Ten seconds, Jack decided. Ten seconds and he was going to personally drag her out of his bathroom.
He glared at door, willing it to open, which of course it didn’t. Sighing, he pushed back the thin sheet and walked to the door. For a moment he considered pulling on his shorts, but there didn’t seem to be a point.
He knocked on the door and waited a moment. Nothing.
“Carter?” He rested his head against the wooden door and listened carefully. Not a sound.
She had to be in there. Unless she had climbed out of the small window, which he highly doubted since her clothes were lying scattered on the bedroom floor. He wouldn’t have blamed her, though.
“Come on, Carter.” He sighed too softly for her to hear. His hand tried the doorknob and he was surprised to find it open. Slowly, he gave the door a soft push and watched it open, the harsh light from the bathroom making him squint.
Sam was sitting on the edge of his bathtub, one knee drawn up so she could rest her chin on it while her other foot remained on the cold tiles. Her eyes were staring into nothingness, but Jack still regretted not putting on the shorts.
“Sam?” The word seemed to pull her out of her trance and he cringed as he realised that during this entire... encounter he hadn’t called her by her first name once.
Her eyes seemed larger than normal as she looked up at him, but he doubted that she had been crying.
“You okay?” He should have put on his slacks – at least they had pockets.
“No.”
The honest reply made him shuffle nervously – he’d never had to deal with a not-fine Carter.
“I’m using you,” she added, frowning as she stared at his feet, head slightly tilted.
“Oh.” He wasn’t sure if he really minded. “Okay.”
“No. No, it’s not okay. It’s...” She let her foot fall from the edge of the tub to the floor as she turned fully towards him.
“Wrong?” he supplied, swallowing his unease.
She sighed. “Yes... no.” She groaned and stood up, pacing back and forth. He wished she would have put something on.
Forcing his eyes back towards her face, he saw her annoyance but he knew it wasn’t directed at him. “Bad timing?”
She snorted and stopped pacing. “The worst.”
He smirked. “I’m good at that.”
“So was he.”
Daniel. Of course this was about him.
“This...” She crossed her arms in front of her chest protectively and he wasn’t sure if it was due to cold, embarrassment or something completely different. “Tonight, it...”
“... shouldn’t have happened?”
She scuffed her foot on the white tiles, which was oddly comical in her current state of undress but laughing was *so* a bad idea.
“Not now,” she said softly.
Yeah, bad timing and all. He nodded in agreement. “We were just...”
“... holding on,” she finished for him.
Holding on? That could mean so many things but it seemed oddly right. He nodded again and absently ran a hand through his hair. “So now what?”
She shrugged, hugging herself tighter. “I guess I’d better go.”
After all, that was the right thing to do. They always did that... the right thing. Too bad. “So no more using me?”
Sam grinned and moved closer to him. “Afraid not, sir.”
He sighed dramatically. “Too bad.”
She smiled and put her hand on his arm as she gently kissed his cheek. “Maybe once the timing...”
Jack groaned. “Just get dressed before I change my mind.”
Sam chuckled and moved past him into the bedroom and started gathering her clothes. Jack leaned back against the doorframe, watching her as he wondered just where his shorts were, anyway.
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Story Notes: A/N: splash_the_cat did the unthinkable. She demanded fic from me and for the first time in my life, my muse actually listened. So this is for her.
Huge big thanks to evangeline1138 for the instant beta.
Huge big thanks to evangeline1138 for the instant beta.
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]