Belated birthday fic!
Yes, I'm posting fic. Try not to fall over. :p
This is a belated birthday offering for mrspollifax! One should really be able to celebrate a birth month, not just a day. :)
Title: That's when we fell in love, but not the first time
Category: S/J, action/adventure
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Word Count: ~1175
Season/Spoilers: Somewhere after S5 "Menace" but before "Meridian"
Summary: "This wasn’t just bad - it was potentially apocalyptic."
A/N: Many, many thanks to ziparumpazoo, who kindly suggested that I rewrite the first half, and for all her speedy beta services. Couldn't have done it without you, hon!
The base's 'invasion' alarm wailed to life, then cut off abruptly before SG-1 could even make it to the door.
"That can’t be good,” the Colonel muttered and lifted the handset of Sam’s lab phone. "This is O’Neill, requesting sta- hello? Hello?” He pressed the switchook a few times before hanging up and swiveling to face them. “Comms are down,” he said unnecessarily. Sam was already on her computer, trying to access the gateroom monitoring feeds and the incoming gate logs, but nothing was working. They had power, but they seemed to be locked out of all critical systems. She told the Colonel as much even as she continued to find an alternate way in, her fingers flying across the keyboard.
“Really not good,” he muttered again. “OK, you and Daniel keep working on it. Teal’c and I’ll open the armory and sort out who’s on this level.” The SGC’s secondary armory was just down the hall from Sam’s lab - fortunately - but that probably gave her only 10 or so minutes to reestablish access. They might be able to go up to the auxiliary control room on Level 16, but only if they could move between levels, she mused. And it was doubtful that the auxiliary controls would work if Sam couldn’t get access from her own lab.
She hunched over the keyboard more determinedly and ignored the frisson of fear creeping up her spine.
***
It was more like 15 minutes later when Sam banged the lab table in frustration, sensing rather than seeing Daniel’s sympathetic wince. Someone, or something, had taken complete control of the major systems and no amount of hacking on Sam’s part had yielded results. Daniel started to say something to her, but was cut off by the Colonel’s shouted orders, echoing down the hall. “Carter, Daniel - armory!”
Daniel closed his mouth and shrugged at her, and she slammed her laptop shut. Out of time. As they stepped out of the lab, the power cut out. Sam grabbed Daniel’s arm to stop him from moving until the emergency lighting came up slowly, filling the base with a faint red-orange glow. They headed for the armory at a run.
SG3 was already geared up when they arrived, and there were a few other SFs in the process of doing the same. Sam turned to report to Colonel O’Neill, when half of SG4 - winded, and with Clarke bleeding heavily from a cut on his cheek - stumbled in with the worst possible news: Replicators. Everywhere in the lower levels.
There was a long, frozen moment while everyone processed the intel, and then Rodriguez from SG-3 started pulling ammo boxes off the shelves and Daniel gently pressed a bandage to Clarke’s wound, while everyone else resumed kitting out. Tension and urgency filled the room like a corporeal presence. Sam wiped her suddenly sweaty palms on her thighs. Until now, she’d been feeling the familiar adrenaline surge that accompanied a new mission. But this news… Replicators… her stomach churned and she swallowed thickly to tamp down the fear.
***
Additional military personnel were trickling in, and Colonels O’Neill and Reynolds quickly took charge by assigning teams to sectors and forming fall-back zones and contingency plans. But their words and the ordered chaos around Sam faded to white noise as she pulled on her tactical vest and buckled the straps. For once in her life she couldn't multi-task; couldn't run through a myriad of alternate solutions; couldn't concentrate on anything more than the methodical process of donning her gear. Memories of shooting and running and an overwhelming enemy dogged her thoughts. This wasn’t just bad - it was potentially apocalyptic. If the Replicators overran the mountain… She pushed the fear away again and forced herself to concentrate on the tools in front of her.
Sam pulled four P90 magazines out of a nearby ammo box and slipped them into her vest before locking another one into the top of the weapon itself. She deliberated for a second and then reached for four more mags; they had plenty of ammo to go around, and she figured she might not be able to make it back to the armory if she ran out. A quick look at the opened weapons and ammo boxes strewn around the room revealed an extra Beretta, which she slid into her thigh holster; the zat she preferred as backup would be useless today. Extra mags for the Beretta. Shooting glasses. Radio and earpiece.
"Carter, pass me those grenades." The direct address startled Sam, shattering the temporary calm she had created by focusing on arming herself to the teeth. Her brain stuttered, leaving her frozen and perplexed, as if she'd walked into a room without any idea why she had come.
"Carter?" Colonel O'Neill asked again, but she could only blink at him. He eyed her sharply as he stepped to her side and reached for the grenades he'd asked for. He clipped them to his vest and then turned her to face him directly.
"Hey," he said, nudging her chin up with his hand. "Look at me."
She wanted to comply, but her eyes were restless - scanning and jumping like the thoughts that suddenly flooded her head now that she'd stopped moving. There had to be a solution, a way out. If she could just see it, why can't she see it?
"Carter!" his hands gripped her shoulders and shook her lightly, until blue finally locked with brown.
His expression softened with relief. "You with me now?"
And just like someone flipping a switch all her doubts and fear fell away, leaving her with the clarity of resolve. An overwhelming enemy, yes, but this man, this man before her was trust and action and focus and... love. She reached up to grip his biceps. "Always," she said, and her voice barely trembled. "I'm always with you."
Now he was the one to look away. "Carter... Sam," he started, then forced himself to look into her eyes again. "I need you to know... I-"
"I know," she cut in.
He sighed and closed his eyes, and pulled them as close as their gear would allow, tipping his forehead onto hers, sliding his hands up her neck and caressing her jaw with his thumbs. "Yeah," he whispered. "I guess you do."
Then he pulled back slightly, tilted his head and kissed her - slow and deep and sure. And once again, the room and the situation faded away for Sam. There were probably two dozen military men currently sharing the same 10x20 room, and Sam had no thought for anything except the man kissing her with so much passion.
When the kiss ended, they didn't separate, just spent a long moment breathing each other in, until Teal'c's voice brought them back.
"O'Neill."
"We're ready," Jack replied, eyes never leaving hers. Sam nodded her agreement and they slowly separated and faced the rest of the room. "Yeah, we're ready," he repeated, and Sam looked down in surprise as his hand linked with hers. "Let's do this."
That day, Sam Carter met the enemy with a smile on her face.
.fin.
The Royal We
we are ready for the siege
we are armed up to the teeth
be careful how you live and breathe
release what's brewing underneath
how many times do you want to die
how many ways do you want to die
to feel safe again look over your shoulder
very carefully look over your shoulder
we can laugh about it now
we hope everything works out
you used to do a little but a little won't fly
and right before you hit your prime
that's when we fell in love but not the first time
This is a belated birthday offering for mrspollifax! One should really be able to celebrate a birth month, not just a day. :)
Title: That's when we fell in love, but not the first time
Category: S/J, action/adventure
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Word Count: ~1175
Season/Spoilers: Somewhere after S5 "Menace" but before "Meridian"
Summary: "This wasn’t just bad - it was potentially apocalyptic."
A/N: Many, many thanks to ziparumpazoo, who kindly suggested that I rewrite the first half, and for all her speedy beta services. Couldn't have done it without you, hon!
The base's 'invasion' alarm wailed to life, then cut off abruptly before SG-1 could even make it to the door.
"That can’t be good,” the Colonel muttered and lifted the handset of Sam’s lab phone. "This is O’Neill, requesting sta- hello? Hello?” He pressed the switchook a few times before hanging up and swiveling to face them. “Comms are down,” he said unnecessarily. Sam was already on her computer, trying to access the gateroom monitoring feeds and the incoming gate logs, but nothing was working. They had power, but they seemed to be locked out of all critical systems. She told the Colonel as much even as she continued to find an alternate way in, her fingers flying across the keyboard.
“Really not good,” he muttered again. “OK, you and Daniel keep working on it. Teal’c and I’ll open the armory and sort out who’s on this level.” The SGC’s secondary armory was just down the hall from Sam’s lab - fortunately - but that probably gave her only 10 or so minutes to reestablish access. They might be able to go up to the auxiliary control room on Level 16, but only if they could move between levels, she mused. And it was doubtful that the auxiliary controls would work if Sam couldn’t get access from her own lab.
She hunched over the keyboard more determinedly and ignored the frisson of fear creeping up her spine.
***
It was more like 15 minutes later when Sam banged the lab table in frustration, sensing rather than seeing Daniel’s sympathetic wince. Someone, or something, had taken complete control of the major systems and no amount of hacking on Sam’s part had yielded results. Daniel started to say something to her, but was cut off by the Colonel’s shouted orders, echoing down the hall. “Carter, Daniel - armory!”
Daniel closed his mouth and shrugged at her, and she slammed her laptop shut. Out of time. As they stepped out of the lab, the power cut out. Sam grabbed Daniel’s arm to stop him from moving until the emergency lighting came up slowly, filling the base with a faint red-orange glow. They headed for the armory at a run.
SG3 was already geared up when they arrived, and there were a few other SFs in the process of doing the same. Sam turned to report to Colonel O’Neill, when half of SG4 - winded, and with Clarke bleeding heavily from a cut on his cheek - stumbled in with the worst possible news: Replicators. Everywhere in the lower levels.
There was a long, frozen moment while everyone processed the intel, and then Rodriguez from SG-3 started pulling ammo boxes off the shelves and Daniel gently pressed a bandage to Clarke’s wound, while everyone else resumed kitting out. Tension and urgency filled the room like a corporeal presence. Sam wiped her suddenly sweaty palms on her thighs. Until now, she’d been feeling the familiar adrenaline surge that accompanied a new mission. But this news… Replicators… her stomach churned and she swallowed thickly to tamp down the fear.
***
Additional military personnel were trickling in, and Colonels O’Neill and Reynolds quickly took charge by assigning teams to sectors and forming fall-back zones and contingency plans. But their words and the ordered chaos around Sam faded to white noise as she pulled on her tactical vest and buckled the straps. For once in her life she couldn't multi-task; couldn't run through a myriad of alternate solutions; couldn't concentrate on anything more than the methodical process of donning her gear. Memories of shooting and running and an overwhelming enemy dogged her thoughts. This wasn’t just bad - it was potentially apocalyptic. If the Replicators overran the mountain… She pushed the fear away again and forced herself to concentrate on the tools in front of her.
Sam pulled four P90 magazines out of a nearby ammo box and slipped them into her vest before locking another one into the top of the weapon itself. She deliberated for a second and then reached for four more mags; they had plenty of ammo to go around, and she figured she might not be able to make it back to the armory if she ran out. A quick look at the opened weapons and ammo boxes strewn around the room revealed an extra Beretta, which she slid into her thigh holster; the zat she preferred as backup would be useless today. Extra mags for the Beretta. Shooting glasses. Radio and earpiece.
"Carter, pass me those grenades." The direct address startled Sam, shattering the temporary calm she had created by focusing on arming herself to the teeth. Her brain stuttered, leaving her frozen and perplexed, as if she'd walked into a room without any idea why she had come.
"Carter?" Colonel O'Neill asked again, but she could only blink at him. He eyed her sharply as he stepped to her side and reached for the grenades he'd asked for. He clipped them to his vest and then turned her to face him directly.
"Hey," he said, nudging her chin up with his hand. "Look at me."
She wanted to comply, but her eyes were restless - scanning and jumping like the thoughts that suddenly flooded her head now that she'd stopped moving. There had to be a solution, a way out. If she could just see it, why can't she see it?
"Carter!" his hands gripped her shoulders and shook her lightly, until blue finally locked with brown.
His expression softened with relief. "You with me now?"
And just like someone flipping a switch all her doubts and fear fell away, leaving her with the clarity of resolve. An overwhelming enemy, yes, but this man, this man before her was trust and action and focus and... love. She reached up to grip his biceps. "Always," she said, and her voice barely trembled. "I'm always with you."
Now he was the one to look away. "Carter... Sam," he started, then forced himself to look into her eyes again. "I need you to know... I-"
"I know," she cut in.
He sighed and closed his eyes, and pulled them as close as their gear would allow, tipping his forehead onto hers, sliding his hands up her neck and caressing her jaw with his thumbs. "Yeah," he whispered. "I guess you do."
Then he pulled back slightly, tilted his head and kissed her - slow and deep and sure. And once again, the room and the situation faded away for Sam. There were probably two dozen military men currently sharing the same 10x20 room, and Sam had no thought for anything except the man kissing her with so much passion.
When the kiss ended, they didn't separate, just spent a long moment breathing each other in, until Teal'c's voice brought them back.
"O'Neill."
"We're ready," Jack replied, eyes never leaving hers. Sam nodded her agreement and they slowly separated and faced the rest of the room. "Yeah, we're ready," he repeated, and Sam looked down in surprise as his hand linked with hers. "Let's do this."
That day, Sam Carter met the enemy with a smile on her face.
.fin.
The Royal We
we are ready for the siege
we are armed up to the teeth
be careful how you live and breathe
release what's brewing underneath
how many times do you want to die
how many ways do you want to die
to feel safe again look over your shoulder
very carefully look over your shoulder
we can laugh about it now
we hope everything works out
you used to do a little but a little won't fly
and right before you hit your prime
that's when we fell in love but not the first time