Chapter Text
If you want to BETA this story please get in contact! I haven’t been writing for years so any help would be appreciated. :-)
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It was Sam's least favourite kind of planet, a desert planet. Hot, dry, and the same view for as far as the eye could see... Except for the one reason they had come to PX3-525. A small pyramid was visible with binoculars, the U.A.V had picked it up and Daniel had almost had conniptions in excitement when the footage had come through. She supposed she did not blame him, they hadn’t found anything of interest for weeks now, and even she had begun getting… well, she couldn’t call it bored but it was something close to it. Of course, being a member of SG-1 and having the ability to literally explore other worlds would never be boring. I mean, their last planet the trees turned a brilliant shade of blue in the Autumn before losing their leaves. Who else on Earth could say they had seen blue trees?
She could feel sweat trickling between her breasts and down her spine, she was sure, despite constantly wiping her upper lip that there was sweat dotted there too. Once upon a time she would have been concerned she was showing signs of weakness and hidden her face from view. She knew the men in her team well enough now, after four years to not have to worry about her appearance.
When she was simply a cadet, women were expected to keep up with men without breaking a sweat, which was of course, impossible. She and the two other women (out of hundreds) did their best to not show they were suffering during training… while the men compared sweat patches on their training uniform and sneered in their direction. She hated thinking back to those days, she remembered very few men ever showing her respect and it was not until being under the command of Colonel Jack O’Neill that she truly felt like an equal, not ‘the woman’ but Major Samantha Carter.
She glanced at her CO's red face, their wide brimmed hats and sunglasses did little to protect them from the harsh sun on this planet. Though she could not see his eyes and his face was about as impassive as Teal'cs face she was pretty sure he was as miserable as she was.
"Why do these planets never have beaches?" He asked out of the blue, a slight whine to his voice. She wondered, not for the first time – if he could read her mind. She felt herself smile at the thought.
"I'm not sure sir, but I wonder if the Stargates were placed far from any bodies of water in case of a tsunami or some kind of natural disaster." Though it would be nice to find cool water to dip into, she mused. Colonel O'Neill grunted in response, apparently too hot and uncomfortable to continue any conversation, she was grateful as the heat was sapping what little energy she had.
She found herself daydreaming as they walked, picturing herself entering a cool ocean, the waves lapping at her ankles. She felt herself blush as unbidden the image in her head was suddenly including Colonel O’Neill and he was in only shorts, his eyes roving her body in interest as they walked out to deeper water. Not long ago she had been thinking about respect, and being a respected team member, and here she was daydreaming about her CO in shorts. She snorted out loud and Colonel O’Neill turned slightly to her and raised an eyebrow. She was glad of the high temperature for the first time that day, her red face could simply be put down to heat.
..
The pyramid was one of the smallest they had ever come across, not much bigger than their gate room. The moment they entered a cool wave of air hit them and she let out a sigh of relief. Daniel gravitated to the inscriptions on the walls, she couldn't be sure, but it didn't look Goa'uld. Teal'c automatically stood guard in the single doorway, his eyes on the vast desert they had just crossed. He did not seem as affected by the heat, she supposed his symbiote helped regulate his temperature.
Once she was one hundred percent sure of no threat within the pyramid, she found herself walking towards a little pool of water in the furthest corner, O'Neill by her side. They removed their sunglasses almost simultaneously and stared down into the pool.
Water seemed to bubble from beneath what looked like large river stones, but the water had a strange shimmery quality to it. She had enough experience not to touch any water without testing it first but the temptation to plunge her hot face into the water was strong.
"What do you think?" She gestured to the water with her gun.
"Pretty," O'Neill answered.
The pool exterior was made up of more river stones, these ones looked cemented together to form the outside of the pool and hold the water in. She bent to look closer at the water and saw small lights, or what looked like lights, darting around in the water. She felt a hand on her arm and lifted her face to Colonel O’Neills.
“Careful,” he warned her. She nodded, turned, sighed and settled herself gingerly on the edge, careful not to touch the water. She pulled out her canteen and took a couple of mouthfuls. He followed suit but gave one last cautious glance at the shimmery water behind them.
Still too tired to talk she took the time to rest, dreading the moment they had to leave. She made sure not to let her mind wander back to her previous daydreams but did find her mind wandering to the man next to her, just in a less provocative way. It was not the first time she had thought of him in a way not entirely appropriate of his second in command.
If she were honest, one of her very first thoughts on meeting him was on how attractive he was. She had spent the first couple of years tamping down on any feelings that arose for him, knowing that if rumours began to fly about herself and Colonel O’Neill… well it would not be good for either of their careers. She would be thought of as one of those women who slept their way through ranks, he would be thought of as the kind of Colonel to take advantage of having a woman on his team and… she sighed, interrupting her own thought process. She had been over this too many times. Though now she gave herself a little leeway in comparison to those first years and allowed thoughts of him – she would never consider speaking aloud the feelings she had for him.
After a while she and Jack began talking quietly so as not to disturb Daniel, though he was so engrossed in his work she was pretty sure she could start tapdancing on the edge of the pool and he would not bat an eyelid. They talked of simple things, conversation always flowed freely between them and over the years the awkward silences had all but disappeared.
"It's strange," Daniel turned to them after a while. "I don't quite recognise this language. It's almost a mix of..." He trailed off, seeming to finally notice the pool she and O'Neill were both perched on the edge of. "Oh!" He exclaimed. "This water..." He wandered back to the wall he had first started on, and you could almost see the light bulb appearing above his head.
"Yes..." Jack prompted when Daniel went quiet again.
"Well, from what little I understand it has protective powers..." Daniel came towards them and both she and Jack shifted out of the way so he could see it.
"Don't tou-" Jack started, but Daniel was already reaching for the water.
Automatically she reached for Daniel and managed to grab his arm just before he touched the water, his fingertips mere centimetres from the surface.
Unfortunately by leaning towards him she lost her balance and with a squeak of surprise she released his arm and felt herself toppling towards the water. She felt Colonel O’Neill’s hand on her arm for a split second, but it was too late she had somehow gone headfirst into the pool, almost as if something, or someone, was dragging her in.
The pool was shallow, and she did not feel any ill effects. If anything, she felt refreshed for the first time since they had arrived on the planet. She looked down at her exposed skin on her arms and did not see anything concerning. The little lights were in a frenzy around her, but they seemed not to be touching her.
She looked up at the boys to give them a reassuring smile, but both Jack and Daniel were staring at the water in horror.
"Sam!" Daniel cried.
Jack remained silent, but she watched as all the colour drained from his face.
"I can't see her. I swear I had a hold of her arm; how did she manage to fall all the way in?" He asked, his jaw tensing in concern. She sat up further and reached for the edge of the pool but her hands went straight through the edge. Strange.
"Where is Major Carter?" Teal’c came up behind Colonel O’Neill and Jack, an eye brow raised in question.
"I'm here!" She walked forward and felt a shiver of concern as she found she could walk straight through the wall surrounding the pool, this did not bode well.
She reached for Daniel who was closest, but her hand went straight through his arm. She did see Daniel glance at his arm with a slight frown, but immediately he turned back to the Colonel looking distraught.
“Could it be a portal?” Daniel asked.
“I don’t know,” O’Neill snapped, looking around the room, as if hoping she would just reappear. “Work on that writing.” He gestured to the wall. “Teal’c, you stay with Daniel. I’m going to go call Hammond for back up and supplies. We are not leaving until we find out what the hell this water actually is and where Major Carter has gone.”
She sighed in relief. Thank God for Colonel O’Neill, maybe she would get out of this. They had been through scarier things than this. Unless… she was dead? Could she be dead? She felt the panic start to rise, a lump rising to her throat. Surely not. Surely she would know if she had died…
TBC…