A/N: Okay, my muse seems to have taken some time off as far as my other story Back To The Future is concerned. I did, however, come up with this. It'll be a series of oneshots, mostly episode tags. This first one I thought of this morning while on subway, stuffed between two particularly smelly strangers. Guess I was just looking for something to take my mind off the moment. This is the result. It's really strange, but I hope you'll like it. More to follow. Hopefully.
Set in season one episode Solitudes, it's been done many times, so this is my take. Please let me know what you think.
First Time
The first time Jack didn't really remember much of. Everything was blurry and the strongest impressions were the cold and the sharp pain of his broken leg and ribs. It still seemed kind of surreal to him, even after all those years.
He was lying there in the arctic ice cave, freezing his ass off and trying his best to ignore the throbbing in his broken leg. Somewhere behind him he could hear the steady thuds as Carter was trying to dig out the DHD. At first, he'd tried to help, but that hadn't gone so well. And after she'd ordered him to lie still and rest, he figured the best he could do was keep her mind focused and her spirit up. God knew she needed it. Not that he had any doubts that she would find a way out of there, eventually. He'd seen her work miracles before, Carter was one person one would like to have around when in trouble, she just needed a little encouragement. Someone to remind her not to overthink stuff. Yeah, she sure did that a lot. Unlike him. Jack chuckled dryly and was rewarded by a sharp pain shooting through his chest and making its way up his spine to the back of his neck.
Way to go, O'Neill, puncture yourself a lung, why dontcha?
The sound of Carter's desperate voice echoed through the cave, she was yelling at the DHD again. Jack wished he could do anything, anything to help. Fortunately, he knew better than to try to move. That certainly wouldn't do him any good and only give her one more thing to worry about. As if she already didn't have enough of that, stuck in a frozen cave on some godforsaken alien planet with a dying elderly flyboy. She deserved better. But he had to DO something. Jack took a deep breath just to start coughing painfully again. So much for keeping the spirit up, he thought bitterly.
Slowly, he realized how cold he was, so cold that he couldn't even tell whether he still had feeling in his injured leg. If Carter couldn't get the 'gate working soon, he wouldn't probably have to worry about it anyway.
Carter was a brilliant young officer, her career and life still before her, she deserved better than to die here because of him. Because of him being such burden for her to put up with. Yeah, if she couldn't get them home soon, he'd tell her to go. Carter would survive. She had to.
***
He'd done it. She was on her way to the surface. The cavern was perfectly quiet, the only sound being the occasional crack of the radio and her distorted voice talking to him. He didn't really listen, the urge to fall back into unconsciousness was just too strong. He'd told her what he needed to. It had been an honor serving with her. He'd meant it...
Cold... Darkness creeping upon him. The radio cracked, he heard Carter... Ice planet... The darkness covered his eyes.
A cry. In the distance. Far away. Echo.
A thud. Suddenly, the echo was much closer. The voice clearer.
"Colonel?"
A whisper now.
He felt her warmth spread from his side where she snuggled against him. The weight of her head rested on his shoulder. His arm was around her shoulders. It felt familiar.
Sara.
Jack was holding her in his arms.
Her eyes.
Two deep pools of blue gazing at him lovingly. Her eyes held his, sparkling with a shimmering reflection of pale blue and silvery water surface. She raised her hand. "Fascinating..."she breathed out.
He reached to touch her golden hair, trying to feel its softness. She turned around, walked away from him. Disappeared in the water.
Something soft tickled his cheek. Jack's eyes fluttered the narrowest bit open. He saw a blurry image of blonde hair spread across his shoulder.
"Sara..." he whispered.
"I'm here, Jack," her familiar voice soothed.
She was there. Sara was there. Sam was there. He closed his eyes again.
A shiver ran through him. "Cold," it wasn't supposed to be. "So cold..."
"I know. It's alright." A hand rubbed his chest gently. "You can sleep now."
Sleep.
He felt his consciousness slipping away.
He breathed in the scent of her.
Sleep.
Her voice. There.
He gave in.