Title: Till We Run out of Road
Author: Holdouttrout
Rating: Mature for themes.
Pairing: Sam/Jack
Category: Drama, Angst, Apocafic
Warnings: SG-1 character death, spoilers for '200.'
Notes: This was written for apocalypsekree. The apocalypse came when they weren't looking. SG-1 after Earth.
That day, when they'd stepped through the 'gate—Cam's two hundredth time, and somewhere between her thousandth and one hundred thousandth—she'd felt light, happy, full, almost for the first time since fishing on a pond in Minnesota. She had her family here, old and new.
She found herself weighing her reactions, looking for differences between Then and Now, wondering how come it all felt exactly the same and yet so different from what she remembered.
Daniel appeared lost in thought, and Vala was having a mostly one-sided conversation with Teal'c.
Sam smiled at a joke from Cam and gave him a pointed response that had him laughing and calling out to Walter to defend him. She liked that about Cam—he was good at getting people to fit together, even when it seemed they didn't belong. He went to join Walter and Landry at the front of their expedition to continue the conversation. Sam settled into a stride that matched Jack's as they automatically scanned the trees around them.
They caught each other's eyes at the end of the sweep and Sam grinned, "Old habits, sir?"
Jack's eyes reflected his own amusement. "Better prepared, Colonel."
Sam grinned again, then shrugged, "Party's not too much farther—just around those trees ahead."
The rest of the group was almost there. Jack's pace slowed. Sam was reminded abruptly that some things were different.
She said, "We should probably catch up or we're going to miss Cam's expression."
Jack shrugged. "There'll be pictures."
They stopped walking. Sunlight filtered down in between the trees, making soft patterns over Jack shoulders and on the needles spread underfoot.
"Sir…"
"Carter." His tone was gentle, but with a definite hint.
Sam suddenly wished she didn't know what he was hinting at. They were still playing with fire, dammit, and she didn't want to have this conversation at all, let alone on an alien planet with practically the whole SGC just behind a strand of trees.
A surprised yell broke their silence, and Sam jerked her head toward the sound. Not a second later, she heard Cam calling.
"Sam! Where are you?" She was walking towards the party before she thought about it, and was halfway there when Cam reappeared, grinning.
"You knew all about this, didn't you?" He took her hand, dragged her into a fray of people, and when she looked back, Jack was already accepting a cup of punch with a smirk.
The party was supposed to last well into the night hours. Someone—maybe Lieutenant Holmes, Sam couldn't remember—had procured fireworks. Cam's trip was just an excuse, and they all knew it, including Cam.
They had cake, Sam remembered; because Jack had frosting on his nose and she'd leaned over to wipe it off with her finger, not realizing what she was doing until she'd already put her finger in her mouth to lick it off.
She wasn't sure if she was embarrassed at the action or scared about how comfortable she was around him. She definitely flushed at the look he gave her and excused herself, taking refuge in Cam and Daniel's ongoing debate about P4G-558.
"What do you think, Sam—were those trees or bushes?"
Sam pretended to think about it for a minute. "I don't know," she said. "Bushes can grow quite large…" Cam grinned. "But I've never seen bushes that had fruit that size before," she concluded, making Daniel smirk triumphantly. She felt Jack's eyes on her, but didn't turn around.
It was just dusk, although it was still quite warm--the planet's atmosphere kept a lot of residual heat, though the nights were a lot longer than Earth's. There were some people muttering about fireworks, and some about dancing--Vala in particular was hanging onto Daniel's arm while trying to get the attention of Major Lawrence of SG-12, who was in charge of the music.
She got her way, of course, and some of the people made attempts at dancing until the fireworks went off--big, brilliant ones that exploded right overhead. Teal'c, Cam, and Sam debated which ones were the most impressive, and Daniel and Jack argued quietly about something or another on the other side of the clearing, each of them carefully not looking at Sam in that way that made her very uncomfortably aware they were, in part, talking about her. She ignored them.
After the last of the fireworks fell to not-Earth, they all grabbed their gear and walked back to the Stargate. Most everyone was subdued, and few people were talking, although nearly everyone looked content, relaxed, happy. Sam was glad they'd come, glad Cam was ridiculous, glad they were all still capable of going completely overboard.
They reached the 'gate, and Sam indicated to Walter that he should take the lead. She figured he would get a kick out of dialing a real DHD. He looked on in awe as each of the chevrons engaged. She saw him counting silently to himself, stifled a smile.
Five...Six...
Seven never engaged.
They tried dialing the Alpha Site, with similar results. At first, they thought this was good news, thought it meant that they just dialed at the wrong time, that there was an unexpected incident keeping both 'gates busy. But when they tried again an hour later, they still couldn't connect.
Jack and Landry gave each other grim looks, and Sam and Cameron started herding the forty or so soldiers and scientists back to the campsite to set up emergency shelters. No one in their group was new to going off-world, except for Walter, and no one panicked. Even though this had been a festive occasion, on a safe world, they were not unprepared. There was a storage shed with tents, food, and other supplies--this was to be one of their new drop sites anyway--, and Cam assigned a lieutenant to oversee the distribution of materials.
Within thirty minutes, they had a functional camp ready and a fire going. Sam set up some computer equipment with Walter and another scientist she'd appropriated for the job, using the now-empty shed and a naquadah generator they'd brought with them. She was grateful for once of her own paranoia, considering it meant that they could set up some basic surveillance equipment and run tests on the local environment.
The last wires were being connected when Jack appeared at the door, and Sam left Walter and the scientist—Hayes, she thought—to finish connecting and to run some basic diagnostics.
"We're staying," Jack said. "But then, you knew that."
Sam gave a ghost of a smile. "What's the plan?"
"SG-1's primary mission is to find out what happened. The secondary mission is to relocate the survivors of Earth."
Sam glanced at him, shocked.
"Oh, come on, Carter. You knew it was a possibility."
She looked away. She had. And if the Alpha Site was gone, too…it suggested that what had happened happened fast. There were a million possibilities.
She wanted to know.
"When do we leave?"
"Now."
Three months later, and they'd exhausted all the allies they could safely contact. The Ori were still spreading, and they'd heard no word from anyone about Earth. The four teams they'd cobbled together from the available personnel took shifts going through the 'gate, spending six days in the field and returning to crash until they were set to go out again.
They'd already lost six people.
SG-1 stepped back through the 'gate to their temporary home. Vala and Daniel peeled off from the main group, heading toward their bunks. Sam knew Daniel had a migraine again that he hadn't told her about, and Vala wasn't currently talking to him at all, although Sam didn't know why. Teal'c and Cam followed her to the tent in the center of the clearing. They ducked inside and found Jack and Landry, comparing notes and discussing them in low voices. Jack crossed something off a list and they looked up.
Cam said, "Nothing to report, sirs. Ran across a couple of Priors, but we avoided them and took the scenic route home."
Landry nodded. "Fine, get some rest. You leave again in three days."
Teal'c and Cam ducked outside. Sam followed, and was immediately set upon by Walter, who had a panicked look on his face. She made her way to the shack and spent the next few hours blinking back sleep and double-checking everything. When she was finally satisfied, she dragged herself across the clearing to her own bunk, ignoring the sentries and the muffled noises she heard coming from just outside the ring of trees around the clearing. Everyone had to find something to do.
She slept straight through the next day and only woke up when the sun set. She got up and swung by their makeshift kitchen, grabbing what she could carry, and took the path behind the camp up to the top of the hill nearby. From there, she could see the whole valley, and just make out the Stargate and their campsite. She lay back and watched the stars wink into existence above her.
She didn't move when she heard another person climb up behind her and sit down beside her. There was no need. She knew who it was.
Sam just waited. Finally, the other person sighed.
"We're taking you off SG-1."
Sam wished she were surprised.
"We need you here," Jack continued. "Well—not here, exactly. We found the Odyssey."
Sam's heart leaped, but something in Jack's tone made her cautious. "If you found the Odyssey—"
"It had crashed. Our best guess is that they ran into some trouble, took damage, got away, and tried to land."
Sam swallowed. "Survivors?"
"No."
A pause as Sam blinked back tears. She'd liked the Odyssey, had been familiar with her crew. Finally, Jack continued. "It's a pretty desolate planet. Nothing but rock for miles. You'll have to look yourself, to see if it can be repaired, but the team who reported back thought not. If not, we'll have to strip it and use what we can."
She nodded. Jack hesitated.
"Carter…" He touched her arm, sighed heavily. He sounded as bone-weary as she was, and she knew he didn't have the luxury of downtime she did.
Without thinking about it, she said, "Jack." He stilled. She sat up, wanting to say something, anything that wasn't orders or missions—something he could crack a joke at. But she came up empty. Instead, she leaned forward and kissed him, almost over-balancing in the process but grabbing his shoulders in time to keep them from tipping over.
It wasn't quite like she imagined. It wasn't consuming, or sweet, or awkward. It was as natural as if she'd tossed a gun to him in the field or stifled a laugh at one of his jokes. It was good, solid, and it was enough.
He tugged at her arms and she moved closer, shifting so she was in his lap, her arms around his body, and his hands on her waist. She teased his lips with her tongue, and his fingers dug into her sides.
She almost panicked, then, but she remembered Earth, and Mark, and six billion people and thought that all their denial hadn't kept anyone safe, after all, and reached around him to find that kissing wasn't enough. She needed more, and he was right there with her, hands skimming against her skin, and she was lost except for where he touched her or where the cool air brushed her—first on her back, then her breasts, and finally her thighs as they lay back under the still-unfamiliar sky.