Our Little Holiday by Jez

~~o0o~~

Jack was looking out the window of the plane, watching the clouds whiz by. He looked over and saw Sam working through some notes. "Carter. Why don't you close the folder and relax for a while. This is the closest thing we'll get to a holiday, may as well enjoy it."

Sam reluctantly closed the folder and sat back in her chair. "A holiday? Can't say I remember ever having one of those. Not unless you count the one that Jonis took me on, but I try to forget that one."

Jack looked at her curiously. "And why's that?"

"Why have I never been on a holiday or why do I try to forget *that* so called holiday?" Sam asked, not sure if she wanted to answer either question. Although her and Jack had become quite close, she still found it hard to open up and tell him personal things about herself. She wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because she was attracted to him and she was afraid of letting him know. Or maybe she was simply afraid. Her track record with men wasn't exactly great.

"How 'bout both" was Jack's easy reply.

"Um, okay" she began slowly. "I've never really had a holiday because we moved around so much when I was a kid that there really wasn't much point and then I joined the airforce so I was kinda busy there. As for why I try to forget that one with Jonis... let's just say that was the time that I finally figured out just how much control he wanted over me."

Jack noticed that Sam was a little upset by her admission. He placed his hand briefly on her arm. "I'm sorry Sam. I didn't mean to dredge up old memories. I know how tough that can be." Sam gave him a nod and a small smile before turning to look at the TV in front of them. Jack felt bad. Here he was, just trying to get her to relax and tell him something about herself and he'd gone and upset her. They'd known each other for a while now but he felt like he didn't really know that much about her. He decided to try again. "Well then Captain, since you've never had a real holiday, I guess I'll just have to show you how it's done. Excuse me stewardess, can I get two beers please?" He asked, beckoning over the closest flight attendant.

A few beers later Sam and Jack were both relaxed and talking easily. "I can't believe you rocked the control tower on an illegal flyby!" Jack said, laughing hard.

"Well we'd watched Top Gun the night before and the guys had dared me to. A dare's a dare" Sam replied with a grin.

"Did you get in trouble?" Jack asked, still not believing that his sweet, innocent Captain had done so many devilish pranks when she was a pilot.

"Not really. I just told my CO I thought there was a problem with the thrusters and I wanted to check them out before I landed. I think he'd found out about the dare and knew I had to do it. He was good in that respect, he knew I was just trying to prove that I was as good as the guys."

Jack nodded, his face turning serious. "I guess you have to put up with that a lot hey?"

Sam looked at him curiously. "What?"

"Proving you're as good as the guys."

Sam shrugged. "I'm used to it. I've had it easier than some of my friends."

"Yeah but it still must be hard. I know I gave you a hard time when you first arrived."

Sam patted his arm briefly. "Ah, but you made it perfectly clear that it was because I'm a scientist, not a woman." They both laughed.

"Well in any case, I'm sorry. You certainly proved yourself to me, time and time again."

Sam blushed at the compliment. "Thanks. That means a lot to me Colonel."

"Well you're welcome, but do you think you can call me Jack while we're off duty? I think we've been friends long enough to dispense with the formalities don't you?"

"Sure... Jack" she replied, testing the name. Jack wasn't prepared for the shiver that went down his spine from hearing her say it. "Great...Sam" he said after taking a deep breath, wondering if it was possible that he could have the same effect on her.

The plane landed at the airport in D.C. and the two officers walked off feeling much more relaxed. They spotted General Hammond who had flown in the day before for a meeting. "Colonel, Captain. I trust you had a good flight?"

Jack grinned at Sam. "Yes sir we did. How was the meeting?"

"Well they finally decided that maybe we should have some more funding."

"That's good news sir" Sam said with a smile.

"Yes Captain it is. Now let's get you two to the hotel. I have a meeting with the president in an hour."

"Yes sir" they chorused as they followed the General out to a waiting car.

Jack and Sam walked out of the elevator toward their rooms. They were situated next to each other. Sam walked into hers and immediately plonked herself on the King sized bed, closing her eyes. A few minutes later she heard a knock on the door separating her room from Jack's. "Come in" she said, not getting up from the bed.

"Hey, sorry to bother you" he said as he walked over and sat down on the bed. He gestured for her to stay where she was as she attempted to sit up.

"That's okay. What can I do for you?" She asked grabbing a pillow to prop herself up with.

"Well I was wondering if you wanted to go out and get something to eat, maybe find a bar for a few drinks?"

"Are you trying to get me drunk Jack?" Sam asked with a mischievous grin.

Jack laughed. "Well..." he started waggling his eyebrows.

Sam laughed and threw a pillow at him.

"No seriously" Jack said when the laughter died down. "If this is our holiday then we've gotta go out somewhere. Can't stay in the hotel all night."

"All right. Let me have a shower and put some civvies on and we'll get going." She got up and headed for the bathroom. Jack went back to his room to do the same.

Twenty minutes later the two were walking through the hotel lobby. "Do you think we should ask at reception where to go to eat?" Jack asked.

"Trust me. I know where to eat in this place. Now what do you feel like? Thai, Italian, Chinese..."

"You can choose" Jack interrupted.

"Thai it is then."

After a fantastic meal, Sam and Jack moved on to a little bar around the corner from their hotel. As Sam and Jack stood at the bar to get their drinks, two men walked over and stood behind Sam. "You know I knew this female pilot once. They called her Mad Dog. She wasn't too bad... for a girl."

Jack watched as Sam's eye's went wide and she started to turn. 'Oh no' he thought. 'Here we go'. He started to reach for her only to stop as she squealed "Cougar!" and flung herself into the guys arms.

Jack stood back and watched as a group of four men and one woman surrounded Sam, all hugging and laughing with her. "So Sam" the guy Sam had called Cougar started, his arm circling her shoulders. "You gunna introduce us to your man?"

Sam blushed bright red before shaking her head. "Cougar this is my commanding officer. Jack, this is Colonel Chris Doyle, Major Sean Peterson, Captain Evelyn Dalton, Captain George Hill and Major Roger Wilson. Guys this is Colonel Jack O'Neill."

After the introductions everyone got their drinks and moved over to a group of tables. Cougar took a sip of his beer before looking around at the group. "Well since the gang's all together again. You know what that means..."

Sam shook her head. "No Cougar. There's no way..."

"Come on Mad Dog. Tradition's tradition. Isn't that right Jack?"

Jack nodded, having no idea what they were talking about but amused by the crimson shade to Sam's face.

"But Jack..."

"Evelyn can keep Jack company. Come on." The guys all pulled Sam up to the stage where the Karaoke compere was. Jack watched, highly amused, before turning to Evelyn. "Why aren't you a part of this?"

That got a laugh. "The guys once likened my voice to running your nails down a blackboard. I took the hint."

They both turned to watch the group on stage as they started their rendition of Meatloaf's 'Paradise by the Dashboard Light'. Both Sam and Cougar had great voice's, the other's were just messing around but they all still sounded good. Evelyn looked at Jack who was watching Sam on the stage, an unreadable expression on his face. "Are you okay Jack?"

Jack looked at her quickly. "Yeah." He shook his head before turning back to watch Sam singing with Jeff. "I've just never seen Sam so relaxed."

"Really? You guys don't go out much?"

"Yeah we do and we have fun but... I mean I never pegged Sam as the kinda person that gets up and sings in a bar."

Evelyn laughed. "Yeah it all started one night when we got back from the Gulf. We went out and got totally plastered. The guys got up to sing but Sam's boyfriend at the time didn't want her to get up. I think he was just jealous of her friendship with the guys. So of course that just made Sam more determined to do it. She got up and turned out she could sing. So began this tradition. Jonis was not impressed, but he was an asshole anyway."

Jack chuckled. "Have to agree with you there."

"I take it you know about him then?" Jack nodded before she continued. "Yeah well it's just as well Cougar never knew the real reason why they broke up. If he'd known that bastard had hit her, he'd have killed him." Jack looked at her quickly. "Oops, guess she never told you that bit huh?"

"Ah... no she didn't but it doesn't really surprise me, that guy had serious problems."

"Yeah. Well Sam sees it as her big weakness. Doesn't matter that she nearly knocked the guy senseless, she thinks that she should never have let herself get that close that she'd miss the signs. That's why she gets a little cautious around people she's attrac... ah I mean people she's around. She's just trying to protect herself."

Evelyn looked over at Jack and it was obvious that he had heard what she was going to say. "Ah look I didn't mean..."

"It's okay, forget it" Jack replied quickly. His mind reeled with the possibilities. Could she really be attracted to him? What if she was? Would it be possible for them to have a relationship? He watched her up on the stage with her friends. She was singing and laughing. There was no denying that the beautiful blue eyed blonde had captured his heart but he had never thought that she could ever feel the same way about him.

####

Sam and Jack were laughing hard as they stumbled out of the elevator, holding each other up. "Oh god I think I'm gonna need the shades tomorrow" Jack said as he opened the door to his room. "Why don't you come in and we'll talk for a while" he suggested. "I'm too buzzed to sleep right now."

"Okay" Sam replied, the alcohol quieting the little voices that would normally scream at her.

The only place to sit was the large king sized bed so Sam walked over and sat down, kicking her shoes off. Jack did the same before lying back on the bed. "I had fun tonight" he said looking at her as she laid down beside him.

"Me too. I'm sorry 'bout my friends. They can be a little crazy sometimes."

"Nah, they were fine. It was good to see you having fun. We don't get to do it enough."

"We have fun. Quite a bit if I remember some of those poker nights."

Jack laughed. "Yeah but wouldn't you love to see Teal'c singing karaoke?"

That sent Sam off into another round of giggles. "Oh I'd pay to see that." She looked over at Jack who was watching her, a serious look on his face.

"What?" She asked, confused.

His hand reached out to brush her cheek. "I just love to see you laugh. Don't ever stop."

Sam smiled at him. Her eyes closing as she leant into his caress. The next thing she felt was his soft lips on hers. She returned the kiss eagerly, pulling Jack towards her. They made love slowly, each taking the time to learn what the other liked and committing it to memory. It was almost dawn when they finally succumbed to sleep, blissfully sated.

The bedside phone rang, waking both Sam and Jack. Jack reached for it, kissing Sam good morning as he picked up the receiver. "Yeah?" He asked sleepily.

"Colonel O'Neill? This is General Hammond. Just letting you know there's been a change of plans. I'll meet you and Captain Carter at the ceremony."

"Yes Sir" Jack replied, shocked that his watch read ten thirty. "See you there." He hung up the phone and turned back to Sam. "That was the General. He's gunna meet us there."

"Oh, okay" Sam said, cuddling back into Jack's chest.

"So how are you feeling this morning?" Jack asked, elated that things weren't awkward between them.

"Like I could stay in bed all day."

"Mmm. Amen to that" he replied, hugging her tighter.

"We're okay with this aren't we?" Sam asked, wanting to make sure they were on the same page.

"Yeah, we're okay. In fact we're better than okay, we're happy."

Sam nodded. "I s'pose I should go and get ready" she said, not attempting to remove herself from Jack's arms.

"Yeah we better get a move on" he replied, reluctantly getting up. "Come on Captain, let's go and meet the president."

"Yes sir" she replied cheekily, giving him one last kiss before heading back to her room to prepare for the medal ceremony.

THE END