Prelude
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With the steady hum of computers surrounding her, Sam Carter worked in her lab. She was analysing soil samples from PS4-756, a planet SG-1 had travelled to recently. It was boring work, she realised. Not half as interesting as examining the Replicator blocks that now resided in some deep, dark level of the Pentagon.
However, her CO, Jack O’Neill had requested the samples be analysed and catalogued ASAP. When Colonel O’Neill said ASAP, Carter worked through the night. She wondered briefly when pleasing the Colonel had become a priority over sleep, but shook the thought off impatiently.
It was 02:00, and as far as she could gather, she’d been looking at these samples since sometime the previous afternoon. Sighing, she went back to work. The base was quiet. Most off-duty personnel had gone home hours ago. So she was surprised when a rather sleepy looking Colonel entered her lab with a stern look on his face. "Carter." He greeted her.
She looked up at him, a wary expression on her face. Things had been steadily getting warmer between them again since "the incidents", as she thought of them: his unplanned stay on Edora mostly his new found lover there, and his mission to uncover the mole in the SGC. Those two events especially so close together had caught her off guard and shocked her into admitting to herself that she had a few inappropriate feelings towards her irascible Colonel.
"Colonel." She replied easily. Jack grimaced. No million-watt smiles for him today. "What are you still doing here?" he asked, irritably.
"Finishing the analysis of those soil samples from PS-" She broke off when he grabbed her arm and she let herself be pulled out of her seat. She was looking at him like he was crazy, Jack realised. Hell, it was 02:00. He was entitled to be crazy. Especially when certain Majors took a request a little too literally.
"Where are we going?" she asked, still letting herself be dragged down the corridor.
"To get some fresh air. Being down here drives me crazy sometimes." He muttered.
Carter merely raised her eyebrows. The feeling of his hand clamped around her upper arm was actually quite nice. He let go, with a sheepish look. "So, why are you still here, sir?" she asked. She imagined he would be at his house.
He paused before answering. "House felt a bit empty." He admitted.
"Oh." Well, there wasn’t much she could say to that.
They walked in silence, first collecting their jackets, and then making their way up to the surface. It was a cool night. The sharp air felt wonderful to Sam, who had been breathing in the stale air of the base for a few days. It was always good to be out in the open again after the confining atmosphere of the base. She spent so much time on other planets it was such a simple pleasure returning to her own. She remembered bringing Nareem up here. He had been amazed. Well, it _was_ beautiful. Especially at night, with the stars shining above them. She snuck a glance at the Colonel beside her. He had his eyes closed and his head tilted towards the sky. They stood in silence for a few minutes, each enjoying the others company.
"I suppose I had better get back to it, sir." Sam said, turning to head back into Cheyanne Mountain. The Colonel put his hand out to stop her, touching her on the arm again.
It really wasn’t like her, she mused later, to be so tense about a simple touch on the arm. But she had, and as she jumped from the contact, she managed to lose her footing on the uneven ground, slipping. The Colonel tried to keep her upright, but failed miserably and landed on top of her.
Disgusted with her clumsiness - which was so unlike her, - she fumed she looked up into the Colonel’s eyes, waiting for him to get the hell off and let her stand up. Instead, he had a strange look in his eyes, one Carter could not read. He leaned in to kiss her, tenderly and softly at first, then building into passionate release of all the unresolved sexual tension that had built between them over the past three years. Their lips touched and Sam was conscious of the pounding of her heart.
She kissed him back of course, it was like all her fantasies had come true in the five little seconds it took him to lean towards her lips. Then, the anger kicked in and she pushed him off forcibly. He landed on his elbows and looked at her in askance.
"Just don’t!" she muttered. Picking herself up, she wouldn’t allow herself to run back to the entrance to the base, settling for a rigid walk.
As she navigated the corridors of the SGC, she brushed passed Daniel, raising her eyebrows and she held her hands up to pass him. He frowned and greeted her, but she pushed on. He was probably working late on some assignment the Colonel had set him too. Stupid, they were. Just crazy.
Entering the locker room she was relieved to see it was empty. She paced for a few seconds, her breathing still fast, from the high-powered walk or the kiss she didn’t know.
Muttering something under her breath she kicked one of the lockers. Yes, that felt better. If Colonel O’Neill could break the window of the General’s car she could kick a few lockers. Kicking the same locker again, she narrowed her eyes as she thought of Jack O’Neill.
"Bastard." She muttered. "He couldn’t have done that a few weeks ago. Had to go do it _now_." She kept mumbling unfavourable things about the Colonel until she calmed herself down. She washed her face and smoothed her hair.
She was going to bed. The soil samples could wait.
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Story Notes: kestra@globalfreeway.com.au
SPOILERS: Fire and Water, Shades of Grey, 100 Days, Nemesis
ARCHIVE: SJA, Heliopolis
NOTES: There are NO spoilers in this for Divide and Conquer. This is more of a prelude to Divide and Conquer…an upping of the UST. And yeah, it’s short.
SPOILERS: Fire and Water, Shades of Grey, 100 Days, Nemesis
ARCHIVE: SJA, Heliopolis
NOTES: There are NO spoilers in this for Divide and Conquer. This is more of a prelude to Divide and Conquer…an upping of the UST. And yeah, it’s short.
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 ]