| TITLE: Divide and Conquer 3: All That Matters AUTHOR: Nicky Chevalier RATING: NC-17 CATEGORY: S/J Romance, angst, sequel CONTENT WARNING: Sexual situations SUMMARY: When an organism offworld makes them hallucinate, Sam and Jack each have to face one of their worst fears- losing each other. SPOILERS: Divide & Conquer ARCHIVE: SJ, Heliopolis, anywhere else just let me know. DISCLAIMER: If I owned these characters, I wouldn't be writing fan- fiction would I? When Sam & Jack start getting hot and heavy in the elevator on the way down to sublevel 28, then you can start to wonder, but until that happens, it's pretty safe to assume I don't own 'em yet. I'm trying, really I am, but for some reason MGM, Gekko and Double Secret Productions won't sell them to me for a dollar, which is all I have in my wallet right now. FEEDBACK: I live for it. nickychevalier@y... AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is a sequel to 'Divide & Conquer 1: Bridging the divide, which was my first fic, and 'Divide & Conquer 2: All the King's Horses', which was my second. Thanks to everyone who's sent me feedback, it's very much appreciated. *** The Colonel hesitated, his zat gun wavering as he fought to maintain control of the rage that threatened to overtake him. "Fight it Sam!" He yelled to the woman in front of him, her own weapon aimed at Daniel's head. Sam's eyes flashed again, the corners of her mouth turned up in a condescending smile. "Your friend is gone." The foreign sound coming from his Major was cold, emotionless, and the unmistakable voice of the Goa'uld chilled him to the bone. Jack blinked as she turned to regard him, the aim of her zat following her gaze. "Don't make me shoot you," Jack warned the Goa'uld inhabiting the body of Samantha Carter, though it came out sounding more like a plea than a threat. "Leave her." "If I were to do that I would die," answered the Goa'uld simply. "Forgive me for not being overly devastated at that thought," snapped the Colonel. "Besides," she went on, "if I die, the host dies with me. You do not want that. That's why you won't shoot me." Her voice was calm, taunting, the Goa'uld taking obvious pleasure in the soldier's torment. She moved, her zat still aimed steadily at O'Neill as she regarded the other members of SG-1. Her cool gaze ran briefly over the subdued form of Teal'c, having already been shot once with the weapon, and settled once again on Daniel. "Enough pointless talk," she shrugged nonchalantly at the archaeologist and returned her icy stare to Jack, her finger closing silently over the trigger. Daniel opened his mouth to say something, a last ditch attempt at distracting the Goa'uld inside Sam from killing their friend, but he was cut off abruptly by the look of shock and pain that crossed over Sam's face as she was shot by Jack's zat. Stumbling, the Goa'uld raised her arm to return fire and felt another sharp jolt of electricity course through her before she slumped in a lifeless heap to the floor. *** Jack awoke with a start as the alarm went off on his bedside table. Shaking off the last remnants of the nightmare, he leaned over Sam to turn it off and kissed her awake before he rolled out of bed to hit the shower. He was still there when Sam drained the last of her coffee and closed the newspaper twenty minutes later, so she placed her cup in the dishwasher and turned to yell towards the bathroom. "Jack, get out of the shower, you're going to use all the hot water!" "Make me!" came the indignant reply, his voice reverberating through the room as he yelled back at her. Smiling mischieviously, Sam reached over the kitchen sink and turned on the hot water as fast as it would go, making the shower run cold. "Not quite what I had in mind!" came the bemused shout from the bathroom a second later. Sam laughed and shut off the water, making a mental note of the time as she left the kitchen and headed towards the bathroom. Steam rose steadily around her as she pulled Jack's hockey jersey over her head and dropped it next to his boxers on the floor. She sighed as she stepped into the warm spray of the water, Jack watching through approving eyes as she tilted her head back into the relaxing warmth. His hands resting on her hips, he gently pulled her back to rest against his chest and brought his lips down to taste the rivulets of water running down her exposed neck. Breathing her encouragement, Sam grasped the hands still at her hips and pulled his arms around her, tilting her head sideways to give him better access. Their hands entwined firmly at her navel, Jack moved his lips to her shoulder, his tongue darting out to capture the beads of water that clung there. Sam sighed again as he nipped gently at her skin, and letting go of his hands, she moved within the circle of his arms to face him, finally bringing her lips up to meet his in a tender kiss that quickly became heated. Their tongues duelled as he backed her slowly up to stand against the wall, the cool tile a delicious contrast to the heat of Jack's body and the water sluicing over them. Their simultaneous moans echoed around the bathroom as he pressed into her softness, feeling rather than hearing her whispered 'I love you' against his lips as he began to move within her. *** Sam leaned against the rear of her Volvo and waited while Jack parked in his usual space. The walk to the elevator was, as usual, quiet, both taking the time to slip back into their roles of CO and 2IC. "So, what's on the cards today, Carter?" The Colonel asked during the long ride down through the sub-levels of the SGC. "Well, I'm hoping to get some work done analysing the solar wind data SG-11 brought back from P4X493." He nodded, leaning comfortably against the back wall of the elevator. "Oh yeah, how's that going?" "Well, I think, taking into account that the presence of a background magnetic field in the turbulent plasma produces an anisotropy in the--" "Carter." "Sir?" "Forget I asked." "Yes, Sir." She answered, expertly hiding the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. The elevator finally came to a halt and the doors opened slowly. Carter smiled as they exchanged their customary 'see you later' glance and parted ways, Jack heading for his office, her walking briskly towards her lab. She paused in the open door of the infirmary, debating whether or not to go in and say hi. She could hear Janet and Daniel laughing over something inside, and decided she had a few minutes before she should start work. "Hey Sam," Daniel greeted her from his position perched on one of the empty infirmary beds, a cup of steaming coffee in his hand. Janet stood beside him, leaning comfortably against the bed as she sipped her own coffee. She looked up and smiled her greeting as Sam made her way over to the pair. "Oh, Sam," Janet exclaimed, suddenly remembering, "General Hammond left you a memo but he asked me to tell you anyway, SG-1's briefing tomorrow has been changed to 0930 today." Daniel nodded at the reminder. "Speaking of, I have some paperwork to finish up first so I better go," he explained as he jumped from the bed, managing to narrowly avoid spilling the contents of his mug all over himself and the doctor. "We still on for lunch?" Janet nodded, "I'll be in the commissiary if you're here, but since your briefing is this morning, you'll probably be offworld," she reminded him. "Or in the infirmary," she couldn't resist teasing. "Hey! I don't always come back injured, you know." He laughed and headed for the door. Sam shrugged. "Guess I'd better go too if I want to get any work done before the briefing." Janet shook her head in amusement. "What's the matter Sam, not spending so much time on base these days?" Her only reply was the look of good-humored admonishment Sam gave her as she left. *** Jack held his gun cautiously at his side as he surveyed the surroundings of P4J938. Trees... trees... rubble... more trees. "Hey, look at those ruins," Daniel was saying excitedly as he headed for the pile of debris Jack had just glanced over. "Hey, Teal'c," he called a minute later, "do you recognize any of these symbols?" Jack turned to Sam with a pained look and rolled his eyes as Teal'c started towards the excited archaeologist. The Major sent her CO an amused smile and followed, leaving Jack to check on the DHD. "Well, what's the verdict?" O'Neill asked dryly when she'd returned, "how long are we going to be here?" "If Daniel gets his way? Three weeks. A month, tops," she joked. The Colonel shook his head and turned to call out to the other half of SG1. "Teal'c, stay and help Danny, me and Carter are gonna go check this place out." The Jaffa nodded once in acknowledgment. "You have two hours Daniel, then we're outta here." Daniel just nodded and waved distractedly, Jack doubted he'd heard a word. He took the lead as they headed into the trees, on alert for any sign of intelligent life. Carter surveyed her surroundings with interest, curiously examining the various plant life, stopping periodically to take samples. "Er... Carter?" She looked up at Jack's confused tone to see a cloud of tiny white spores rising up from the ground near his feet. But her curiosity was soon put on hold as the Colonel collapsed, landing face down on a large, white mushroom-like plant. Sam broke into a run, closing the distance between them before the spores had had time to settle, and she landed heavily on top of her CO as she passed out. *** "Sir?" Carter looked around her for any clue as to where he'd disappeared to, her radio issuing nothing but unhelpful static. "Colonel?" She called louder, walking further into the woods. When no reply came, she felt the familiar stirrings of worry as her stomach clenched. "Sir?!" Her worry quickly became alarm as she felt strong arms surround her, pulling her into an intimate embrace. "Yes?" Jack whispered huskily in her ear, and she relaxed as she realised the identity of her would be attacker. "Jack," she started before the military part of her brain kicked in. "I mean *Colonel*," she amended, pointedly stepping out of his embrace. "You scared me." "Sorry," he whispered, before pulling her back into his arms. "We're on duty," she reminded him. "I don't see your uniform." She looked down to discover he was right, her military issued BDUs had been replaced by faded jeans and a pale blue sweater that Jack's hands roamed happily underneath. Sam looked at him in confusion, discovering his uniform had also been replaced by casual clothes. About to enquire as to what the hell was going on, she soon discovered that it was quite difficult to speak when he was kissing her like that, and less than a second later she'd forgotten what she was even going to ask. His tongue traced the contours of her mouth and she moaned her approval as his hands ran sensuously over her lower back. Grasping his shirt at the hem, she pulled it up and over his head, threw it uncaringly behind her, and returned her mouth to his. She closed her eyes at the sensation, his now familiar touch sending a shiver up her spine. "Jack," she breathed. His answering moan was not a product of pleasure, but of pain. The staff blast hit him square in the back, sending them both flying, and he landed heavily on top of her, a dead weight in her arms. Suppressing a scream, she dragged him behind the cover of a fallen tree and peered cautiously over it to return fire, but their attacker was nowhere to be seen. Besides, she soon realised, for some reason she wasn't carrying a weapon. Her mind registered this as strange, but the more she thought about it the more her head hurt, and she soon gave up. Dropping back behind the rotting wood, she sat with her back to it, Jack's head in her lap, and looked on helplessly as he died in her arms. *** Jack looked around him cautiously, his gun gripped tightly in one hand. He held the radio clipped to his military vest in the other. "Carter?" He spoke into it, static his only reply. "Come in, Carter," he tried again, his heart pounding at double speed. His mind screamed desperately for her to answer him, but he ignored it, forcing himself to be calm. Giving up on the radio, he held his P90 ready to fire as he started through the woods. "Sam?!" He yelled. He got no answer until the sound of approaching footsteps behind him made him turn quickly on his heel to assess the danger. "Carter," he breathed in relief as she walked briskly towards him. It wasn't until she'd snatched the gun from his hands that he realised something was terribly wrong. "The one of which you speak is dead," stated the Goa'uld coldly, relieving him quickly of every weapon he carried. Jack took a small step backwards, trying to surreptitiously increase the distance between them. He had to get back to the gate, where he'd have the help of Teal'c and Daniel. The Goa'uld, however, had other ideas. "Sit down," she ordered. She tied his wrists behind him, the rough bark of the tree he was tied to scratching at his arms as she stood with a self-satisfied smirk. He strained against the ropes, finding them tightly knotted and he looked up at her with fury in his eyes. "You know, this whole bondage thing doesn't really do it for me." Pushing away his grief for Sam, he was determined not to give the Goa'uld the satisfaction of seeing how much he cared for the woman who's body she inhabited. She saw it anyway. *** Daniel looked up from his notes and paused in his translation long enough to check his watch. It had been over two hours since Jack and Sam had wandered into the woods, and he was starting to wonder about them. "You there, Jack?" He asked into his radio, glancing worriedly at Teal'c when he got no reply. His brow furrowed in concern, he tried again. "Sam?" Still only static. "Perhaps we should look for them DanielJackson," suggested Teal'c. Daniel nodded, hurriedly packing up his things as the Jaffa waited patiently, staff weapon in hand. The pair walked cautiously through the woods, listening over the sound of their footsteps on the dry leaves for any sign of their friends. "Jack?" Daniel called through the trees, pausing briefly to listen for a reply. "Major Carter?" called Teal'c, and Daniel soon decided to leave the yelling to him, with that voice they could probably hear him back on Earth. Regardless, no reply came, and Daniel felt himself getting more worried by the minute. He saw nothing to suggest they'd even gone this way, they were searching blindly and the hopes of finding them were looking slim. "I think we should split up," stated the archaeologist, "we'll cover more ground that way, and if we haven't found them in an hour we'll go back through the gate and get help." The jaffa nodded in agreement and started off in another direction. *** Swiping angrily at her tear-streaked cheeks, Sam fought to get her emotions back under control. Losing her head now wasn't going to get them anywhere. Them? No, she told herself, there is no 'them', now. It's just me. She clutched him tighter, lifting his head slightly from her lap to press her forehead to his, sobs wracking her body as her hot tears left track marks in the dirt that covered his face. Grief flooded through her, making her shake as she kissed his hair, stroking his face with a trembling hand. "I love you Jack," she whispered unsteadily, breathing in deep shuddering gasps of air as she tried to stop crying. "I always will." Lowering him gently to the ground, she covered him as best she could with his jacket, planning to come back with Daniel and Teal'c to take his body back to the gate. They'd come back later with reinforcements to hunt down the bastard who'd done this. She stood for a moment, the strength of will to leave him escaping her. Finally, willing herself to just go, she raised her arm in a shaky salute. "It was an honour to serve with you, Colonel," she whispered under her breath, tears pouring down her face as she dropped her arm and walked away. *** The rope cut deeply into his wrists, but the physical pain hardly registered to Jack. He dropped his chin to his chest, closing his eyes and letting himself sink deeper into the blessed numbness that engulfed him. "Just kill me already," he taunted the Goa'uld pacing in front of him. "I think you know, neither you nor any of the rest of your slimy, scum-sucking, snake-headed race are going to get anything out of me, so can we just get this show on the road please?" "You wish to die." It was more a statement than a question. "Well, it wasn't really on my list of things to do today, but hey, I'll try anything once." Jack's voice was tightly controlled, his words as angry as if he had screamed them. "Why?" The Goa'uld stopped pacing and turned to stand in front of him. "Why what?" He spat, Sam's face torturing him into turning away. "Why do you wish to die?" 'Because I would rather die myself, than lose Carter,' his mind supplied, but he didn't voice the thought. He didn't answer, closing his eyes again on his surroundings and letting his mind take him back to the first time he'd uttered those words aloud. He remembered her, strapped to the machine, being forced to acknowledge verbally what they'd both known emotionally since what felt like forever. "What were you feeling?" Freya had asked. "Fear," she'd answered simply, and Jack could hear the nervous tremor in her voice. "For your life?" "Yes..." Sam had paused then, taking a deep breath that Jack knew had done nothing to calm her. "No," she'd finally amended. "For Colonel O'Neill's?" "Yes." "Why?" She hadn't said anything for a time, her silence conveying just how difficult this was for her. "Major Carter?" Freya had prompted, and Jack had never wanted to slap her so badly. "Because I'm in love with him," his 2IC had finally whispered. Jack was brought jarringly out of his reverie by the sharp smack the Goa'uld had Sam's hand deliver to his face. Instinctively he lashed out, his foot connecting sharply with her kneecap. She cried out angrily as it gave a loud 'snap', and Jack winced at the sight of his love falling injured in front of him, the anger in her glowing eyes conveying the promise of painful revenge. Reminding himself that Sam was gone, he kicked out again, his foot this time connecting with her face. He looked at the blood trailing from her nose, and had to force himself not to show any emotion. Years of military training had taught him never to show weakness to an enemy, and whether he liked it or not the face of Samantha Carter was now the enemy. *** "Daniel Jackson, I have located Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill. I believe they are unconscious," Teal'c spoke into his radio, the motionless bodies of his friends at his feet. The steady rise and fall of their chests was reassuring, but Teal'c would feel a lot better knowing they were in the infirmary and under the care of Dr. Frasier. "Okay Teal'c, where are you?" Came the answer, the voice crackling with static. The jaffa looked around him, seeing nothing but bushland. "I am taking them back to the stargate," he told the radio and hoisted Sam up to lay draped over one shoulder. He peered through the sudden white haze and waited for the spores to settle before grasping the Colonel around the waist. The short walk back to the stargate seemed infinitely longer with the added weight of the two soldiers, and Teal'c was glad to see Daniel already dialling when he stepped out of the trees and headed for the gate. "Medical team to the gate room", was the first thing Daniel heard when he stepped through the event horizon back on Earth, Janet and her team appearing almost instantly to take his friends to the infirmary. "Teal'c, Doctor Jackson, what happened?" Hammond met them at the base of the ramp, looking more than a little worried. Daniel shrugged, shaking his head in concern and confusion. "Teal'c and I were translating the writing on some old ruins, and they went to explore in the woods. Two and a half hours later we found them like this." The general nodded. "Have yourself checked out in the infirmary and report for debriefing in one hour. Hopefully we'll have some answers by then." *** Sam was halfway back to the gate when the light hit her eyes. She blinked, squinting into the brightness in an attempt to see where it was coming from. Janet's face swam into view, and she realised with some confusion that the brightness causing her to squint was coming from the overhead lights of the infirmary. Apparently she wasn't on P4J938 anymore. "Janet? What's going on?" The doctor gave her a reassuring smile. "You and Colonel O'Neill..." she trailed off when Sam winced at the mention of the Colonel's name, turning away from her to face the doorway. "Sam?" "Colonel O'Neill is dead." Her voice was quiet, anguished, Janet had never heard her friend so upset. "Sam?" It wasn't Janet that spoke this time, it was Jack, and the doctor had to steady her patient with a firm hand as she whirled around and tried to sit up. Janet had already been through this with the Colonel, and it had taken everything in her power to make him stay in bed. "Easy, Sam, lay back. I can see you and Colonel O'Neill have a lot of catching up to do, but you're going to have to do it from there, okay? You're going to be dizzy for a little while." "Jack? What... how..." she trailed off, suddenly unable to speak through her tears. Janet reached out and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, glad for the empty infirmary today. "Sam," Jack spoke up, "it's okay, I'm okay. Doc says we've been hallucinating." Janet nodded. "From what I've been able to gather, the hallucinogen was in the spores of a plant you both ran into in the forest on P4J938. Luckily Teal'c found you, his symbiote protected him from it's effects. From what Colonel O'Neill has told me, it sounds like it preys on the subconscious mind. You've been basically living in your subconscious idea of hell for two hours now. It took me twenty minutes to convince him that you're not a Goa'uld." Sam hiccoughed, her sobs subsiding as she raised her eyebrows at the man in the neighboring bed. He looked like he'd been to hell and back. "You thought I was a Goa'uld?" He nodded, waving away the notion in what she knew was his classic 'I don't want to think about it' gesture. He caught her eye instead, and the unspoken emotion she saw in him at that moment brought tears to her eyes again. Dragging her gaze from his, she looked up at the ceiling and drew a deep breath, trying simultaneously to calm her shattered nerves and prevent the unshed tears from welling over again. Pulling her emotions firmly back under control, she looked again at Janet. "Are we allowed to go home?" Janet sighed. "As much as I'd like to keep you here under observation, I don't think confining you to the base would be good for either of you right now." They both smiled their thanks as they caught her meaning, and Sam made a mental note to thank her friend properly later. Not fifteen minutes ago she'd believed her lover dead, and she knew that being stuck on base where she could see him but not touch him, speak to him but not really talk, was likely to send her mad. "Apart from the dizziness and some mild nausea, you shouldn't suffer any serious side effects from the hallucinogen. It seems to wear off fairly quickly, it's almost out of your systems already." Jack nodded, shrugging at the doctor, "I feel fine." "I am not, however," Janet went on, "letting either of you drive anywhere tonight. I'll drive you home and I'll give you a ride back to the base in the morning. If everything checks out you can both go back to work tomorrow." *** Janet glanced surreptitiously at the couple in the rearvision mirror; it wasn't often she got to see them like this. Sam had sunk into the Colonel's embrace as soon as they were away from the prying eyes of SGC personnel, and there they had stayed, her face buried in his neck, taking solace in each other's arms. He dropped a kiss to the top of her head, and she tightened her hold on him for a second before sitting up to face Janet in the driver's seat. "Thanks Janet. For everything." The doctor smiled and nodded, glancing again at her friends in the mirror. "You're welcome," she told them sincerely, her eyes back on he road. "So," she started a moment later, failing to hide her grin, "his place or yours?" Sam returned the smile, chuckling softly at the situation. It still amazed her sometimes. Aliens and wormholes and intergalactic space travel she could accept, but a secret love affair with her CO? Sometimes it just seemed too incredible to be real. "Mine," she answered Janet's question, raising her eyebrows questioningly at Jack to make sure it was okay with him. He nodded, and she squeezed his hand gratefully. She wanted nothing more than a shower, a change of clothes, and to crawl into bed with the man sitting next to her. "Thanks Doc," Jack said sincerely as he climbed out of the car in Sam's driveway. Sam waved, fumbling with her keys as she headed inside. *** Closing the door behind them, he pulled her into a tight hug as soon as they were inside, and she clung to him gratefully. "I was so sure..." he spoke into her hair. "It was so real." She nodded into his shoulder. "I know. I watched you die." "How?" He asked her, pulling away slightly to look at her face. "You... we were..." she sighed, trying to word her reply. "I guess my subconscious fear was that this... us... was going to get you killed. We were so caught up in each other that we didn't notice the Goa'uld, and he shot you with a staff weapon." He nodded, pulling her back into his embrace. "You know that's not going to happen, right?" She nodded again. "I know. It's just that we avoided this for so long, the only way I could stay detached was to convince myself that if I ever let us get too close it would wind up getting us killed. I know now that that's not the case, but I guess old habits die hard." He nodded his understanding, still holding her to him tightly. "I promise, Sam, the day this starts affecting our work is the day I retire." She kissed him in response, her lips soft and lingering as they brushed with his. He responded eagerly, angling her face to deepen the kiss, his tongue seeking entry to her mouth. She complied willingly, her arms going around his neck to hold him to her. He lifted her off the ground, almost crashing them into a wall as he carried her blindly toward the bedroom, too caught up in the kiss to watch where he was going. She giggled against his lips, and he swiftly deposited her on the bed, giving her his best reprimanding look. "You wouldn't be laughing at me, would you Major Carter?" She looked at him in mock seriousness as he pulled off her boots. "No, Sir. Of course not Sir." He reached for the hem of her shirt, pulling it free from the waistband of her pants. "Are you sure Major, because I heard definite laughter back there." The shirt came off, swiftly followed by her bra. He reached down to toy with a nipple, and she sucked in a ragged breath at the sensation. "Permission to speak freely Sir?" she spoke through clenched teeth as his tongue worked magic over each of her breasts in turn. He nodded, too busy to answer verbally. "Shut up and kiss me." He laughed, kissing his way up her chest to her neck, and finally her lips. "Now there's an order even I can follow." Their mouths met hungrily, hands pulling at clothes until there was nothing left to add to the pile on the floor, and she moaned softly as he nibbled gently at her earlobe. They clung to each other, revelling in what just that afternoon they thought they'd lost for good. Her nails raked over his back as he entered her, and soon the room was filled with shaken gasps and breathless moans as they moved together toward oblivion. "Oh god, Jack," she cried out as waves of pleasure ripped through her, and he kissed her hard, his groan muted by her mouth as he followed her over the edge. He collapsed onto her, his head buried in her neck as they rode out the last ripples of pleasure, and her arms moved up to twine around his neck, her fingers threading through his hair. He moved, rolling over onto his back so she lay over him, and she looked down at him languorously. "Hey," he grinned up at her. She laughed softly. "Hey yourself." She leaned down and kissed him softly. "You hungry?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "For food, Jack." "Oh. Yeah, I guess." She kissed him again, reaching for the cordless phone on her bedside table. "Good," she replied when the kiss ended, and handed him the phone. "You order the pizza, I'll wait for you in the shower." He pretended to think about it for a moment, and took the phone from her. "Deal." She stood up off the bed, turning in the direction of the bathroom, but he grabbed her hand before she could get very far. Pulling her back to him, he raked a hand through her hair, kissing her soundly. When finally they came up for air, he looked at her searchingly. "I really thought I'd lost you today." She nodded her understanding. "I know, me too. But it's not the first time and it probably won't be the last." She held his face in her hands, her eyes shining. "We're here now. That's all that matters." *** end-- Chocolate Colonels for anyone who sends me feedback. ;) *** |
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