Chapter Text
“You touched the sacred stone.“
One minute Jack was in a cave not far from the Stargate, poking at the cool rocky surface of the walls, while watching Daniel oohing and ahhing over some old carvings, and Carter collecting soil samples.
Next, he was in a different cave, surrounded by lit candles and a smell he usually associated with taco Tuesday on base. Jack’s weapon was gone, and he was standing before a shirtless old guy with wrinkled purple skin.
Jack tried not to stare. But the guy looked completely normal, very human, except for the whole being purple thing.
“Why did you touch the sacred stone?” Purple guy asked again, his headpiece jiggled and a tiny bird flew out of it. Whoa !
Jack did touch the stone, but in his defence, it looked neat. All round and glittery.
He knew better than to touch cool stuff on alien planets. But knowing better and doing better were two completely different matters.
Jack shrugged.
“It’s who I am as a person.”
"What is it that you desire, young O’Neill of the Tau'ri." Purple guy squinted.
“Who are you?” Jack squinted back. “How do you know my name?”
The old wrinkly guy didn’t look all that trustworthy, but he did call Jack 'young'. Cool.
“I am G’ene. Shaman of the land of Buss’enji.”
“Gene of Bassenji? Come on!” Jack snorted. Shaman guy scowled.
"On the day of the sun standing still, for as many cycles as you necessitate, you shall be granted your heart desire by the sacred stone."
“What’s in it for you?”
“I require more wishes to bestow in order to surpass my brother. He is 8 wishes ahead.”
"Sibling rivalry, damn, buddy, good luck with that.”
Jack sympathized. Gene inclined his head.
“Well, how about this for a wish, you beam me back to where my gun and my people are?" Jack didn't like being separated from the rest of SG1.
“This is not what your heart desires. Your true wish is what I require.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Men who seek the stone often wish for fortune, women, or a long healthy life."
Of course they do. Well, he might as well play along if it meant purple guy would send him back to the cave.
But Jack didn't truly care for money. Lonely as it was, he only had himself to provide for. He owned his house in Colorado Springs, his cabin in Minnesota, his own flat screen TV, and a The Simpsons DVD set. What else could a guy wish for?
A long life was out of the question. Jack balked at the idea of outliving the people he cared about. This one was a hard no.
Women? Jack snorted.
Despite the cool ladies’ man vibe he put out there, Jack wasn't really the womanizing type, not anymore. He was too old for casual encounters.
Also, there was the little awareness of a specific woman who had him rather preoccupied as of late. Specifically, ever since one blonde Doctor arrived in this reality, accompanied by Kawalsky, a few months ago, looking at him with familiar, albeit tearful eyes, touching him, kissing him.
There were no women . Just one woman, to whom he was apparently married in one alternative universe, and engaged in another. A woman he wasn't allowed to notice, let alone care about.
Still, wouldn't it be nice to have a wish granting purple alien wizard bestow upon him the power to conjure up Sam Carter at will?
Jack looked up.
"Anything I want, right?"
Jack was pretty sure the wizard just rolled his eyes.
And then Jack was back in the cave with the rest of his team.
The first time it happened, Jack was in the office with a door plaque that proclaimed "Col. J. O’Neill"
The one he often denied having any knowledge of its existence. The door was carefully locked. Jack was practicing his lines for an upcoming mission.
Negotiations were not his strongest suit, which obviously is why they kept Daniel around.
However, this wasn’t an assignment for Daniel to tackle. For one, the archaeologist was lying in the infirmary recovering from an emergency appendectomy, and two, the stakes were way too high for this mission, he trusted no one.
The mission: Ask Carter to go fishing.
With his most winning smile in place, the one Sarah used to scowl when he would accidentally offer another woman, sometimes even accusing him of being a flirt.
“Carter, wanna go fishing?” He spoke to the empty office.
No, he needed to make it sound more exciting.
“Carter, what do you say to a couple of days in the serenity of Northern Minnesota?”
Nah, definitely still boring.
Carter liked fast bikes and explosives, he didn't want her to think his invitation was lame.
“You. Me. Cabin in the woods and some big honkin’ fish, what do you say?”
Nope, too suggestive. He didn’t want to freak her out.
After all they were just friends, right?
Friends who accidentally touched hands occasionally, and sometimes shared long meaningful looks, and beaming smiles that made Jack’s stomach go all tingly.
In a very manly way, of course.
“Carter, want to-”
Jack never got to finish his next line because suddenly the object of his dilemma materialized on the edge of his desk, right on top of his chair. His knees fell apart to accommodate her sudden arrival.
“Sir!” Carter shrieked and attempted to get away, blue eyes impossibly wide. Then her foot caught in the drawer unit, and she started to ungracefully topple to the floor.
Jack, the gentleman that he was, slid his arms around her, sliding Carter into his lap. Bare arms and soft pale skin under Jack’s calloused hands, she was dressed in a snug black regulation-adjacent tank top.
Jack tried not to ogle.
“What are you doing here, Carter?" He squeaked, noticing, for the first time, the goggles holding her hair back and the wielder she was clutching like a weapon, “and what the hell were you doing?”
She's stopped trying to get off him. Cool. Jack relaxed back in his seat.
“I was getting ready to do a detailed analysis of the decay rate of naquadah within the reactor-”
“Carter! No technobabble in my office, it scares away the cool vibe I try to foster in here.”
“Yes, sir.” She giggled. Jack grinned widely.
Her face hovered so close. He was a breath away from leaning forward and touching his lips to hers...
Oh Crap .
Jack blinked and pulled away.
“So uh, Major, any logical explanation as to why exactly you teleported into my office?”
“Not really, sir.” Then she eyed him carefully, leaning away to get a better look at his face, “have you touched anything you shouldn’t have been touching, sir?”
He eyeballed her, glancing down at his hands, which cradled her forearms.
She blushed and ducked her head. Damn, she was pretty.
“It doesn’t seem like we’re in any immediate danger, and no one else materialized here but me." Carter mused,"so, it’s possible that whatever technology is at work here, was created to trigger this single event.”
“Right.” Jack nodded... and then it hit him.
Gene the purple Shaman of Bassenji!
It was months ago, Jack almost forgot it ever happened. Could his wish granting sorcery be the real deal? It’s not like they haven’t encountered weirder crap before.
Jack decided to tread carefully, he couldn’t let the major find out about his less-than-pure heart desires.
“So, we don’t need to make a big deal out of this, right?” Jack watched her eyes narrow, “of course, unless something else happens that actually needs to be reported.”
Carter bit her bottom lip contemplatively. Jack almost groaned.
“Yes, sir.” She slid carefully off his lap, and moved around the desk.
Jack repressed the urge to pout. He stood and followed her to the door.
“I should get back to my lab. Those decay rate sensors are not going to recalibrate themselves” She grinned widely at her own joke.
Carter was lucky she was so damn adorable, because her jokes were really terrible.
“Hey Carter, do you fish?” He blurted out.
“I used to fish with my dad when we were stationed at Andrews. Why?”
“Wanna come fishing with me?” Crap. He panicked and went with the boring one!
She looked hesitantly between him and the desk chair, the one they were basically cuddling in mere minutes ago. Their very own crime scene.
“It’s probably not a good idea, sir.” She gave him a little shy smile. “I’ll see you later, colonel.”
She was gone. He stood in the middle of his suddenly too dark office.
Jack sighed. He knew it wasn’t gonna work.
Not only was Carter way out of his league, she was also incredibly focused on her career, her projects, and her commitment to the Air Force. She wouldn’t just skip town to spend a vacation at her commanding officer’s secluded cabin.
He respected her decision, really, and yet.. the rejection stung a little. Jack growled aloud.
“Damn you Gene!”