Prompt 74.05

[skieswideopen]

Four kisses that weren't for real and one that was.


Participation is open to all. If this is your own prompt, you're free to write to it (please do!). Post your list as a comment to this post, adding additional comments if you exceed the character limit. It's OK to post as Anonymous, then come out later or not as you choose. Responses will be screened until July 6 to see what people come up with independently. You can still respond to the prompt after the July 6 unveiling.

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Subject-line spoiler warnings for late-season 5 SGA eps and Continuum, thanks!

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Comments

spoilers for Kindred and Enemy at the Gate

[holdur.livejournal.com]

First was a woman wearing the colors of a scientist who launched herself into his arms when the city rose and kissed him fully and quickly, then spun away with a breathless laugh to the next person within reach; it was the celebration of not dying and it didn't mean anything.

Next it was Cadman, except it was really Rodney and if that wasn't the best indication of a brief and wildly erratic relationship, he didn't know what was.

Then it was Cadman, up against a wall, under his desk, hidden away in a supply closet, full of a fire that reminded him that she was a soldier who liked to blow things up and he was a doctor who put them back together again.

After that it was his mother and she kissed him on both cheeks and both eyelids and once each on his nose and lips and that didn't count either because it was his mother and mothers were supposed to kiss their children after they returned from the dead.

Finally it was the girl across the hall who kissed soft and a little scared and he felt his own heart thumping in response, though he wondered how that could be when it took nothing less than the Wraith and guiding a flying city between galaxies to scare him anymore.

Re: spoilers for Kindred and Enemy at the Gate

[sid]

Ooh, I'm so happy to see some closure for Carson and his mother!

And I like this take on Cadman. And I love Carson's final kiss, full of revelation and promise. :-)

Four kisses that weren't real and one that was - Part One Sam/Janet

[tittamiire.livejournal.com]

1. 'This isn't real,' Janet told her when Captain Carter pinned her against the concrete wall by the scruff of her labcoat and the wrist of the hand that was still clutching the sedative she'd been intending to administer when she'd walked into the cell.

'Captain Carter,' she said again, trying to get through and aware of her clothing tighter around her neck than felt safe and the woman pressed against her, holding her.

She snarled at her, her eyes fierce beneath the artificially pronounced brow that the virus created, and bared her teeth. Two SFs rushed into the cell, as equally surprised by the sudden movement as Janet had been. They pulled at Captin Carter's arms and began to pull her away, but not before she ducked her head quickly and planted a kiss on Janet's lips.

The SFs were too focused on restraining Captain Carter to notice and there was no one else to see. Janet was stunned for half a second, but then she could move again and she stepped forward to inject the sedative into Captain Carter's arm as initially intended. She growled and fought against the SFs, but kept her eyes on Janet, even as the sedative made its way through her system and her movements slowed as it took hold.

The SFs placed her gently onto the bed in the cell and Janet ushered in the nurse outside who was escorting the woman who was to be Captain Carter's cell mate and helped her settle the equally sedated woman onto the other bed within the cell. Before she left she took a moment to check Captain Carter's vitals.

'First Colonel O'Neill and then me, I'm flattered Captain,' she whispered to the sleeping form.

2. Daniel finally shut up one sentence short of Jack pulling his cap from his head and gagging him with it, as attached as he is to that cap, it would have been worth it. He'd been talking about puberty rituals for the best part of the last day, when he wasn't running the blasted coming of age obstacle course that they'd been forced into doing by the locals on this planet who would only discuss trade with those who had become men, rather than remained as boys. It hadn't been that bad. Sam's eyes had actually lit up a bit when she'd seen the beginning of the course with the ropes reminiscent of basic training, but she'd been exempt from running it. Boys had to do the ritual in order to become men whereas girls apparently become women without needed to slave through an obstacle course, spend a night in the cave and then, well, do the last bit which they were waiting for now.

Daniel tried to argue to the locals that they'd met the requirements to become men on their planets and therefore didn't really need to do it here. He tried to describe their equivalents of coming of age challenges and make them sound worthy (Jack thought he'd made a mistake in emphasising stuff like education and getting your drivers license rather than surviving your first hangover and talking your way out of getting caught in town with a car that didn't belong to you at three am, these folks looked like they valued someone who could hold their beer and blag their way out of trouble), but with little success. The local elders decided, fascinated as they were by Daniel's descriptions of earth, that they hadn't done enough to get their Men's souls.

Teal'c was exempt by dint of being a Jaffa. That was enough for the locals who remembered tight Goa'uld control and Jaffa patrols all too vividly.

continued in next comment because it grrreeeeewwwww...

Four kisses that weren't real and one that was - Part Two

[tittamiire.livejournal.com]

continued from part one...

It hadn't been that bad. Jack's knees had complained at little, but they'd made it through the various obstacles that really were no worse than the courses he'd done as part of basic training all those years ago, then there had been a long run through the woods that was a killer. The real boys, because they couldn't have the dignity of doing this exercise in private, ran ahead of them. They were competing for their men souls with such fierce determination that Jack felt a little humbled and more determined to not let them pull too far ahead. The trail through the woods had climbed steeply and the trees around them quickly became rocks and short and wiry plants clinging to the thin soil. Jack saw the cave mouth and saw a boy pause at the entrance as if steeling himself. He'd asked Daniel what was in the cave, but Daniel had just shrugged. Everyone passed the coming of age challenge, so he theorised that it couldn't be anything actually dangerous, but Jack knew that with their luck there would be something with claws and lots of teeth.

In actuality there hadn't been anything in the cave, other than half a dozen teenage boys and some cave decorations. It didn't even go that deep and there were gaps in the large rocks through which daylight could be seen. Still, it had been dark in the cave and then night had fallen and it got darker. One of the boys had shrieked when the noises started outside the cave, but Jack quickly identified it as the sound of someone banging a stout stick against a pot and told them as such.

It became a game after that, of identifying what was making the different noises that echoed and rang around the cave all night. The boys were still jumpy and they sat close to each other, but a little way from Jack and Daniel, in the dark and occasionally laughed nervously when Jack intentionally made outlandish suggestions for some of the noises. He'd been particularly proud of declaring that one of the noises was the sound of 'the polarity being reversed' even though the boys didn't get it and Daniel just groaned.

At dawn the elders had fetched them from the cave and marched them back down to their village. The boys held their heads high and their chest were nearly bursting with pride at surviving a night in the cave. Jack could believe that they'd gained their new souls, but the ritual wasn't over yet. They had to do this last bit that they were waiting for and Daniel had only just shut up.

'So, what do we need to do?' Jack asked him in a low voice.

'I don't know,' Daniel said with a slight shake of his head at the elaborately dressed man who had joined them in the hall and was performing some sort of dance. He wore a fantastically fearsome outfit and mask, that was a deadly serious caricature of some kind of warrior and the dance contained much snarling and growling. The costume was largely made of furs and the stink of unwashed human body and the smell that Jack knew was stale blood hung moved with it like a wave. Many of the locals were gathered around the edges of the hall watching, Sam and Teal'c among them.

'He's supposed to be Lar'ocre,' Daniel explained quietly. 'He is supposed to have mastered the Chapp'ai and journeyed through it to banish the Goa'uld from this world a long time ago.'

'You reckon he did?'

Daniel shrugged, 'Maybe he did, or maybe something else happened and its a coincidence. I can't imagine one man from here being able to do much damage against any Goa'uld, but then look at us.'

'I bet it's someone's Dad dressed up anyway.'

'Yes, they take it very seriously, whoever will be channelling Lar'ocre's spirit spends a week in meditation before hand. They don't wash at all during that time and consume nothing but calves blood with what sound like hallucinogenic herbs mixed in in order to get closer to Lar'ocre.'

Eventually, 'Lar'ocre' stopped and stood in the centre of the hall. He looked around and pointed at one of the boys. The boy stepped forward, still bold from the night in the cave and stood in front of 'Lar'ocre' with his head held high and eyes staring into the middle distance. 'Lar'ocre' looked him over, appeared to sniff him carefully and then grasped both shoulders to look at the boy.

and continued in next comment again...

Four kisses that weren't real and one that was - Part Three Sam/Janet and unspecified

[tittamiire.livejournal.com]

continued from part two...

'Did you run the course?' He asked him.

'Yes'

'Did you find your Man soul in the cave?'

'I did'

'Will you defend your people? Would you stand and fight the Goa'uld if they returned? Will you be as Lar'ocre if you need to?'

'I will'

'Lar'ocre' embraced the boy, kissed him once firmly on the lips and then released him.

'This boy is a man,' 'Lar'ocre' declared and slapped him on the back. The boy beamed and stepped away from the boys in the hall and to stand with the people watching. 'Lar'ocre' pointed to another boy, who stepped forward.

'We have to do this don't we Daniel?' Jack muttered.

'Yes'

'He stinks'

'Yes Jack.'

Jack inhaled and exhaled, steeling himself and then leant toward Daniel again to mutter, 'There will be no jokes about this.'

'No Jack'

'No comments about getting 'action' off world, no comments about me always getting 'lucky', no mention of Captain Kirk. This is not a real kiss.'

'No Jack,' Daniel said with a carefully neutral voice.

They waited and shuffled their feet while 'Lar'ocre' worked his way through each of the boys and finally pointed at Jack. He took another breath and then stepped forward. 'Not a real kiss,' he repeated.

3. Aliens made them do it. They really did. Daniel didn't even attempt to say why they made them or hazard a theory at what they would possibly gain from the exercise, but they literally held guns to their heads and made them do it.

Of course, Alien's didn't make them enjoy it, but that would be very definitely left out of any reports on the matter and they would never mention it between themselves again and it would just become another 'only SG1' story rumbling around the base, which was okay because some of the rumours running around were way worse, even if some of them were accurate.

4. 'This isn't real,' Sam muttered in the dull light, breaking apart from the kiss.

Janet waited a moment and then pinched her.

'Hey!' Sam protested quietly, but then kissed her again with a smile.

'No, definitely not real,' Janet said, as Sam kissed her cheek gently and then slumped against the wall a little. She tugged lightly at the front of Sam's shirt, mock straightening it. 'There is no way two well respected air force officers working on the most secret and powerful projects on the planet, no, on the most important endeavour for mankind of this century are making out behind a night club in downtown Colorado Springs.'

'Nope, that would never happen,' Sam agreed and slid her hands under Janet's shirt at the back to pull her closer and stroke her skin lightly with her fingertips, 'Ergo, this isn't reality, this isn't a real kiss, you're just an illusion and if I lean too much against this wall it'll disappear.'

'Hmm, I suspect if you try to not lean against the wall you'll crumple to the ground Captain Light Weight.'

'A dilemma,' Sam declared, holding her first finger up in the air and leaving a stretch of Janet's lower back exposed to the cool night air.

'One solved by getting us both into a taxi and home,' Janet suggested.

'Hmm, I'm quite enjoying the lack of reality,' Sam went on and leant forwards to kiss her again, parting her lips and deepening the kiss.

'I could stay here all night and not really kiss you,' she whispered with her lips only a centimetre from Janet's.

'Me too,' Janet sighed. 'Screw reality,' she declared and slid a hand around to the back of Sam's head to pull her closer.

Four kisses that weren't real and one that was - Part Four Sam/Teal'c (others mentioned)

[tittamiire.livejournal.com]

Last part

5. 'General Carter,' Teal'c greeted her when Sam stepped down from the Stargate and took his hand.

'Please Teal'c,' she said, with a smile and he tried not to hear the tremor in her voice that was constant now. 'I'm long retired and you really should call me Samantha by now.'

He bowed his head slightly and offered his arm. She took it, but didn't put any weight onto it, obviously aware of his own increasing frailty. Old age didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. Weakness had once been regarded as equating death, but now Jaffa could grow old in relative comfort and it was a luxury. He'd kept at it a long time, but eventually it had felt good to 'retire' and concentrate on spending time with his now extraordinarily extended family of grandchildren and great grandchildren. He was proud of living long enough to see everything that had happened and proud of reaching old age.

'You have permission to stay?' He asked simply.

'Of course, they were never going to refuse me. I'm Carter,' she said fondly.

'But you have not brought any bags?'

'I cleared everything out, whatever I might want to have brought with me for sentimental reasons I left with Cassie. I'd want her to have it in the end, so why not now?' She asked rhetorically and gripped his arm slightly more firmly as they negotiated a series of steps.

'I've said the goodbyes I need to. Most of them were to graves. I'm tired of saying goodbye,' she went on hollowly.

She paused when they reached the bottom of the steps and turned to look at him, 'I don't want any more goodbyes.' She placed her palms onto his chest and looked up at him. He put his hands over hers and squeezed gently.

'I'm minimising goodbyes and...' she paused and looked away for a few moments, seeming to think, or battle with herself, then she looked back up at him. She put her head on one side with an expression as if she was pre-recoiling from his response to what she hadn't even said yet. He knew the look well, though not usually from conversations with him. 'I love you, I mean, of course I love you, but I think I might love you.'

Teal'c raised an eyebrow and waited for her to actually look at him.

'I know about what happened on the Odyssey, I could see it in your eyes. I don't know when I first realised that I felt a different kind of love for you, but it's been a long time,' she shifted her hands to wrap her fingers around his and looked at them instead of up at him. 'I belong here with you whatever you answer, but I am offering you this, if you want it.'

There was silence again and then Teal'c freed a hand from hers in order to tilt her chin up. There were tears at the corners of her eyes. He smiled at her and bent cautiously to kiss her. She was smiling when she pulled back and blinked the tears away without shame.

'I was afraid you wouldn't understand,' she said and slid her arm through his again.

'I understand,' he replied and led her along the path again.

'I loved Janet, I loved Pete, I loved Jack, I loved Daniel in his own way, but that would have been like kissing my brother, and I love you.'

'You do not need to explain,' Teal'c reassured her.

Re: Four kisses that weren't real and one that was - Part Four Sam/Teal'c (others mentioned)

[fairyglass.livejournal.com]

I....

Oh.

*Oh*.

So much love. These were FANTASTIC.

Re: Four kisses that weren't real and one that was - Part Four Sam/Teal'c (others mentioned)

[kazbaby]

I enjoyed all of these, but the last one.. Yes, just so much freaking YES! that it hurts. *grins and grabs a tissue*

Re: Four kisses that weren't real and one that was - Part Four Sam/Teal'c (others mentioned)

[rachel500.livejournal.com]

Have to say #2 and #3 were my favourites. Great Jack voice in #2. :)

Re: Four kisses that weren't real and one that was - Part Four Sam/Teal'c (others mentioned)

[sid]

Outstanding!

I love #2, that just grew and grew, lol. Nice bit of world-building.

But #4 is sweetly hot and #5... oh, Sam. She's loved and lost, and still will love again. One final time. Oh, Teal'c. He's been waiting, I think.

"His Love Cannot Be Found In Dreams"

[magnavox-23.livejournal.com]

It was like looking at some twisted version of a photo album. Animated Polaroids dancing before his eyes, their images played out on a stage, and Jack was in the front row.

He felt that trademark grin with its full bottom lip against his own, reverberating a soft huff of laughter from his partner. Closely shorn, but still styled black hair running through his fingertips, and a frame, shorter, but more solid against his own. “Friends with benefits, eh Jack? (http://i44.tinypic.com/hwd5xf.jpg)”

He could feel the medals from the other man’s uniform press as they stood chest to chest. Another set of lips, another smirk, but this one much thinner, not so much cocky as self-imposing. The body moulding to his own, wrapping around him in any space it could find. “We’re bad boys, Jack. Whatcha gonna do?”

“Whatcha gonna do? (http://i44.tinypic.com/fnsccj.jpg)”

These lips were hard. Demanding against his own. Jack’s hands found the face, skin pulling into a frown, angry puffs of air from flaring nostrils. His partner was crowding him, pushing him back as their lips held firm. “I’ll have your ass on a platter, O’Neill. (http://i41.tinypic.com/34oybyp.jpg)”

Vertigo took over and Jack found himself upside down, cradled in arms and drowning in the smell of aftershave. The kiss was messy and uncoordinated and ended with his partner’s saliva running down his chin. Jack looked up at a goggle-eyed expression.

“Just like riding a wormhole, right Colonel? (http://i43.tinypic.com/2yu0yex.jpg)”

Jack’s eyes flew open as he bolted upright. Taking a moment or two to realise he was safe in his own bed, soft sheets, the beginnings of sunrise and his lover sleeping soundly right next to him. Jack let his heartbeat slow, taking deep breaths and bemoaning his nightmare.

His lover stirred, warm dark eyes searching Jack’s, silently asking his troubles.

“It’s nothing, baby” Jack replied. Reaching over to caress a cheek. “Nothing you can’t take me away from right now”. And with that Jack bent over to gently kiss his lover awake. (http://i44.tinypic.com/6ie79k.jpg)

Re: "His Love Cannot Be Found In Dreams"

[zats-clear.livejournal.com]

that last one...

i haz no words!

Re: "His Love Cannot Be Found In Dreams"

[sg-wonderland.livejournal.com]

Oh, my word! You know you are nasty, right? LMAO, seriously!!

Re: "His Love Cannot Be Found In Dreams"

[chattycatsmeow.livejournal.com]

LOL!! Love the rare-pairings nightmare. The ending is FABulous! :D :D

Re: "His Love Cannot Be Found In Dreams"

[tittamiire.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha....Brilliant!

Re: "His Love Cannot Be Found In Dreams"

[rachel500.livejournal.com]

Half the fun was guessing who would be in the pics. The final one is just outstanding :D

Re: "His Love Cannot Be Found In Dreams"

[sid]

OMG, you've killed me ded.

I thought #4 was the bestest thing evah, and then I clicked on #5.

(but srsly, #4 is a great, great manip!) :-D

Re: "His Love Cannot Be Found In Dreams"

[kazbaby]

Words cannot express my level of happy flail.

four kisses that weren't for real and one that was

[bergann.livejournal.com]

On my LJ (http://bergann.livejournal.com/414478.html) since at 2258 words, it got way too long for comments.

Colby/Lorne (Lorne/Teal'c, Lorne/Major Davis, Lorne/Carter, Lorne/Cadman)

Re: four kisses that weren't for real and one that was

[rachel500.livejournal.com]

Only just started watching Numb3rs so had to think for a moment who Colby was but it doesn't really matter anyway (he could be random Colby) because the story works regardless and it was a really sweet ending. Love the Lorne/Cadman friendship moment and Lorne/Teal'c cracked me up. :)

Four kisses that weren't for real and one that was

[rachel500.livejournal.com]

A/N: Takes place during S3's Forever in a Day.

Goodbye Kisses

1. A Kiss Before Dying

She’s dead. Her body is before him on the cold mortuary table and still Daniel can’t bring himself to believe it. He’s searched for so long for Sha’re; hoped for so long to free her from the Goa’uld...but not like this.

Never like this.

She seems strangely at peace, untouched by the violence of her death. She is free.

It doesn’t comfort him.

Daniel struggles to rise from the wheelchair but he forces himself to move despite the weakness that invades his limbs. He kisses her cold lips gently, reverently.

‘I’m sorry.’ He whispers.

2. Sleeping Beauty

Daniel wakes for the fourth time. He’s keeping count. As his eyes settle on Sha’re’s face, he considers the possibility that he’s losing his mind. Twice he’s woken to the news of her death. And twice he’s woken with her beside him. Which reality is real, his mind wonders absently, as he drinks in the sight of her.

‘Daniel.’ His name is lit up with the exotic lilt of her accent; her dark eyes by the wide smile that graces her face. ‘You are awake.’

He tests reality.

He leans forward and grasps her face between his hands as his lips descend on hers. The kiss is deep and long and, God, he hopes this is real but somehow he knows it can’t be even before he jerks awake again to the sad eyes of his team-mates which tell him the truth.

3. Passionate Madness

He’s mad.

He blinks the sleep out of his eyes, strokes a hand down Sha’re’s naked back and decides he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care if he’s mad, if she’s an illusion conjured up by his broken mind; broken heart.

Sha’re shifts and leans over him. ‘Daniel, I must talk to you about the boy.’

Daniel’s really not interested in talking and moves with a swiftness that takes her by surprise. He captures her lips again and devours; lips roaming over hers with a hunger born of desperation. Her passion rises to meet his and there is nothing but the endless kiss and the feel of her alive in his arms.

4. Goodbye Again

It’s his nature to question.

He can’t be Ernest Littlefield, content to live with only a dream of the woman he loves. He wants more. He wants the reality. Needs the reality.

Something happened to him when he was tortured with the hand device. He has a number of theories. He calls General Hammond and asks to go to Abydos. The General is surprisingly agreeable even acquiescing to Daniel’s plea not to inform SG1.

Daniel steps out of the Stargate and walks straight into his past. Sha’re is kissing him. Her possession is long and fierce, marking him as hers. He remembers thinking at the time that Sha’re was fearful she would lose her husband with the arrival of Jack and the others from Earth.

Within a heartbeat Daniel’s back in his bed, waking up again with his heart pounding and wondering where reality starts and the dreams end.

5. A Kiss After Dying

Daniel crawls closer to Sha’re’s prone body. He’s oblivious to his team-mates; his attention all on her. He touches her cheek. It’s warm; her death is only moments old. For a brief moment he considers fantasising that she’s alive but the experience with the hand device has left him too unnerved and unsure of reality. He has to face it. He has to face her death.

It’s his worst nightmare.

He had hoped for so long and now his search for her is over. He feels the tears running down his face. She’s dead; all her light and passion extinguished. But she’s free and she died fighting, trusting him to save her son when he couldn't save her.

It gives him some small comfort that he clings to as he weakly shifts and presses his lips one last time to hers. The taste of her rushes through him in a swarm of memories. He lifts his head reluctantly and falls back to the ground. He can feel his vision darkening as grief and pain pull him under and he welcomes the darkness.

‘I’m sorry.’ He whispers and he knows she won't be there when he wakes.

Re: Four kisses that weren't for real and one that was

[chattycatsmeow.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, these are so sweet and sorrowful and so full of desperate longing. Wonderfully done!

[msbeata.livejournal.com]

Well done!

Totally unexpected pairings.

[sid]

Hi! :-)

We can't be sure which author your feedback is intended for.

Could you re-post your comment, making sure to click on "reply to this" under the response you're replying to? Thanks!

[antares04a.livejournal.com]

Oh, no! Everytime you think the pairing can't get worse - it gets worse! *lol*

Poor Jack - and I hope his lover can soothe his frayed nerves. *g*

[spacemonkeyphd2.livejournal.com]

MUST...FIND....BRAIN BLEACH!!!!!