Unconscious Gestures
Rating: All Ages
Summary: Behind the scenes and beyond for “Solitudes”, "Touchstone", and “A Matter of Time”. They’re connected, really. . . somehow.
Classifications: Romance
Content Warning: None
Season: 1-2
Pairings: Sam/Jack, but of course
Spoilers for: “Solitudes”, “Touchstone”, “A Matter of Time”, and “The Fifth Race”
Archive: Just ask, please!
Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate. I just like it :) All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author’s Note: I couldn’t help but wonder, after watching “Touchstone” again. . . . Kind of serious at first, lightens up toward the end. Oh, and you really should be familiar with the episodes.
Copyright (c) 2007 SJ Author
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Jack could no longer feel his legs. It was murder on his ribs just to breath. Somehow, he managed to depress the talk button on the radio Sam had placed in his hand. “Sam?” he called faintly.
“Yes, sir?” came the radioed response.
He could feel consciousness slipping away. What could he really tell her? “It was an honor serving with you,” he said. It was true enough, but didn’t come anywhere near what he really wanted to say. Still, maybe it was better not to leave her burdened by a deathbed confession—just in case she did make it out alive.
“Yes, sir.”
The radio slipped from his fingers. He wouldn’t last much longer, and he could hear the acknowledgement in her voice.
Her voice. Not a bad way to go, with that sound in his ears. If he’d had the guts, he would have told her that Sarah wasn’t his reason for living anymore. There was someone else who had him holding on as long as he had and wishing this wasn’t the end. “Sam,” he said again, this time mumbled to the empty ice cavern. He could almost forget that he was a million light years from home as he drifted off into warm, pleasant memories of their all-too-brief association.
Disjointed dreams and his painful limbs told Jack he wasn’t dead yet. His mind drifted back to the parachuting incident that he’d begun to tell Sam about. He didn’t remember much after he’d been extracted, until he’d awoken in a hospital stateside. A skull fracture hadn’t been his only injury, and he’d felt about as uncomfortable as he did now, only warmer. He felt someone move at his side. “Sarah,” Jack called, still caught up in his memories.
“I’m here, Jack,” came a voice in reply.
Something was off. This wasn’t how it had happened. For one thing, Sarah had been so upset that she’d almost hit him when she had finally been let into his hospital room. She certainly hadn’t crawled into the bed with him. Also, it really had been a lot warmer. . ., “Cold. . . so cold,” he said.
“I know, it’s all right. You can sleep now.” Sam. She was back. He guessed she hadn’t found a way out after all. “It was an honor serving with you, too, Colonel,” she said.
That brought Jack out of his musings and back to the present. Yes, they were both most likely about to die, and yes, he was in quite a bit of pain. Still, his biggest complaint against his injuries was that he couldn’t reach out and hold her. He struggled against the black weight dragging him back into unconsciousness. “Sam,” he managed to barely whisper.
“Sir? He felt her shift at his side. “What was that, sir?” she asked, leaning closer to his head.
“Sam,” he said again, this time managing to open his eyes and turn his head just a fraction. She was right there in front of him, so close that he could almost—
He kissed her. And in his delusional mind, she didn’t pull away, but kissed him back quite willingly. Suddenly, Jack felt a whole lot warmer, and didn’t fight this time as he drifted off.
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Jack walked into the control room to find the rest of his team transfixed by the various monitors. Sam was running through ‘gate records, and Daniel and Teal’c were. . . watching television? “Anything yet?” he asked.
“Not on the Touchstone, sir,” Sam answered him, continuing her search for unusual activity.
“Possibly its effects,” Daniel interjected. “Have you been watching the Weather Channel?”
“I’m more of a C-SPAN guy,” he answered, hoping to solicit a grin from Sam’s direction.
Teal’c didn’t seem to notice. “Observe, O’Neill,” he said, replaying the report they’d just been watching.
Jack took a seat next to the two as he watched the story on unusual, heavy flooding. “And that's not all,” said Daniel. “There's record rainfall in
“Something is definitely altering this planet's weather,” surmised Teal’c.
“And you think it’s this Touchstone,” said Jack. He couldn’t resist playing devil’s advocate. “Kind of a reach, isn’t it?” he added for extra effect. Daniel, sufficiently baited, immediately launched into his theory. Jack turned back to the monitor disinterestedly. “We don’t know it’s on earth,” he said dismissively.
“I’m thinking it is,” Sam interjected. She started talking about transitory glitches and energy spikes. Jack gave her his undivided attention, watching her talk animatedly, and hardly taking in a word she said. He loved how excited and confident she became whenever she got a hold of a workable theory. “You remember what happened the last time the 'gate's power supply was overloaded?” she asked.
“It jumped to the second 'gate in the Antarctic,” Daniel answered.
Despite the harsh circumstances, Jack immediately and fondly recalled his last conscious thought from that adventure: kissing Sam, albeit only in his mind. Maintaining his gruff façade, he simply said, “Yeah, thanks for the memory,” as he stood to walk closer to Sam’s monitor.
Jack casually glanced at Sam while Teal’c asked her something. Jack was a bit too distracted to listen, because to his utter and complete shock, Sam was unconsciously licking her lips. There was just no way, he thought, glad he still had a hand on the back of his chair. No way could she be thinking of the kiss—it was his imagination, right? Jack shook himself out of his musings enough to hear the tail end of Sam’s explanation. “Kind of like shooting off a gun when a train’s going by,” he surmised, blurting out the first thing that came to mind in an attempt to sound like he’d been listening. It had made sense to him, but the blank stares of his colleagues were making him hope he hadn’t missed something huge while he was off in fantasy land. “To hide the sound,” he explained.
To Jack’s relief, Sam nodded with an understanding, “Yes, sir,” and continued her work at the computer, attempting to verify her theory. He couldn’t let this go, though. One way or another, Jack needed to find out if that kiss was real or not. The question was, how?
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Jack shrugged into his BDU top as Janet exited through the curtains around his infirmary bed. He’d just gotten a clean bill of health after his little experience with shaped charges, stargates, and black holes.
“How is he?” Jack heard Sam ask the doctor as she emerged.
“He is fine, Captain,” Jack answered from where he sat.
“Cleared for duty,” he heard Janet reply, as if he hadn’t said anything. “You can go on in, now.”
Sam’s head poked through the curtains, promptly followed by the rest of her. “Hi, sir,” she said, coming to stand at his bedside.
“Carter,” he acknowledged. “How’s the ‘gate coming?” he asked distractedly. He realized that he’d begun buttoning up his blouse crookedly, and proceeded to remedy it.
“Fine,” she replied, poorly hiding a grin as he fumbled with his shirt. “We’re running the last of the checks now, but the new iris seems like it’s good to go.”
“Excellent,” said Jack. “So, what’s with this ‘emergency’ briefing after lunch?” Daniel had rushed into the infirmary earlier to try and attempt to impart a barrage of information during Jack’s exam, but Janet had promptly shooed him away.
“Ah, Daniel’s got something from P3R-272 that he wants us to take a look at. Something related to Earnest Littlefield’s planet and the ‘meaning of life stuff’,” she said with a smile. “I’ve got a copy of the mission reports in my lab if you want to look them over, sir.”
“I believe I’ll take you up on that,” Jack said, looking up from his properly adjusted uniform. Sam nodded, turning to leave. “Oh, Carter,” he said.
“Sir?”
“Really nice work with the whole bomb thing. How’d you figure that one out, anyway?” he asked. Jack already knew the answer, but it seemed like a convenient segue to a discussion of their Antarctic experience.
“General Hammond helped on that one, sir,” she said with a smile. “He mentioned the second ‘gate, which reminded me of how we first discovered it. . . .” She averted her eyes for a split second at that, much to Jack’s amusement. She continued relating her chain of reasoning—in great detail—as Jack simply watched her. “Then all we had to do was shut it down,” Sam concluded. “Sir?”
Jack realized that he’d zoned again. “Speaking of
Sam’s eyes got a fraction larger, and she swallowed. “Like what, sir?” she asked.
A grin appeared on Jack’s face as he went on. “Oh, pretty much everything after I sent you looking for civilization,” he said.
“Well,” Sam began, “I managed to climb out, but couldn’t find anything. So, I came back, and you were already pretty much unconscious again, and so I just covered us up and waited for the rescue party. Not that I really expected them to come, at that point.”
“I see,” said Jack. “So, I didn’t actually say anything, like I thought I did?” he asked, wondering how much she’d volunteer.
“Oh, you were in and out of consciousness, sir,” she said, again averting her eyes briefly. “While I was on the surface, you radioed that it’d been an honor serving with me,” she said tentatively, “and when I came back down. . ., you were pretty far gone at that point, I think,” she finished abruptly.
“Really?” Jack asked. “What’d I say?” Sam was becoming more and more uncomfortable, but it was entirely too amusing for Jack to let it go.
“I, uh, think you said something about Sarah, and the cold. . .,” she trailed off.
“And?” Jack prompted.
“And, um, you called me. And kshdm,” she mumbled, apparently fascinated by her boots.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that last part,” Jack said, his face completely serious, miraculously concealing the smirk that wanted to break forth.
“You kissed me,” she said, looking him in the eye and biting her bottom lip.
“Ah,” said Jack, sliding to his feet. “I thought I’d dreamt that part,” he said. “Huh.”
“Huh?” Sam repeated, seeming shocked out of her embarrassment.
“I was pretty out of it,” Jack explained. “You didn’t really expect me to remember, did you?” He was teasing, and he knew it. He just hoped she wouldn’t hit him. In amongst the disbelief, frustration, and returning embarrassment that flashed across Sam’s face, Jack caught a bit of hurt. That decided him instantly, and before he could think himself out of it, he said, “Was it anything like this?” It only took half a step for him to reach her and bring her face to his. The hand she brought to his chest to automatically ward him away was soon curled in the fabric of his shirt. She really is kissing me! thought Jack. He didn’t allow himself any thoughts beyond the moment, figuring there’d be plenty of time to think about the possible repercussions later.
They broke apart slowly, and Sam looked up at him with a small smile. “Um, yeah, something like that,” she said.
Jack repressed a sigh of relief at her reaction, and allowed himself an answering grin. “Cool,” he said, letting his arms fall from around her.
“I’d better. . .,” Sam said, taking a small step backwards and gesturing over her shoulder.
“Sure,” said Jack, watching her go. “See ya at lunch?”
“Yes, sir,” she said, turning, and sending him a brief, brilliant smile over her shoulder.
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That’s all, folks!
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