this place holds."
"I guess Daniel has a point, if those columns are made by a civilization that we don't know about, we might have a chance of finding them and becoming allies."
"Yea, yea." Jack waved his hand indicating that he had already heard this once before from Daniel, "But what I need to know is if you are okay with this." Jack made a notion to both of them.
"Um, I think sir. I mean if you are okay with it." Sam said nervously.
"Oh, yea sure." Jack blew it off acting like it meant nothing, but to him it meant everything, "I mean we are two grown adults, we should be able to handle it."
"Of course sir."
Jack held up a finger, "No more of that, it's Jack, Carter."
Sam nodded, "Sam."
Jack was confused for a second, then he understood. Just then Daniel came into the tent.
"So are we staying?"
Jack looked at Sam, and she nodded, he then looked at Daniel, "Yea we are staying."
That night a huge fiesta was held for the visitors. Practically the whole village sat around a giant bond fire, all of their attention was focused on the team. The king, whom kept his distance from the celebration, had his eyes locked on Sam and Jack. Jack felt his gaze and looked up, noticing him; he put an arm around Sam, and waved. The kind turned and left in disgust.
Sam yawned as it became harder and harder to keep her eyes opened.
"Tired?" Jack leaned in to ask, Sam just nodded, "Me too."
The boy from earlier was passing food when he overheard them, "We have a place for you to rest, we have already set it up." The boy leaned in close, "We even have a guard to stand outside for your protection."
Jack looked at Sam, "You want to go?"
Sam only thought for a moment then nodded, Jack turned to Teal'c and Daniel, "You two try to stay out of trouble."
"You too." Daniel said low enough so only Jack could hear.
The boy pulled back the tent cloth "This is the tent we reserved for the two of you."
From outside it looked like a normal canvas tent, but inside, there were lavish settings. Flowers everywhere, colorful rugs covered the ground, and one make shift bed.
"If there is anything else I can do for you, don't hesitate. My name is Haime." And with that the boy was gone before Jack could comment on the sleeping arrangements.
Jack turned to Sam to see the same nervous statement he could only presume was also covering his face, "You know, I will just sleep on the floor. Has to be better then the beds in the infirmary."
Jack was about to settle down on a section of the floor when Sam stepped forward, "Sir, Jack. You don't have to do that. I mean the bed is big enough to share. Besides, what if someone came in. We can handle this."
Jack shrugged, "Of course we can."
No we can't! Jack and Sam's thought were both screaming, but both of them ignored it. They took off their backpacks and jackets and laid them near their side of the bed. Crawling under the sheets, both of them slept on theirs sides, backs to each other, taking up as little room as possible.
Jack starred at the other side of the tent, so close to her, but so far. Something inside him told him to talk to her, that there was no time like the present. Tell her exactly what was racing through his mind, how he felt. He was dying to tell her what Hammond said, but another part, wanted to hold back, afraid that she wasn't as sure about this as he was.
"Sam."
"Yes, sir."
Jack thought about it, and that little voice won out, "Night."
"Nite Jack."
Jack went back to staring at the side of the tent, cursing that he had top secret missions easier then this. At first he couldn't fall asleep, but all those restless nights finally won out.
He could smell strawberries. Or something like it, Jack could never really put a finger on it, but anytime he smelled anything like it, it reminded him of her. He inhaled deeply, he hadn't slept that good in weeks. He felt something russel along in chest. He wasn't concerned but he slowly opened his eyes, laying in his arms was Carter. Her head was lying peacefully on his chest, and her right hand was wrapped tightly in his left, while his other arm was wrapped around her waist.
He knew this wasn't right, at least by military standards. But it was right for him. This was how it should be, how it was suppose to be, he thought he would die a happy man if he could just wake up like this every morning.
Sam's movement grew, as she moved to balance her head on her chin and look up him. What he saw in those eyes was not embarrassment, but belonging. She was not ashamed of her movements in the night, and neither was he.
His right hand left hers, brushing a stray hair from her eyes, and brushing her cheek, "If only one moment could last a lifetime."
Before Sam could respond, Teal'c came walking into the tent, and immediately the two scrambled away from each other.
"I am sorry, I show have announced my presence, forgive me if I have interrupted anything."
"It's alright, you didn't," Jack was going to say that he didn't interrupt anything, but he knew how wrong that statement was, "What did you need Teal'c."
"I have come to inform you that Daniel Jackson and I are leaving to study some ruins on the edge of town. He thinks it is best if we split up, so we can get an idea of what the people of this world are truly like."
Usually Jack would object to Daniel trying to run the mission, but he had caught him at a kind of awkward moment, besides he need some time alone with Sam, tell her what Hammond said, if he could ever bone up to it, "Okay, just be back before nightfall."
Teal'c nodded, and left, not before raising his eyebrow at them once more.
Sam had already thrown on her jacket when she turned to Jack; "Those moments are all too short."
Sam left to find something to eat, leaving Jack speechless.
Jack straightened his hat, made sure his cheeks had returned back to their normal shade and left the tent. Outside he could hear Carter arguing.
"Excuse me, I am not going anywhere with you." She was arguing with the king, who at the moment had a type lock on her arm.
Furious, Jack stomped up to him and tore his hand from her arm; "Just what the hell do you think you are doing? We have already been through this, she isn't yours to claim."
The king glared first at Jack, and then he smiled a wicked, toothless grin, "Aw, yes you two are husband and wife. But you see you might be on your world. But you are on mine, which means it is my right to take her with me."
"Like hell." Jack made a move towards him, when a bunch of the king's guards moved forward and placed spears against their throats.
"Uh, Haime!" Jack yelled out, and a crowd, including Haime came running forward.
"What is going on here?" The one Jack presumed was the priest, or some religious leader stepped forward.
"This women is not married by the standards of our village, so she is mine to take." The King snarled.
"Just had to find a loop hole, well, Haime find me a loop hole."
"You can't take her." Haime shouted out.
"Nice loop hole." Jack said sarcastically.
"Your majesty," the priest spoke up, "You are not allowed to take any engaged women either, and while they might not be married by our standards, they are certainty engaged. If they get married by the next full moon, you can not claim her."
"No prob." Jack looked down at the spears then the old spears, "When is the next full moon."
Haime swallowed hard, "Tonight."
Shock must have covered Jack's face because the king saw it, and for a moment Jack was afraid that he saw through the charade. Instead of saying anything he just smiled and nodded to his guards, who withdrew her weapons, "I guess we have a wedding tonight."
Jack looked at Sam, "Oh boy."
Jack sat on a log, looking at the sunset. He wasn't sure if they should be doing this. Sure he had imagined this a hundred times, but never like this. This wasn't even real. Sam seemed to be going along with it well, which meant one of two things. She feels the same way he does, or she saw it as a game. But they had to go through with it, there were a truckload of king's guards if they didn't
Daniel came rushing up and sat next to him; "About time you came back." Jack muttered.
"I know, but the site was amazing. There are still no clues as who put these people here, but we are close to finding out. Oh and something really interesting, the village is saying there is going to be a wedding tonight. You know how awesome that is Jack; we get to see one of the most important traditions in any cultures up close. I wonder if we will get a close up seat." Daniel chattered on like a school boy.
Jack just smiled and slapped him on the back, "Danny boy, we will have the best seats in the house."
After some bargaining, Jack was just aloud to keep his uniform on for the ceremony. Sam wasn't that lucky, as soon as they found out about the wedding, they whisked her away, and Jack hadn't seen her since.
He was now trying to be patient, with Daniel and Teal'c at his side, standing in front of a large bonfire, while the rest of the tribe sat in a circle around them. Jack nervously tugged at his uniform.
"Cheer up." Daniel looked at him; "You look like you are attending a funeral."
"I very well could be."
Daniel gave him a bewildered look, "What, I thought this is what you wanted."
"I did, but there are steps, and we just skipped all of them. What if Sam isn't ready, you could ruin anything that could have or might have been."
"Always the pessimistic Jack. Besides, 'What if Sam isn't ready?'" Daniel repeated his words; "You make it sound like you are? Are you?"
Before Jack could answer a large blare of horns sounded, and the crowd parted, "Oh boy."
But all his fears, all his nerves disappeared when he saw Sam. She was wearing a white gown, with gold trim, nothing too lavish by Earth's standards, but Sam looked radiant. The long sleeves came to a point at the middle of her hand and the collar cut down to revel a gold looking top under it. There was a gold belt to match the top, and the skirt flared our.
She reached him and looked directly into his eyes, and his words from earlier came back, "If only one moment could last a lifetime. "Instinctively he reached out and took her hands in his.
Smiling, she went down to her knees, and Jack followed. He wasn't sure if he was suppose to be on his knees too, but all he cared about right now was being close to Sam.
The priest came to stand in front of them, and placed a hand on each of their heads. Jack took his gaze off of Sam long enough to glare up at the hand, Sam did her best to surpress a laugh.
"These two children of the sun have been blessed today. They have been blessed with someone to watch over them, to care for them, to love them. Someone, who when even Jensah herself turns her back on, will be stay with you, and will continue to stay with you always and forever. May Jensah bless this marriage, and make this one moment, last a lifetime."
Jack was so wrapped up in Sam's eyes, his memories and feelings for her, that he didn't hear that last thing the priest said, or saw the smile that came to his face. All he could think about was the possibility of spending the rest of his life with this women, and he could think of nothing to make him happier.
"Stand my children, and face the world together, for you no longer have to be alone. You are one, now and forever."
Sam and Jack stood up, their hands still together, and the crowd broke out in cheers. Before any more could be done, a group of women came out of the crowd, and led her away by the arms through the crowd.
"Wait." Jack was about to follow after them when the priest held up a hand.
"She will be fine, they just have to prepare her."
Jack only calmed a little, "So we are married, that was it."
"That was it, you expected more." The priest raised his eyebrows.
"Yea, like kiss the bride."
The priest, "That my young son, you must choose to do on your own."
Jack passed back and fourth in the tent. It had nearly been two hours since the service and he had not seen Sam at all. Since the ceremony, his head had become so clear, and he was now so sure of himself, it only figured that the women he loved was now nowhere to be seen. It was then he heard the giggling.
A small hand opened the tent, to reveal some dark figures outside. The giggling increase as they shoved Sam inside and shut the tent, it was then that Jack realized what they were up to. All Sam had on was a small sheet that wrapped around her. Besides that she smelled heavenly, and something looking like glitter were on the parts of her skin he could see, the whole time they were trying to prepare Sam for the wedding night.
Sam was blushing, "I am sorry sir they wouldn't give me back my clothes." Sam went over and sat on the edge of the bed, still holding the sheet tightly, "I am so sorry sir, I hate to put you through all of this. I tend to be more trouble then I am worth."
Jack moved to kneel before Sam, placing his hands on hers, "You are no trouble at all, quite the opposite. When days got bad, the only thing that was keeping me going was knowing that I was going to be able to work alongside you. To see you smile, to smell your scent, to see all of those little quarks that I have come to adore and love."
That last word sent Sam's head spinning, and Jack saw it, but he knew it was too late to turn back now, "That's right Sam, I love you, not just like, not just care, but love. I love how you will explain something to me, even after I didn't get it the first five. I love the look in the eyes when you try to hide your feelings from me, and you know it is impossible. And I love how you are the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last thing I think of before I go to sleep. I love you Samantha Carter, from the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you would change my life. I only hope I can change yours."
Sam's eyes were brimming with tears, as Jack stroke her cheek, "Jack I..."
That was all she was able to say before a dart was shot into her neck. It didn't take long for her eyes to roll back, and for her to fall back onto the bed.
"Sam!" Jack jumped to his feet and leaned over her, tapping her cheek.
Just then a dart was shot into his back, and he fell unconscious on top of her.
Jack rubbed his eyes, trying again to remember where he was. In a rush it came back and he bolted up, "SAM!"
Daniel rushed to his side and laid a hand on his shoulder, "Easy there."
"Sam, where's Sam?"
"She's gone Jack, we are sure who kidnapped her but..."
"The King!" Jack jumped off the bed.
"That seems to be everyone's assumption." Daniel finished his sentence, then took Jack by the arm, "Listen I care about Sam too, but what are we going to do, walk up there and talk him into giving her back. The last time I checked we were kind of weaponless."
"Well then we will make our own. It won't be the first time, and it will at least be better then nothing."
"Actually Jack, I might have a better idea."
Sam felt a cool cloth against her brow, and water run down her face. She felt something weighing heavily on her hands and her feet, and at first she was afraid she couldn't move. At last she opened her eyes to see a women in a brown robe over her. Sam tried to rise but the woman eased her back down.
"You do not have all of your strength back, rest now."
"Where am I?"
"You are in the king's palace, you are one of the chosen ones." The women said it with a flat face, but it seemed to Sam that she detested those last words, "I am Naomi."
"Sam." Sam looked around
First, she saw that she was no longer naked, but in brown robes, matching the woman's. Her feet and her hands were shackled, with large iron chains, but they gave enough leeway for her to move. The room was a far cry from a dungeon. It was furnished, with rugs, and colorful walls, and lights that seemed to flow through the room.
"Why am I here?" Sam demanded.
"To serve the king."
"But I am married, by your own standards."
"The king only chooses the rules he wishes to follow. I am sorry for your loss, but it is best you forget him. You are the king's now and there is nothing your love can do about it, instead it would only cause you great pain hoping for something that will never come." The words seemed to sting Naomi, as if she too was once in the same position.
"But he will come." Sam moved her chains enough to sit up.
"How can you be so sure."
"Because there is still something he has to hear, and I'll be damned if something is going to happen to take that away."
"Well if you love him, you will forget about him, or the king might take it upon himself to rid himself of him. So you have to ask yourself do you really love him."
Sam swallowed, "I do, and that's exactly why I can forget about him."
"No, I don't care!" Jack had finished sharpening some sticks, and placed them on a pack on his back.
"But Jack, they want to rebel against their king, and this seems to be the best time."
"Does it, or are we just leading them into it?" It was Abydos all over again Jack thought.
"Jack, they are the only way we are going to get Sam back, plus they can rid themselves of this fascist dictator."
Jack lowered his head, and cursed under his breath, he knew he had lost, "Alright but we are doing this my way."
Jack was surprised at how easy it was to enter the compound, a little too easy. But then again that was what he was hopping for, a distraction, while the cavalry would come later. It would take a little while before the town was ready to lead an onslaught, but Jack wasn't willing to wait, he only prayed that he wasn't too late already.
A women with long black hair, carrying a bag of fruit turned the corner and nearly ran into Jack. She let out a gasp and the fruit bowl dropped to the floor. Quickly Jack clamped a hand over her mouth.
"We are not here to hurt you, we are looking for a women with short blond hair, Samantha Carter."
The women's look went from terrified to acknowledgment, and Jack slowly let go.
"You fool." She hissed, "You should have never come, is this the only help you brought?"
Teal'c rose an eyebrow, "I can't go into detail now, just tell me where is Sam."
"She's down the hall, third door on the right. She told me you would come, and I told her she was crazy. Now I know you both are." With that she picked up the fruit, and went back on her way.
The women took Jack as someone, who had been hurt in love, but Jack didn't want to take too much time to think about it, instead he had his love.
He made it to the door, and shoved it open it, to see Sam laying on a bed. She jerked up in shock, first so shock that she couldn't move, and then she jumped of the bed, her shackles removed from earlier, and moved to Jack's arms, clinging on for dear life.
"Are you okay?" He whispered.
"I am fine, it was you I was worried about. How did you make it past the guards?"
Jack pulled back to look at her, "Guards?"
It was too late to react as a militia of came guards running down the hall, they grabbed a hold of Teal'c and forced him to the ground. Teal'c didn't put up much of a fight, and Sam saw it. She turned to Jack in horror.
"Trust me." Was the last words he said before a guard came behind and knocked Jack unconscious.
It had been hours since Sam saw the guards dragged Jack away and Sam was starting to worry. Naomi words were swarming through her head, that the king would take care of Jack himself. Her thoughts were interrupted when there came a loud banging at the door. Three guards came in, holding the shackles. They tackled her to the wall, and slammed the restraints on her.
"The king wishes to see you." One said as he took a hold of the chain and dragged her out of the room and down the hall.
They came to a large room, where a throne sat elevated on stairs, with the pig himself in it. They brought Sam to stand in front of him, and slammed a stick on the back of her legs. She clinched her eyes shut in a grimace of pain as she fell to her knees. The king got off his throne to stand in front of her.
"I don't think you mean me any harm, can't we remove those chains." He said snidely as he ran a finger down her cheek.
"Remove them, and I will tear off your finger." Sam looked up at him and said through clinched teeth.
The king started to laugh, and then he drew back his hand and slapped her, knocking her to further down. The king turned to grab something from his throne and threw it next to Sam. It was Jack's jacket damp with blood. The horror that almost consumed her was covered by the anger that showed up in her eyes.
"He is one tough individual, I'll give him that. We told him that we would stop the torture if he would simply tell you that he didn't love you, and leave. But he refused, even after increasing the torture many times; he would not do it. So instead I will turn to you. Tell him that you hate him, send him away, and his torture will end."
The king knew that Sam was strong, and too have her, he would have to tear her apart emotionally. And since she couldn't have Jack do it, he would do the next best thing. He would have her watch and witness as she broke the man she loves, heart. Knowing perfectly well that the pain that it would cause him would haunt her, knowing that she was responsible.
Sam didn't answer, she couldn't. The king saw this and simply nodded at one of the guards. The guard nodded and rushed out of the room. When he came back, he had two more with him, and the dragged Jack with them, throwing him on the floor in front of Sam.
"Jack!" Sam crawled over to him as best she could, the sight of what they did to him brought tears to her eyes.
His left eye was swollen, and his lip was split. A gash on his forehead, caused blood to trickle down his face. Where his shackles were placed, holding his arms behind him, there were red rings, were he had to struggled to free himself. He was bloodied and brushed, and Sam couldn't stand to see him like this.
"You can end it all." The king said, "Just say it."
Looking at Jack she knew that she didn't have a choice. Jack began to open his eyes, despite the great amount of pain that came from his left one, his mood lighten upon seeing Sam.
"Sam..."
"Jack, you have to go. Just leave." Sam's eyes were filling with tears, she didn't want to look at him but she dared not look away. Maybe he would understand that she was doing this for his own good, that she didn't mean a word of it. At least he could get away, and send reinforcements, something, anything was better then this, "I want you to go, and never come back." He voice was cracking, and she was afraid that it was going to give out on her, "You failed me Jack, and I never want to see you again."
Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see the king smile, satisfied with Sam's words, but it wasn't him that Sam cared about. She was starring intently at Jack, but instead of seeing the statement she thought she would, she saw joy as a smirk crossed his face.
"Liar." He was able to spit out.
Sam could no longer hold back the tears, as she leaned over Jack and hugged him tightly. She cried into his shoulder.
"You stupid fool." Sam laughed through her tears, "You stupid lovable fool."
The king was outraged as he jumped to his feet, "Guards, seize them, and kill them both!"
The guards started to close in on them when the sounds of shouts started to grow from the hall. They were growing louder as they were making their way to the throne room. Sam jerked her head up just as a crowd of townspeople, led by Daniel and a rescued Teal'c. In shock Sam turned to look at Jack.
"Don't you ever learn not to doubt me?" Jack smiled, and then his eyes closed.
"Jack?" Sam shook him but he did not respond, "Jack?!"
It didn't take long for the townspeople to overpower the guards, and force the king to his knees. Daniel came running up to Sam.
"Are you alright?"
"I am fine, it's the Corneal I am worried about." Sam checked for a pulse and found a weak one.
"We must return to the Stargate." Teal'c picked Jack up, not before Daniel undid their chains.
"Will you be okay?" Daniel turned to Haime.
"Yes, I think so. Thank you for your help. Without you...Naomi!" Haime's sight's fell on the women trying to make her way through the crowd.
Her eyes lit up when she saw him, "Haime!" She ran into his arms, and the love-hating women that Jack and Sam saw earlier was melted away with a single kiss. Sam understood now, why Naomi had try to convince her to turn away, because she had to do it herself. The two broke apart and looked up at each other lovingly.
"Sorry to interrupt guys." Daniel cleared his throat, "But we got to go."
Haime was called back to the world of the living, "Yes, go, go!"
They began to rush out when Naomi grabbed her arm, "Don't make the same mistake I did. Tell him, and never let him go."
Sam smiled and nodded, "I will, and I won't."
It had been 24 hours since they had come back from the planet. General Hammond figured that would be enough time for them to regain their barrings.
"Sounds like you had an interesting trip." Hammond said in the conclusion of their briefing.
"Yes sir, a little too interesting."
Hammond smiled and turned to Janet, "Doctor, how is Corneal O'Neil."
"Other then a couple of broken ribs, he will recover. The swelling has already gone down, and the lip wasn't as bad as it first appeared. He will be back to duty in a couple of weeks, but you know corneal. If he had it his way he would be back to work tomorrow. Luckily he has been asleep, so he hasn't put up a fight."
"Okay, till Corneal O'Neil recovers, SG-1 is on stand down. Enjoy it people. Dismissed."
Jack grumbled as he tried to roll to his side, but a shock of pain prevented him. He was tired of sleeping, and painfully he opened his eyes. First he saw the ugly gray ceiling that he was all too familiar with. He looked around to see a machine to his left beeping, and that was when a movement from his right caught his eye. He looked to see Sam asleep in a chair next to his bed. Her hand laid on the bed close to his, and she looked so peaceful. Jack moved and took her hand, gently squeezing it. Sam stirred and opened her eyes, smiling when she saw Jack.
"Hey." Jack said.
"Hey yourself. How are you feeling."
"Like a bus hit me."
"You have to be the most stubborn man I have ever left. Why didn't you just go along with them and save yourself from this?"
"Because they needed to buy into the charade." The look Jack got from Sam told him that she didn't buy it, "Because I couldn't leave you."
"Jack, I..." Sam struggled with the words.
"Sam, you don't have to say anything."
"I know, but I want to. I love you Jack, I always have. I tried to hide it because of regulations, but the truth was I got to a point where I couldn't picture my life without you. Without one of your jokes, or one of those famous Jack O'Neil jokes. I not only trust you with my life, but my heart."
Jack smiled, and despite the pain, he leaned over the bed rail, and stroked her cheek, bringing her lips to his. The kiss was gentle, and when the broke each of them knew this was where they belonged.
"Come here." Jack pulled on Sam's arm till she joined him in bed.
She moved to lay beside him, resting her head on his chest, "I am not hurting you am I?"
"Nah the morphine is kicking in."
Sam smiled, and she couldn't remember when she had been happier, but just as quickly it faded, "What about regulations?"
Jack had completely forgotten about what Hammond said earlier, "Screw regulations, besides we have Hammond's blessings."
"What, when was this?"
"Before the mission."
"Uh!" Sam playfully hit Jack, "And you didn't tell me."
"I was trying to, but you know how often I get my foot stuck in my mouth. I wanted the moment that I told you to be perfect. Speaking of regulations going out the window." He coasted Sam off him and turned on his side to face her, taking her hand he rose it to his lips, "Samantha Carter I love you, and I always will, will you marry me, I mean if you can stand marrying a stubborn lovable fool again."
Tears flooded to her eyes, "Of course I will."
They gently kissed again, this time knowing that this one moment would indeed last a lifetime.
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to Christy
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