samandjack.net

Story Notes: ramseysg11@springmail.com

SPOILERS: "The Curse"

STATUS: Complete, but in flux.

ARCHIVE: Sam and Jack; Heliopolis

NOTES: Special thanks to Beth, Beta-Reader Extraordinaire. I tried to follow your advice, but just couldn't get it right... I'm not *incredibly* happy with this one; it's likely to change once again when I have the patience to rework it. Feedback (i.e. constructive criticism) is greatly appreciated.


Jack O'Neill settled into the overstuffed, beige sofa with a sigh. A hot shower and shave made him feel like a new man after a week in Minnesota with minimal water pressure, even less hot water than on base, and mosquitoes the size of B-17 bombers. Or, at the very least, he reasoned, he felt like a squeaky clean man. Running his hand through damp, close-cropped hair, he smiled. //Maybe it's good Carter couldn't make it after all,// he thought idly. Reaching for his copy of Tom Clancy's _Rainbow Six_, he leaned back and propped his feet onto the coffeetable. Time for a nice quiet evening at home....

Almost immediately Jack looked up from his novel, hearing what sounded like a Harley-Davidson. His brow furrowed. Since when did his neighbor get a motorcycle? As he wondered, the motor revved, then cut. He shrugged and returned his attention to the novel with a shake of his head.

A knock at his door two minutes later broke his concentration once again. Closing the book, he sighed. At this rate, he'd never make it to Clancy's latest outing, _The Bear and the Dragon_. Setting aside the book, he pushed himself off the sofa and made his way to the door. Halfway there, the knock sounded again.

"Alright! I'm coming! Just keep your pants on!" he called grumpily. "This had better be..." He stopped mid-sentence as he opened the door. Samantha Carter stood on his doorstep, clad in the most fantastic, tailored black leather jacket and blue jeans he had ever seen. Under one arm rested a full helmet of jet black, in the other, a brown paper bag smeared with blotches of oil. From the crown of matted blonde hair atop her head, he guessed she had been wearing the helmet for a while; his sense of smell identified the paper bag contents as Mongolian beef and Moo Goo Gai Pan, their two favorite Chinese dishes.

"Carter," he said, clearly caught by suprise. "This is a new look for you."

Sam chuckled. "Actually, sir, it's just new to you. I've had my motorcycle permit since I was eighteen." She nodded toward his living room. "Mind if I come in?"

"Hm? Oh, no, not at all." Forcing himself out of his distracted state, Jack stepped aside and allowed Carter to enter. He closed the door behind her.

"Had dinner yet, sir?" Sam asked. She directed herself straight to the kitchen, setting the brown bag carefully onto the heavy oak table.

Jack, trying to stuff his hand into non-existent sweatpant pockets, followed her into the kitchen, a bit bewildered. Hadn't she turned down his fishing trip to work? The corners of his brown eyes creased in confusion. "Uhm, no... I was gonna order a pizza later." The furrow in his brow deepened. He watched her unload the white take-out boxes and two small bags of egg rolls. "I thought you were busy in the lab?"

Oblivious to his confusion, Sam crossed the kitchen, withdrawing two Corelle plates from the cabinet above the microwave. "I was, actually, but I'm finished for now." She returned to the table and looked up at him with a slight smile. "When I saw Teal'c was back, I decided to stop by..."

"What for?" He winced inwardly, hearing an edge in his voice he hadn't intended to bleed through. Her refusal had left a bit of a sting.

"To apologize. For turning you down."

At this Jack raised his brows. "Oh?"

Carter nodded, averting her eyes. "I didn't trust myself, Jack," she responded quietly. An uneasy silence fell over the room.

//Didn't trust herself?// Jack blinked. He shook his head. If she didn't trust herself to a cabin, alone, in Minnesota, what made here -- now -- alone -- any different? Yet, at the same time he understood. His invitation had not been altogether an innocent one; he couldn't promise his behavior would have stayed appropriate, even after their agreement to leave "it in the room."

He cleared his throat after a long moment, breaking the silence. "Don't worry about it, Sam," he responded. He placed a hand gently on her shoulder, squeezing gently. She glanced at him over her shoulder, and exchanged soft smiles. The impish gleam returned to Jack's eyes. "I hope you remembered the soy sauce this time..."



***



"Hey, Carter, you want this last egg roll?" Jack shook the wax-paper bag, sending the egg roll bouncing up and down. He looked to Sam who was seated on the living room floor at the coffeetable, legs folded.

Sam looked into the dining room, smiling at him. "Help yourself. I think, if I eat any more, I'm going to burst," she replied. She flopped back against the sofa, heaving a sigh. She should have worn her own pair of sweat pants, she thought.

Plopping the egg roll onto his plate, Jack sauntered back into the living room, resuming his seat in the floor next to Carter. He tossed four fortune cookies onto the table. "They underestimated our ability to put away Chinese food, Carter," he said.

"I usually order the dinner for four," Sam replied with a chuckle. "Guess they assumed I was ordering for the same four."

"We probably put enough away for us, Daniel, *and* Teal'c," Jack replied. He took a bite of the egg roll, chewing thoughtfully. "Tell ya what," he said, wiping his mouth with a napkin, "you take two and I take two."

"Deal." Sam reached over, claiming her two cookies. With a wry grin to Jack, she pulled open the plastic wrapper of the first, busting the cookie open over her empty plate. She read the fortune in silence.

"Well?" O'Neill prompted.

Sam cleared her throat. "Sometimes even the bear does not see the forest for the trees," she read aloud. She cleared her throat. "I've had worse."

"Worse than, 'Does a bear --'"

"Sir!"

Jack chuckled, reaching for the first of his fortunes. "Sorry," he mumbled. Squeezing the pocket of air enclosed in the clear plastic, the bag opened with a loud *pop*; he crushed the cookie in the palm of his hand, sweeping the crumbs into his plate. The largest of the crumbs he slipped into his mouth before unfolding the narrow slip of paper. "Hmm."

"Hmmm?"

He cleared his throat. "You will soon find romance in an unexpected place." He forced a quick smile as he looked to Sam, giving a bashful shrug. "It didn't say when..."

Sam pulled open her second cookie, casting him a wary glance. She had struggled so hard to maintain a professional relationship, yet it seemed that the Fates had other plans for she and her commanding officer. Looking down, she nearly choked on her own bite of cookie.

"Sam? You all right?" Jack asked. His expression was painted with concern.

Sam nodded, thumping her chest. She reached for her glass of soda, hastily downing several large gulps. "Sorry, sir, just... caught off guard."

//Sir?// Jack thought. //Going all professional on me again, Sammy?// He placed a hand against her shoulder; she shirked away slightly. "That funny?"

//Ironic is the word I'd use.// Sam cleared her throat. "Now is the time to follow your heart's desire." She looked to him with a weak smile. "Someone has a sense of humor tonight."

Jack studied her profile a long moment, fully aware that she would not allow her eyes to meet his. "Apparently so," he said slowly. //Come on, Sam... Just one look...// Licking his lips, he slipped the last cookie from the table. With a quick glance back to Sam's profile, he popped open the wrapper. His eyes scanned over the red letters and he shook his head. "Example is better than precept," he read aloud. His brow furrowed. "Precept?"

"Actions speak louder than words," Sam paraphrased. She swallowed, still avoiding Jack's eyes. She gave a nervous laugh, smoothing the hair over one ear with her fingers. "If I didn't know better, I'd think someone planted those."

"Maybe someone is trying to tell us something, Sam."

Sam looked up at Jack, blue eyes shining. She shook her head. "We can't do this."

"This? What is *this*? Carter, we're just having dinner. *This* isn't anything." Jack's voice rose slightly in tone, breaking slightly as it did when he struggled to keep his temper in check. Without warning, he leant forward, planting his lips solidly against hers. His hand came to rest against the nape of her neck, his fingers tangling in the short, blonde hair. She tensed at the contact, but did not resist; after a moment, her lips softened against his, allowing him to deepen the kiss. By the time they separated, Jack could feel his heart beating in his throat.

"Now *this* is something," he breathed. He stared deeply into her troubled blue eyes, his hand remaining at the nape of her neck, gently resting. Her eyes were awash with kindled passion, the desire to give in to that passion, and the struggle to maintain logical thought. It had been several months since the armband incident, and a couple of months since the zatarc threat had been identified. In that time, they had managed to tip toe around each other, walking on egg shells, lest the disturb the fragile balance between friendship and romantic relationship which they had managed to maintain. But not because *he* wanted to.... because it was what *she* wanted. Jack prayed to God she would change her mind. His heart swelled at the thought she might be willing to take a chance. //Heaven knows I'm not getting any younger,// he thought.

Gingerly, Sam reached up and stroked her index finger down his cheek. //What the hell do you think you're doing, Carter?// her inner voice chimed. //Giving in to the weaker desires of the heart? Come on! You have a career at stake!// She swallowed. //But at what cost?// Granted, she had never missed the frilly dresses and tea parties of a young girl... but as she got older, what life had she enjoyed? An astrophysics student with her nose buried in text books... a woman engaged to an overly-posessive man... and now, a second-in-command, always taking shelter in the lab, running from something so deep it scared her. Was it possible this was more than just attraction?

//It is and you know it is,// another inner voice replied. Jack O'Neill touched something deep within her, something she could not explain. She laughed at his worst jokes; he inspired her to do what seemed impossible. As they grew to know each other, something much deeper than friendship alone had surfaced. How long ago, she wasn't sure, she just knew it was there.

She traced his lips lightly. Could she, in clear conscience, give in to that undercurrent? Her eyelids dropped as she leant forward, replacing her fingers with her lips. In the back of her mind, she was aware that the world as she knew it was about to change.

Jack closed his eyes tightly as her lips tenderly met his. //God, I hope I'm not dreaming,// he thought. He reveled in the warm pressure of her lips, disappointed when she broke away. "*This* is something now, Jack," she whispered.

At this, Jack shook his head. As much as he wanted their relationship to move forward, he had to be sure Sam wanted the same thing. "Right now, we haven't *done* anything," he replied. "If you're gonna go, Sam, now is the time."

She looked into his eyes. "I can't." She gave a watery smile. "Example is better than precept, sir."

Jack allowed his actions to speak louder than any words he could have chosen. An hour later, as he held her close, deep beneath the warmth of his down comforter, he couldn't help but wonder what tomorrow would be like.



********

The End




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