Stopped Time

by Vicki James, 2001

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret productions. No copyright infringement is intended.

Please do not post or distribute this story without the author's permission.

******

"Magnets. Every...every one of those pieces has got a little tiny magnet on the bottom to hold it on the board when you're driving so that they don't rattle off. Anyway, every one of those magnets..."

As Jack postulated his theory on Cassie's newfound abilities Sam schooled her expression in neutrality. No one would find it odd that he was so familiar with the chessboard, she told herself. Lots of people had travelling chess sets. They were compact and easy to bring along anywhere. Jack probably had one at that cabin of his. Oh, the cabin. That was what she was trying to not think about. The smile such thoughts could invoke would be completely inappropriate for the current discussion.

Sam watched Jack as he rattled on about the chess set but she tried not to watch him too intently. He could have used her chess set on a mission. It wasn't inconceivable she might have tucked it in her pack some time. No one would wonder why Jack knew so much about the set.

When Daniel took up the discussion Sam gave an inward sigh of relief.

******

"Colonel!" Sam called out as she jogged to catch up with Jack in the corridor after the briefing.

"Carter?" When she reached him Sam could see Jack's eyes held both a question as well as concern. He was worried about Cassie in his own right, but knowing Sam's closeness with the girl he was also very sensitive to her emotions.

"Good call on the magnets in the chess pieces," Sam complimented him.

"Always happy to have the opportunity to dazzle you with my brilliance," Jack commented. Sam had no reason then to hide her smile.

With a hint of amusement still lighting her face Sam advised, "It did occur to me during the briefing that you sounded rather intimately familiar with my chess set."

"Intimately familiar?" Jack raised his brows. "I can't say we've been that close. Your chess set and me, that is." Jack's voice took on a low tone. The situation with Cassandra was dire, yet he still couldn't resist a bit of flirting with Sam. She could probably use the moment of levity, he reasoned. Besides, these days when they were alone flirting with her came as naturally as breathing.

"You know what I mean!" Sam admonished him. She looked slightly flustered, but not displeased by his words.

Jack shrugged. "Well Carter, I have had some interaction with your chess set." He cocked his head to look at her intently. "Don't you remember?"

"I could never forget," Sam whispered solemnly.

They both stared wordlessly into the other's eyes and for a moment the walls and strictures of the SGC fell away to be replaced by a secret, sacred shared memory.

******

The rocking of the boat as it rode the gentle waves was lulling Sam to sleep. That and the sun high over head warming her body. It was just warm enough to feel glorious. A soft breeze tempered the heat and ruffled the ends of Sam's hair. She could feel herself getting drowsier, slowly slipping into a peaceful slumber.

"Carter! You're going to lose your rod if you don't pay attention to it!"

Sam's eyes snapped open and she pulled off her sunglasses to scowl at Jack. Instead of being comfortable in his seat he was perched up on the back of it, a position from which he could cast his line out further from the boat.

He did so, the reel making a whirring noise as the line played out. That was followed by an audible 'plonk' as the lure hit the sun-dappled water.

Sam didn't see the line sink down between the waves; she was preoccupied noticing how the muscles in his arm flexed as he cast out his line. As he was turned away reeling it in she also admired how he looked dressed casually in a black t-shirt and denim shorts.

Bringing in the dripping line, Jack looked back down at Sam, who was still sprawled in her seat with her feet propped up on the cooler they'd brought along.

"Come on, grab hold of your rod before a passing fish does," he chided her.

"I thought the point of this trip was relaxation," groused Sam good-naturedly even as she sat up and took hold of her fishing pole.

Jack raised his brows. "Hey, you're out on the lake on a beautiful day trying to reel in some fish. What could be more relaxing than that?"

Sam absently jiggled her line up and down. "Teal'c said when you brought him here you guys just sat on the dock the whole time."

A slight grin quirked the corners of Jack's mouth. "That's because I save my cool speedboat to show off to the ladies."

He was teasing, of course. Sam laughed. When they'd first come down to the water Sam had eyed the boat dubiously, wondering at its seaworthiness. Jack had dubbed it his "speed-less boat" and said it didn't look like much, but it served his purposes for puttering around the lake.

Though amused by his joke, Sam was also intrigued by the idea of him showing off for her, even if the very notion was just in her imagination.

Any fantasies were something from which she had to keep her thoughts from straying if she wanted to maintain the current state of comfort in which she found herself. She'd been pleasantly surprised to discover she could relax while being alone and secluded with him at his cabin. Even more surprising to her was that she'd said yes to the fishing trip at all. But they'd been given a few days leave and she'd recognized how very tired and worn out she was feeling. When he'd extended the invitation she'd realized it would do her good to get away, kick back and just relax for a couple of days.

The look of utter astonishment on Jack's face when she'd agreed to accompany him to his cabin had been rather comical. He'd recovered his composure quickly though, and what the smile that had then crossed his face did to her insides made her question whether she'd made a wise choice.

She continued to worry as he picked her up the next morning for the drive to the airport and was feeling nervous by the time that the flight was airborne.

Of course she'd travelled with Jack before, on Earth, on SGC business. But this had felt different. She regularly camped out with him while off-world, but knocking elbows with him while flying to his cabin for a quick get-away seemed uncomfortably intimate.

Sam had settled back with some files she'd brought along from work in the hopes the reading would settle her anxiety. Jack peered over her shoulder and when he'd realized what it was she'd been reading he'd snatched the files from out of her hands.

"On leave means leaving the work behind, Carter," he'd lectured. She'd argued that she was only catching up on some reading to pass the time but he'd have none of that. He told her there'd be no doing work on the trip. In fact, he'd made it an order.

Strangely enough, that "order" was what set Sam at ease. She realized just because they were leaving the SGC a thousand miles behind didn't mean that's where they were leaving who they were. They respected each other too much to try and push their relationship where the other might not want it to go.

By the time the flight landed and they'd picked up their rental car for the rest of the journey Sam had started enjoying herself. She still was.

Sam leaned forward to grab a duffel bag she'd used to stash her towel and sunscreen. She pulled it onto her lap and reached inside.

"If I can't doze then we might as well do something to occupy our minds while we're waiting for these nonexistent fish to show up." Extracting a rectangular box from her bag Sam continued, "Are you up for a game of chess?"

"Carter," Jack groaned, "you're missing the whole point of fishing."

"Okay," Sam said, giving him a wide-eyed look and shaking her head, "if you're worried about losing we won't play."

Jack narrowed his eyes at her. "Now you know tactics like that will get you...everything." As he spoke Jack slipped down onto his seat and then leaned in closer to rasp out the last word.

His proximity and the sensation of his breath tickling her ear made Sam shiver. She covered the reaction with a shrug. "If you're up to it then I'll set up the board."

She did so while he stowed away his fishing rod. Sam tried to hand her own rod over to him but he decided they'd keep hers in the water. He slid her rod into a metal ring attached to the boat for such a purpose. Sam gave him a pointed look after he'd done so.

"You still have to watch it," replied Jack to her unspoken comment. "It's not like you can leave it there and fall asleep."

Sam smirked at him and finished setting up the chessboard.

When Jack went to make his first move in the game he noticed how the chess pieces seemed to stick to the board. "Hey!" he commented in surprise.

"Magnets," Sam explained. "So you can play in a moving vehicle. Or on a rocking boat." She grinned.

"Cool." Jack experimented several times with slightly lifting up a chess piece then letting go so the magnetic force would snap it back to the board.

Sam won the first game and then Jack immediately demanded, and got, a rematch. As the game progressed Sam realized Jack was just a couple of moves away from winning. She was staring in concentration at the board trying to figure out a way to turn the game in her favour when from the corner of her eye she noticed her fishing rod begin to dance.

"Colonel!" Sam exclaimed, pointing to the line that was bouncing crazily. Then she stifled a laugh as she saw the expression on Jack's face. He looked more surprised than she was that they'd actually caught something on the line.

Swiftly, Jack rose and leaned over Sam to pull the rod out of the holder. In the process of doing so he knocked the chessboard off the cooler. Even the magnets could not save the pieces from scattering as they tumbled to the deck.

"Oh great!" Jack cried. "Just when I was about to win!"

"Don't be too sure of that," Sam said, bending down to gather up the chess game.

"Oh I had you and you know it," Jack declared. "But never mind picking up the pieces now. I'll do it. You grab hold of this rod. It's your fish; you should bring it in."

Sam sat up, then pushed herself up in her seat so that she was half standing with one leg curled underneath with which to brace herself. Jack moved the rod over to her hands. It was bending over in a complete arc and she could feel the pull on it when she put her hands to it. Jack held on until she had a good grip. For a moment he had both his hands covering hers and was near enough that the bare skin of his arm was brushing her own. Sam banished the very unmilitary thoughts those sensations were evoking. She had other fish to...catch.

"Got it?" Jack asked. When she answered in the affirmative he let go of the rod. "Reel it in slowly, Sam. Easy does it. That's it."

Apparently satisfied enough with her abilities Jack bent down and swept the chess pieces into their case. Then he found a net and came back to hover over Sam's shoulder.

The fight the fish was putting up surprised Sam. Its pull on the line was strong. She hadn't thought a fish could be so powerful, or determined.

Finally, she got the fish in far enough that she could see a flash of scales beneath the dark waters of the lake. A tail slapped the surface of the water and then Jack kneeled down at the side of the boat, dipped his net in, and hauled the fish aboard.

He deposited the net with its flailing catch onto the deck of the boat just beyond the cooler. Sam stared in wonder at the creature flopping around in desperation.

"Wow Sam!" Jack said excitedly. "What a beauty! It's a walleye, and a big one. You might want to get it mounted."

"I don't think it would go with my décor," replied Sam dryly.

"In that case it'll taste good on the dinner table."

Sam eyed the fish as it continued to struggle, trying to find a way out of its predicament and back into the water where it belonged. Jack moved toward it but Sam put a hand to his arm, stopping him.

"Let's put it back," she said.

Jack's eyes widened. "Are you crazy, Carter? That's a prize catch!"

Sighing, Sam closed her eyes briefly then opened them to look straight into his gaze. "I know it sounds silly, but I don't want to kill it. We have to do enough of that sort of thing at work. I just... Let's let it go."

Her look was beseeching and Jack held onto it for a moment before giving an exaggerated sigh and shaking his head. "If that's what you want," he said. He moved over to the fish and slid a hand down its scaled body to grasp it firmly. Then he gently extracted the hook from its mouth and lowered it in the net back into the water. As he pulled back on the net the fish gave a mighty push of its tail and swam rapidly away.

Jack rinsed his hands in the water. "Thank you," Sam told him as he rose from the side of the boat.

He shrugged. "No problem. But I don't want to hear any complaining if you find canned tuna on the dinner table."

Sam grinned, and her acknowledgement of his humour was reflected back in his eyes.

******

Water dripped from his body and onto the dock as Jack sat sprawled in a deck chair enjoying a beer and the sunshine. They'd come in off the lake and had gone for a swim. Jack had dived in, doing his usual fast crawl part way out into the lake and then had swam back to get out of the water and relax on the dock. Sam had floated on her back and splashed around a bit more and was just now rising from the water.

Jack watched as she pulled herself up onto the dock and then lifted her arms to brush her wet hair back from her face. He took a quick slug of beer as he noticed how the movement caused her chest to thrust forward enticingly. The black bathing suit she'd been wearing all day under her tank top and shorts was of the one piece variety and quite modest, but it was a bathing suit and therefore fit like a second skin. It didn't leave much to the imagination as to what was underneath it, but Jack's imagination was running in overdrive all the same. When Sam turned toward him and smiled, Jack set his beer bottle down on the dock, rose and ran past her to do a cannonball off the dock. Hitting the water was almost as good as a cold shower, and a heck of a lot more convenient.

By the time he resurfaced, Sam had spread her towel out on the dock and was sitting down on it. He paddled his way back and pulled himself onto the dock. He rubbed his towel over his hair briskly and then lowered it to his shoulders. As he did so he caught Sam looking at him. Actually, for a moment it seemed she was staring at him as he dried himself off, but then she blinked and he thought he'd been fancifully mistaken. "Pass me a beer?" Sam requested of him.

Opening the cooler that was now beside his deck chair Jack snagged a beer and brought it over to Sam. "I'm going to go in and start getting dinner ready."

"Want some help?" she offered.

"Naw," he replied. "I've got it covered. Why don't you just relax," he suggested, retreating toward the cabin.

******

After changing into dry clothes, Jack set to work chopping vegetables for a salad. He'd already had two steaks marinating in preparation for the day's fishing not yielding any catch.

He set to work on a cucumber with a bit more enthusiasm than was strictly required. His thoughts, however, were not on the makings of the salad, but rather on his feelings and desires for Sam.

'Dammit,' he admonished himself. 'Why'd you ask her out here?' He found himself perfectly capable of maintaining a professional relationship at work, but at the cabin, so many miles from the SGC, he found his thoughts constantly straying to where those of an officer should not go in regard to a subordinate.

'You never thought she'd come,' he responded internally as he set about attacking a tomato. 'Her saying yes shocked the hell out of you. And admit it, pleased the hell out of you too.'

Jack sighed. Even if he couldn't keep his thoughts completely decent for the duration of their little trip, he knew he wasn't going to try to jump Sam across the dinner table or anything like that. Though the idea definitely held an appeal that he knew he'd be further exploring in his mind when he was alone one night. In the meantime, he knew he could act like a gentleman, and a friend, and no more. He also knew what was said about people who talked to themselves, but when it came to Sam he was aware he was already very far gone.

******

They sat together on the dock enjoying cups of coffee. Sam trailed her bare feet slowly through the water as they watched the blackness of the night sky enfold the setting sun and the blaze of colour that followed it down to the horizon. They were quiet, each wrapped up in their own thoughts, but it was a comfortable silence.

A loon skimmed the water, its cry alerting Sam to its presence where it was barely discernable against the growing darkness. Sam looked up into the heavens then lay down on her back to watch the stars come out.

As the veil of glittering pinpoints of light appeared above her Sam couldn't help but softly breath out, "Wow."

Jack lowered himself down beside her. He was close, but not touching her. Sam didn't feel disconcerted by his nearness. In the stillness of the night his was a companionable presence.

"Pretty cool, huh?" he remarked.

"I'll say. You should have your telescope out here."

"I need it more in the city, where the lights of civilization get in the way."

Sam nodded. "You know, sometimes it still amazes me that there are civilizations out there. That we've actually been there, and have seen them."

Jack had to smile at the wonder in her tone. It reminded him of her first trip through the Stargate, when she'd been amazed at the sight of the active wormhole itself. But it also made him recall something else she'd said earlier that had worried him at the time.

"Hey Sam," Jack began slowly, "when we caught that fish today you said some stuff about seeing too much killing. Has it been bothering you?"

"Not in the sense of it being a problem," Sam assured him. "I know we do what we have to, for self defense and for the defense of Earth. It's just sometimes it's nice to be able to forget about it for a while. To come someplace like this where we can pretend that nothing outside of this place matters."

"Yeah. This place is my refuge," he admitted.

"It's great here," Sam agreed. "It almost feels like here you could stop time and do whatever you wanted without worrying about the consequences in the real world."

The darkness and the fact that Sam was still lying looking up at the stars hid Jack's smile. "I already know what I'd do if I could stop time," he murmured.

"What?" asked Sam.

"Never mind," Jack responded, realizing belatedly that he'd spoken aloud.

Sam turned her head to look at him. "Tell me."

"No."

"Come on," she entreated, reaching out a hand to touch his arm gently. "Nothing you say here has to leave this place. I won't tell anyone."

He turned to study her face, which showed her eagerness to hear his admission and her honesty in keeping any secrets private.

Jack took a deep breath. "If I could stop time and not have to worry about the consequences..." he paused to swallow. "I'd kiss you."

At his words Sam's heart began to hammer more forcefully against her chest. Her eyes widened and she breathed out his name. "Jack..."

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"I'm not uncomfortable," she informed him. "And I think you should."

"Should what?" he asked.

"Kiss me."

Now Jack's eyes widened. There was enough light spilling down from the cabin for Sam to make out his expression in the darkness. She began regretting her forwardness.

"Sam, I want to, believe me," Jack said. "But we can't. We shouldn't."

"Why not?" Sam countered. What the heck, she thought. She might as well completely crash and burn and fully embarrass herself. "Why can't we agree to stop time, and to leave anything that happens here behind? Jack, I want it too."

He drew a quick intake of breath as he saw his own yearning reflected in her eyes. He rolled onto his side and reached out a hesitant hand to lightly stroke her cheek. Instinctively Sam's eyelids fluttered shut and her lips parted.

The sight did him in. "Time stops here," Jack murmured as he moved to cover her lips with his own.

He brushed against her gently and as Sam's mouth opened eagerly for him he deepened the kiss. It was a slow and thorough exploration of each other. As they gradually came apart a small sigh escaped from Sam. In order to stifle his own groan Jack had to reclaim her lips again.

This time Sam's arms came up to wind around Jack's shoulders and pull him closer to her. Their legs tangled together as their bodies pressed against one another. As their kisses became hungrier Sam's hands left his shoulders to trail down his back and then up under his t-shirt. Her fingers gently stroking his bare skin had Jack itching to touch her in the same way. When Sam began to slowly run one of her bare legs up his own Jack suddenly broke off their kiss and pulled back to sit upright.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked in a small, surprised voice.

"Oh God, Sam, nothing's wrong." Jack struggled to control his ragged breathing. "I just don't know how far you want to take this."

Sam sat up and reached out a hand to the back of his neck, burying her fingers up in his hair. "I don't want it to stop at all."

"Are you sure?" He asked, wanting to be completely certain they wanted the same thing.

"Yes."

"Really sure?"

"You just asked me that." Sam smiled at him.

"Just double checking."

"Yes Jack," Sam confirmed. She tugged at the hem of his t-shirt, pulling it up his chest. He assisted by raising his arms so she could pull the garment off of him. Then she gently pushed him back down to the dock. "I am absolutely sure," she told him before her lips blazed a trail from his navel to his neck.

Other items of clothing were discarded on the dock before they opted to relocate to the cabin and the comfort of Jack's bed. Hours later the clothes were picked up as they returned to the lakeside for a moon light swim. They held each other as the water sensuously caressed their naked bodies. Then they made love again, out under the stars they'd traverse when time was set in motion once more.

******

Sam awoke with a beam of sunlight across her face, Jack's arm across her waist and the bed sheets tangled around her legs. She turned her head to where Jack lay beside her. His eyes were already open and studying her.

"Morning," he said. "How do you feel?"

"Great," she smiled softly at him, letting him know he was responsible for her state of well being.

Jack grinned back. "I think you feel great too." His hand began a lazy roaming of her abdomen.

"Any regrets?" he asked more somberly, though his hand continued its ministrations.

Sam shook her head. "Only that we have to leave here today."

"Do you think you'll have any regrets when we get back to the SGC?"

"No," Sam said decisively. "Because now I can live with the knowledge of how you feel about me. I was never sure before if you felt the same way for me as I do for you."

"I'm not sure your feelings for me are quite what I feel for you," Jack advised.

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say my feelings are pretty intense," he admitted.

"Jack," Sam said quietly. She reached out to tenderly stroke his cheek. "I love you," she whispered.

"Okay," responded Jack in an equally soft tone. "We're on the same page then." He couldn't stop a huge grin from splitting his face.

Sam smiled back at him before she moved closer to wrap her arms around him and wipe the smiles off their faces with a kiss.

******

The seat belt sign switched on as the aircraft made its descent and Sam gently removed her hand from Jack's where it had remained for most of the flight home. It was their final concession to their newfound relationship. Everything else had been left at the cabin and as soon as the flight landed even that minor contact would be off limits as well.

As she pulled away Jack gave her a slight half smile, showing his regret but acceptance of the circumstances under which their relationship would have to continue. For now.

Though not one fond of overt public displays of affection, and knowing how dangerous any such displays of affection could be, Sam still could not resist lifting her hand up to coax Jack's face toward hers. There was no one sitting directly beside them and Sam thought she'd steal a quick, gentle, almost chaste kiss before their lives returned to normal. But when his mouth brushed hers Sam found her hand clutching at the back of his head and the kiss deepening into something more passionate than she'd expected.

When they did break apart Jack blinked a couple of times then whispered, "Whoa."

"I'm sorry," Sam said. "I shouldn't have. I just wanted one more memory to tide me over until next time."

"Hey, don't ever apologize for something like that," Jack told her. "Besides," he continued, leaning in closer speak conspiratorially into her ear, "I don't think she's military."

Sam followed his gaze across the aisle to the lone occupant of the row there, an older woman who was asleep with her glasses halfway down her nose and her knitting in her lap. Sam giggled and turned back to Jack with a hint of a smile still on her mouth.

Those lips were too tempting and Jack had to rub his thumb gently across them. "You going to be all right with this?" he asked.

"Yes," Sam nodded. "I feel good just knowing...and remembering."

Jack nodded back to her then folded his hands in his lap. "So Major, did you enjoy your trip to my cabin?"

"Yes sir," Sam replied, parroting his conversational tone. "It was a beautiful spot and it was nice to get away."

"If you thought it was nice in the summer you should see it in the fall. It's gorgeous up there then. Maybe we'll have to arrange a return visit for you." His voice was casual but his eyes held hers with a promise.

"I'd like that, sir," Sam replied, unable to restrain a wide smile. "I'd like that a lot."

******

The sound of footsteps in the corridor shook Sam and Jack from their joint reverie.

"Well," Jack said, "I've gotta go...do...something."

"Right sir," Sam smiled at him then started off down the hallway.

"Hey Carter, wait a minute." Jack forestalled her departure and took a couple of steps to catch up with her.

"I know you play chess with Cassie a couple times a month," he continued, "and I know she's going to be fine so you will keep doing so. But I was wondering if on those days off when you're not playing with her, if you might want to take me on for a game or two. What do you say? You, me, chess in the commissary on a Saturday night?"

Sam grinned. A couple of colleagues spending some down time playing chess in the commissary, what could be more innocuous than that? Her heart did a happy little flip flop all the same.

"It's a date," she replied.

"It sure is," agreed Jack, his voice low and warm and his eyes conveying the message his words could not.

******

End

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