Melt
Jezyk
Spoilers: Through the beginning of season 9
Disclaimer: I don't own them; I'm just taking them out for some fun. I'll put them back when I'm done. Promise.

AN: This is fluff. It might appear angsty, but it's fluff. I swear. Trust me.

There had been pizza. A lot of pizza. There had been terribly cheesy movies. Several of them. There had been laughter. More laughter than any of them had rightfully expected. And there had been beer. Good God, there had been way too much beer. But it was hard to resist the lure of the old team, the original one, together again for one night.

Somewhere around midnight the desperation had set in - the idea that the night was drawing to a close, that reality was going to return. And then the drinking had begun in earnest. No one admitted to it, but Sam was aware of the way Teal'c was watching his friends drink an unhealthy amount of alcohol. Daniel was holding his own for once, but he wasn't holding a candle to Sam. She was tossing back one bottle after another. And even she couldn't quite keep up with Jack.

They put in another movie and Carter reached for another bottle. She figured it gave her something to concentrate on besides clinging to Jack and begging him to never leave. She'd need a lot more beer before that seemed like a good idea.

And then she was running. Something was behind her, hiding in the darkness, chasing her, stalking her relentlessly. She ran as hard as she could. But she was tired. Her legs felt like lead. Her lungs worked to suck in air, but it was thick, like water. She heard the crunch of footsteps on the forest floor behind her, but when she turned to look, there was nothing there. She redoubled her efforts and kept running, pushing herself harder than she could maintain for long. But her feet betrayed her, moving slower and slower despite her mind's protests. Finally she tripped and couldn't get up again. She couldn't bear to look behind her - she just knew it was there and there was no escape. She felt an evil, cold, dark presence behind her and a hand grabbed her shoulder.

She woke with a start, heart pounding, eyes wide with fear. For an irrational, panicked moment, she thought she was still there, about to be consumed by the beast in her dream.

The familiar, muffled snore on her left soothed her. Things could only be so bad if Daniel was beside her. She rolled toward him, letting her eyes settle on his dark shape to reassure her. She'd slept beside him in the field so many times, beside all of them, in fact, that she could even recognize the weird shadows given off by his arm slung over his face. The man slept in the weirdest positions. The comfort was short lived; however, as she wondered just what she was doing in bed with Daniel.

Her head spun as she jumped to her feet, the drunken dizzy feeling reminding her that she'd passed out on General O'Neill's living room. A giggle nearly bubbled out when she realized they were both dressed. She carefully made her way to the living room, the eerie feeling of her dream still holding tight to her subconscious. The room felt cold; she felt cold. But she felt like the cold was emanating from somewhere inside her, freezing air that had been comfortable before her arrival.

Just as she expected, Teal'c was alone, sleeping soundly on the couch. She recalled that Jack had been there previously, a silly, girlish part of her reliving the delicious tingle caused by the brush of his hand along her neck while they were both well on their way to passing out.

Teal'c had undoubtedly been the last one standing and had delivered the three of them to slightly more appropriate sleeping arrangements than a tangled heap on the floor. Left to Jack, Sam and Daniel would have been slumped over on the floor with Sam's head resting on Jack's arm and Daniel's head on Sam's shoulder. They all would have woken up with various aches and pains in addition to the hangovers she knew they would suffer once they sobered up.

Sam smiled at Teal'c's sleeping form. At least Teal'c had protected them all from the embarrassment of any unsuitable contact. Of course Teal'c knew that Daniel and Sam would have no qualms sleeping platonically in the same bed. Of course Teal'c knew that Jack and Sam would have died from embarrassment to have woken up together without any recollection of choosing that option. She loved Teal'c's protective, brotherly side - the side that knew Sam being drunk and in a bed with Jack would probably have terribly upsetting ramifications.

She turned back to the guest room, telling herself she was never safer than in a house with the three men who loved her most in the world. Daniel's gentle snoring assured her that she wasn't alone. She felt a chill as she closed her eyes, fearing the dream would return. She reached out and lightly grasped Daniel's hand, just so she could know he was there as she drifted back to sleep.

And then she was running again. The fear, the dread, the terror all gripped her once again. She tried to scream and no words came out. The thing, the monster, chasing her was practically on top of her. Her leaden legs didn't stand a chance to escape. As she turned to face her doom, she saw the creature's claws, already dripping with blood. She was more terrified then, not for herself, but for her team. She knew the creature had already gotten them. The scream that finally ripped loose was loud enough to wake the dead.

She sat straight up in the unfamiliar bed, still shaking. She felt tears running down her face. Daniel muttered something in his sleep, pulling his hand from hers and rolling away from her. She told herself she should feel better that the scream had only been in her head - less embarrassing than facing her friends who would undoubtedly coming running in response to her cry.

The fear clung to her and she once again found herself tiptoeing to the living room to check on Teal'c. He was fine, not having moved an inch from the last time she'd checked. She couldn't shake the fear - she needed to check on Jack. She knew it was irrational, but she needed to know that he was ok too. She shivered as she turned to the hallway. The cold wouldn't leave her.

She was light on her feet, telling herself not to be afraid of the shadows, promising herself she would stay awake the rest of the night to avoid anymore scares. She eased the bedroom door open silently, knowing a surprised Jack could inflict serious injury.

"Bathroom's across the hall." His voice didn't sound startled or groggy.

She pushed open the door a little more to stick her head through and saw the glow of the TV. He was wide awake. He'd probably heard her creeping down the hall, expecting that she was looking for the bathroom. She had a split-second to take that excuse and run with it, to close the door knowing that he was perfectly safe. But she didn't want to close the door. The air in his room was warm and inviting. As soon as she closed the door, she knew she would face the scary, cold shapes in the dark and have only the assurance that her friends were completely ignorant of her plight. She hesitated a moment too long.

He turned around to check who it was. "Carter? You ok?"

She nodded, paralyzed by the idea of him so close in such an intimate setting with the knowledge that he wasn't her CO anymore. A new wave of fear gripped her - that he might think she intended for something to happen, that she expected an invitation. She didn't want him to think that. She wanted a sweet, romantic surrender to their dance, not heavy-handed physical intimacy that seemed more obligatory than voluntary.

He pressed a button on the remote, lowering the volume on the TV. "Are you sick?"

She shook her head, gripping the door knob to stave off the dizziness. She was still a little drunk, which made her feel better, because it explained the disconcerted way she felt. And just hearing his voice was enough to soothe her. But that was only until she started to feel stupid, leaning in her friend's bedroom door in the middle of the night because she was drunk and scared.

"I had a nightmare. I just wanted to make sure you were ok." She ducked her head, embarrassed by her admission. It seemed even dumber when she gave voice to the thoughts. Jack was hardly afraid of things that went bump in the night. She nodded toward the hall. "I'm going to back to sleep. Night."

Before she could move to take a determined step back to the other room, she saw it. The smallest, simplest movement. The most profound statement she'd ever witnessed.

His outstretched hand.

He didn't say a word. He didn't have to.

She contemplated him, probably longer than she should have. She'd been holding Daniel's hand and still managed to scare herself silly. She didn't know why, but she was absolutely convinced that holding Jack's hand would have a much different result. She stepped forward, pushing through the door.

Her hand seemed to fit perfectly in his. If she were prone to believe in those sorts of things, she would have said it was as though their hands were made to fit together. Instead, she was happy that the warmth in the room was coming from him and it was seeping through his hand and into hers. She sat stiffly on the edge of the bed, allowing the light touch of his hand to warm her slowly.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head. "No, it was just a dream. I drank too much."

She could hear the smile in his voice. "Me too." He shifted around behind her without releasing her hand. She was curious, but she didn't dare look. "Come here."

She froze. She didn't breathe. She was sure even her heart had stopped beating. Her analytical mind asked her exactly what she'd been expecting him to do, because he was in bed and she'd sought him out and he'd offered his hand to her and she'd accepted it. She chastised herself for not expecting precisely what had happened. She felt dumb once again, having run to him in fear. But he wasn't rebuffing her. He was offering her exactly what she'd wanted, even though she hadn't known it was what she wanted when she went looking.

She'd never felt as nervous as she did at that moment. His feelings made clear, the decision about their relationship completely in her hands. She knew what she wanted to do; she wasn't sure if she should do it. She didn't understand why he was so nonchalant about it.

"Carter?" His voice sounded odd to her ears, which she figured was in her head. "What's wrong?" She finally placed what she thought she heard. There was curiosity there, covering hurt. There was definitely hurt there. Because despite his behavior, he wasn't so nonchalant about it.

And that made the decision for her.

She scooted back on the bed, sliding along his body until she found the exact point where their bodies melded. Her leg fell over his; her arm snaked around his waist. One of his arms pulled her closer until some of her weight was resting on him; the other hand threaded into her hair. She tucked her head under his chin and took a deep breath, reveling in the warmth that radiated from him. She'd been cold for so long and she hadn't even been aware of it until she felt the heat he offered.

Silence fell between them for a long time.

"Better?"

Just then a shrill scream came from the television as a teenage girl found out something quite unpleasant was about to kill her.

She chuckled. "I was kind of looking for something more benign than a horror flick."

The hand that had been in her hair moved away, finding the remote and flipping through the channels. He finally settled on a home shopping channel. "That benign enough for you, Carter?"

She opened her eyes to glance at the TV, listening to the gushing saleswomen for a moment. Feeling indescribably happy and quite bold, she pushed herself up and rested her weight on his chest. "I'm fairly certain I find the idea of purple suede more frightening than anything else in the galaxy."

Jack grinned and dropped the remote, replacing his hand in her hair. "Well, then, I'll just have to find some way to distract you." His eyes twinkled in the dim light as his face moved closer to hers.

And when his mouth found hers, she knew she'd never be cold again.