After a brief meeting with Landry to catch up on the most recent things SGC-related, Jack went to Sam’s lab, but the room was dark. Next he went to the locker rooms, but no Carter was to be found there, either. A bit disappointed, he checked his watch and realized it was almost 2000 and that she had probably taken his ever-present advice and gone home.
He sighed… Time to make use of his generaldom’s privileges and have an airman drive him to where he was supposed to spend the night…
He put both hands in his pockets, blowing air as he retraced his steps to Landry’s office in order to have him call a driver. The light was still on, as he could see it filtering through the slightly open door into the corridor. He knocked briefly and entered the room, almost colliding into the object of his thoughts.
“Sir!” she exclaimed.
“Carter!” he said, pulling down the jacket of his uniform in embarrassment. “Er… Actually I was just looking for you…”
“Oh?” she answered.
“I was wondering if you could drive me ho… to… my ho-TEL on your way back home…” he said, wincing slightly.
“Oh!... Sure… Er… Give me a minute to change and I’ll… I’ll drive you… to your hotel… Sir…”
There was a tense moment as both stared at each other.
“You want me to leave you two alone, perhaps?” Landry smirked from behind his desk.
Jack looked at him sharply. “No, Hank! Why would we want that?”
“Oh, that’s right… You’re going to share the drive to your ‘hotel’,” he said, amused, making quotation marks with his fingers as he spoke the last word.
“Sir, I’ll… I’ll go change…” Sam said, exiting the office quickly.
Jack looked at Hank questioningly.
Hank rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to act, you know?” he said.
“Oh?”
Once again, Hank rolled his eyes. “He was close to the mark, right? I mean Lloyd?”
Jack sighed. “Okay, so you know. Now what?” he admitted at last.
“Nothing. I’m just surprised that you don’t make it official,” Landry replied sincerely.
“Daniel and T’ know…” Jack said a bit defensively.
“Yeah, and I know, too, and more than three quarters of the whole base suspect it, but no official announcement was ever made,” Hank said in a slightly aggravated tone.
Jack started fidgeting with one button on his jacket “Yeah, well, we both want to enjoy it for ourselves, you know? We’ve been on the grill for so many years, we just want some privacy… We’ll come to that when we think it’s the best moment…”
Landry snorted.
“Did you know Daniel was Sam’s flower girl?” Jack said with a twinkle in his eye.
“Oh, he must have been cute in a purple dress…” Landry deadpanned.
“Not purple… Sam doesn’t like purple…”
Any further silliness was interrupted by a freshly changed Sam. “Ready to go, Sir?” she asked good-naturally.
“Cut the act, Carter; he knows…” Jack said.
“Well, then, cut the ‘Carter’ too, Jack,” she deadpanned.
Landry snorted. “Oh, how I’d like to be a fly on the wall sometimes…” he smirked, earning a deadly look from Jack.
“We’ll get going now, Hank…”
“Have a nice weekend,” Landry smiled.
Sam and Jack exited the general’s office, heading to the elevators.
“You came here empty-handed?” Sam asked as the car began to rise.
“No, I left a small bag with the SF at the entrance.”
Sam repressed a yawn.
“You shouldn’t do that, you know?” he said, amused.
“What?”
“Repress yawns. Yawning is good for your body. Repressing is bad, just like when you try and stifle sneezing…”
She smiled and stepped forward, bumping into his chest as his arms sneaked loosely around her waist. “And you’re an expert, right?”
“At yawning discreetly? Oh yeah! You wouldn’t believe how well I perfected the technique being stationed in D.C.,” he smirked, making her chuckle and bury her nose into his jacket. He kissed the top of her head, smiling to himself and tightening his embrace.
The ping of the elevator signaled they had reached NORAD, and they exited to step into the second car that took them to the surface.
Jack retrieved his carry-on before getting into Sam’s Volvo.
He was tired as they finally reached their house. The noise of the engine stopping also signaled the end of a long day. Even if the special trip to the SGC had gotten him here sooner than he usually did, he was exhausted.
He took his shoes off the minute he stepped into the foyer, loosening and getting rid of his tie at the same time, and then he flopped down heavily on the couch.
Sam came into the living room, cordless phone in hand. “Take out?” she asked.
“Chinese?” he suggested.
She nodded and speed-dialed their favorite Asian take- out.
“Hi. Two Chicken Chop Suey with rice on the side, and two spring rolls…” She paused, listening to the man on the other end. “Yes, that will be all… 541 Cypress Lane… Thanks.”
“That’s all?” came Jack’s almost hurt voice.
“You gained weight, Jack,” was her no-nonsense reply.
“Ah! Well, it’s not as if I’ve had much spare time to work out, have I?” he replied, waving dramatically with his hands.
“All those meetings and meals at the Pentagon’s mess are not good for your figure, Jack.” she replied, amused. “You should exercise more. How about jogging?” she replied, amused.
He huffed. “I’d have to wake up at 0400 for that!” he mumbled. “And on the weekends, I’m either here or you’re up to Washington…” His voice took on a serious tone.
She looked at him quizzically. “Something the matter?” she asked, gently.
He sighed. “I’m tired of this, Sam…”
She frowned in concern.
Seeing her worried face, he smiled and opened his arms. “C’mere…”
She stepped forward and sat next to him, letting his arms encircle her lovingly. His head came to rest on her shoulder. He nuzzled her neck, just underneath her ear, where she always put two or three drops of the perfume he had given her once. They just sat, enjoying each other’s proximity, until the doorbell rang.
“The delivery boy…” she said, standing up with regret.
“I’m gonna go and freshen up a little. These clothes itch,” he replied, standing up too and heading for the bathroom.
A while later, having changed into sweat pants and a t-shirt, he joined Sam, who was setting out two plates and wine glasses on the counter. She had arranged the boxes on a round serving tray, and a bottle of Chardonnay was chilling in a bucket.
Jack took a corkscrew and opened the bottle, filling the two glasses and giving one to Sam. He leaned back on the counter as she finished putting the last touches to their dinner.
She looked at him, smiling.
He smiled in return before frowning, suddenly finding the contents of his glass the most interesting thing on Earth.
“What’s on you mind, Jack?” she asked gently, coming in front of him and caressing his forearm.
He looked her in the eyes. “I want to retire,” he simply said.
“Any specific reason?” she asked, still in a gentle tone.
“You.”
“Jack, we both agreed that this relationship would not impair our jobs,” she said in a warning tone.
“It’s not because of that, Sam. I’m not cut out to be the head of Homeworld Security, just like I wasn’t cut out to lead the SGC. I accepted the position so I could be with you. Yet we’re more apart than we are together. And let’s face it: I’m not that young anymore. All those plane trips—along with the late hours, early mornings, stressful meetings—they’re taking their toll. I’m tired, and that’s that. It’s been a year—more than a year—and I really, really want to spend the rest of my life next to you.”
She looked at him and gently kissed him on the lips. “You’re sure about this? I’ll still be going out on missions, you know.”
“It won’t be the same… And I hope they’re still gonna give me access to the SGC, even if it’s visitor only status,” he answered, giving her a small kiss in his turn.
“When are you planning to do this?” she asked, kissing his jaw and starting to work on his neck.
“Oh, give it another six months…” he said, a bit out of breath as she started nibbling his collarbone.
“Okay…” Her hands sneaked underneath his t-shirt and started caressing his back.
“Carter!” he exclaimed as she ground herself against his very sensitive pelvis.
“What?” she grinned mischievously.
He swept her off her feet and started toward the corridor. “Bedroom!”
“And what about our dinner?!” she exclaimed playfully.
“You said I was fat anyway!” he replied, dropping her unceremoniously on the bed.
“I never said that!” she said, offended.
He lay on top of her. “I’ll show you what kind of advantages putting on a little weight presents,” he murmured, before kissing her soundly.
“Oh?” she asked, working on removing his t-shirt when she came up for air.
“More comfortable when you lay your head on my tummy…” He finally managed to unbutton her blouse and pull it from her body.
“What else?” she asked huskily as she pulled the string holding his sweat pants.
“More to grab…” he pulled her jeans down her long legs.
“Is that all?” She discovered he hadn’t bothered to put his underwear back on after his earlier ‘freshening session’.
Finally!
“I have more energy reserves…” he murmured before once again taking possession of her mouth as well as taking possession of her body.
She actually purred. Carter had never purred. Screamed, yes, but purred? ‘This is a first!’ he thought vaguely as he set a languid pace.
“Well, you know what?” she asked with a lazy smile.
“What?” he replied with a smirk.
“You’re still sexy as hell, and if you promise you’ll continue making love to me like you do now, I won’t ever complain about you being a little overweight!”
“Oh, shut up, smartass!” he smiled sexily, kissing her. “No giggling, Carter!” he murmured as he felt the rumbling through her chest.
Author's Notes: Author’s note: I wasn’t going to write anything more on the subject but hey… Who am I to refuse the services of my muse?... And well… That 2 star general was pretty hot, wasn’t he? ;)
A/N 2: since ‘200’ is a huge wink to the Fandom in all its glory, this story includes a few to the reactions to said episode… I’ll take any bashing PRIVATELY please.
Thanks: My beta, Barbara
A/N 2: since ‘200’ is a huge wink to the Fandom in all its glory, this story includes a few to the reactions to said episode… I’ll take any bashing PRIVATELY please.
Thanks: My beta, Barbara
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 ]