Daniel walked down the corridor of the SGC, his nose stuck in his journal of SG1’s latest mission. As he rounded the corner he collided with General Hammond, who as luck would have it, had been searching for him.
"Sorry General," Daniel said barely looking up before continuing on his way.
"Dr Jackson?"
Daniel stopped and turned back to the General. "Yes sir?"
"I would like to talk to you in private about SG1’s last mission," he paused noticing the book in Daniel’s hands. "Is that your journal on the mission?"
Daniel clutched the journal to him, looking for an instant terrified. General Hammond watched him steadily for a moment and then said, "Dr Jackson, my office, 10 minutes."
Daniel nodded slowly and satisfied, the General walked away.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"So Dr Jackson, perhaps you would like to tell me what is going on?" General Hammond asked when they were comfortably seated in his office.
Daniel looked up at him innocently.
Hammond sighed and expanded on his question. "What is going on with SG1? Don’t tell me nothing has happened because that last briefing was the most restrained and subdued debriefing I have ever seen. So perhaps you would like to inform me what the hell happened on your last mission that caused this dramatic and detrimental change to SG1’s team dynamics?"
Daniel shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Nothing happened on the last mission General," he said slowly, his tone saying more than his words.
"Is it Colonel O’Neill and Major Carter?" Hammond asked, trying a different tack.
Daniel jumped in his seat, looking guiltily at the General. He sighed in resignation. Rubbing a hand across tired eyes he began, "It started when Jack was stranded on Edora. You know that there has always been something between them, something they both kept hidden from themselves. I guess it all started to come to the surface then. And then when Jack had to pretend he was a bad guy…" Daniel trailed off.
General Hammond waited while Daniel put his thoughts into words. "It not that they have exploded at each other or anything. They haven’t fought with each other. It’s like Sam is feeling so much towards Jack, she hates him, she loves him, is hurt by him and as a result wants to hurt him back. Jack… well Jack…. He sort of doesn’t know what’s going on. He knows Sam is emotionally unstable because of him, but he doesn’t know what she’s feeling or what he can do to change it."
"Well that begs the question, what can we do about it?"
"But General even if they do get themselves ‘sorted’ out, the regulations are still in the way."
"Let’s get them talking first to each other first, get them to be friends again. Don’t worry about the regs. If they decide they want to be together then I will see what I can do, but until they are talking there is little point in rocking the boat."
Daniel smiled at the General and said, "Well, let’s get them talking."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Colonel O’Neill to General Hammond’s office, Major Carter to General Hammond’s office," came a voice over the PA.
Sam looked up accusingly at the speaker, as if glaring at it would make it stop, do a 180, and tell her that the General didn’t need to see her after all. She sighed and pushed her keyboard away. She began tiding her notes, pushing papers around her desk stalling for time.
"Major?"
She turned at the sound of O’Neill’s voice to see him standing just outside her lab. She nodded her head curtly and said, "Sir."
He looked at her for a moment, studying her stiff posture and abrupt manner. He held in a sigh of exasperation, this was no time to get her angry at him. "Care to walk me to the General’s office?" he asked in a uh-oh-I-got-in-trouble-again voice, a playful grin on his face.
Sam allowed herself a small smile, he could be so cute some times. Then she remembered what else he could be and replied in a stiffly correct military manner, "Yes sir."
This time Jack didn’t hold back his sigh. ‘At least I got a semblence of a smile,’ he thought to himself as they walked down the corridors of the SGC, a very proper 18 inch distance between them.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Without preamble the General began, "It has come to my notice that there is some tension and hostility between the members of SG1. There is to be no more of it. Whatever else you two are or were or may be you are still soldiers under my command and I expect you both to act in an appropriate military manner. Do I make myself clear?" At their nod he stood up. "Dismissed."
Without looking at each other they left his office and began strolling back to their separate quarters. "So Carter?" Jack said before she could walk away, "Wanna go topside and grab a coffee?"
She looked at him and was about to say yes to his peace offer. Then she remembered how he treated her on Edora and all her resentment and anger came rushing back. Quietly, so as not to draw attention to them, she said very precisely "Fuck you sir. You can take your olive branch and stick it…"
"Major!" he interrupted her.
"Fine, whatever. Good day sir!" She turned and strode off, leaving Jack desolate, standing there watching her walk away.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Jack grabbed a beer from the fridge, whistling a jaunty tune as he did so. He sat back down in front of the TV and grimaced. No faux happiness for Jack. He downed the beer quickly and tossed it over his shoulder, unconcerned as the glass shattered behind him. He leaned across the coffee table and grabbed a bottle of scotch and a tumbler. He poured himself some and after a large gulp, sat back on the couch more contented, convinced he was well on his way to forgetting all about his fight with Carter, if only for a night.
Halfway through the bottle he began to lose his grip on reality. Talking to the fluffy purple cushion Sam had gotten him as a joke was making him sad. It was such a pretty cushion. He picked it up and hugged it to his chest, imagining it was her. Three drinks later and he passed out, his head on the cushion.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Sam stood uncertainly outside his front door, beginning to doubt the necessity of her impromptu visit. Sighing she knocked gently, they had to talk and hesitating wasn’t going to help at all, except to increase her fear and nervousness.
After waiting a moment, she knocked again. She opened the door, surprised to find it unlocked and called softly, "Sir?" Not hearing a response, she walked into the foyer and closed the door behind her. "Jack?" she said more loudly. "Are you here?"
She stepped into the living room and an involuntary giggle escaped her as she saw the recumbent form of her CO. She giggled again and then quickly stifled it, not wanting to wake him. She studied him for a moment, pouring herself a glass of his scotch as she did so. He really did look totally ridiculous, crossed legged on the couch, clutching the purple pillow she gave desperately, as if it were a lifeline.
She laughed out right, unable to stem the tide of hilarity that sprung upon her. He had hated the pillow when she had first given it to him with a saucy smile and a cheekily asked, "Does it threaten your masculinity Colonel?" Now he was hugging it to him as if it was he most prized possession. She sat down next to him and gently stroked his hair. He shifted slightly and she froze, thinking she had woken him.
He settled down again soon, this time with his head on the pillow in her lap, snuggling up against her. He began to snore softly letting her know he was asleep once more. She sighed in frustration at her immobility. He had unconsciously and successfully pinned her down until the morning came. She considered pushing him off her lap and fleeing while she still could but they had to talk about was happening to them. And looking down at him, sleeping against her like an innocent child she realised she didn’t have the heart to move him. She snuggled down and waited for sleep to come.
When she next opened her eyes, she realised that morning had come and Jack was still sleeping peacefully. She rubbed her hands over her eyes, trying not to wake Jack as she did so. She looked down at him, only to find a pair of deep brown eyes staring sluggishly up at her.
"Sam," he murmured contentedly, snuggling deeper towards her. His face was so open and so full of love she thought she might cry, but a moment later his defences were back up and he looked ‘military’ again. He began to struggle to get up, wincing as the light stung his eyes. Sam gently pushed him back down to her, wrapping her arms around him as she did so, so he was more propped up against her. He let himself be moved, snaking his arms around her at the same time. She rested her head on his and just listened to him breathe.
Minutes or hours later, she spoke softly against his hair, "I’m sorry Jack. I truly am. I just didn’t know how to control it. I couldn’t control it. It was just there."
Jack reached up and stroked her cheek gently. "Shh Sam. No one can control what they feel. It just happens. Lord knows I deserved it." His arms tightened around her. "Thank you for coming last night. I don’t know what made you come, but thank you."
"I had to try and talk things through with you. Lords knows it couldn’t get much worse than it already was." Jack grunted his assent at that. "Besides, it was therapeutic. When I saw you clutching that fluffy pillow…" she trailed off, giggling hysterically again at the memory.
Jack smiled. "Hey no giggling," he said, poking her in the side. He grew sombre and continued "This might be the last thing you want to hear at the moment Sam but I love you. I never realised till I thought you hated me and I was so desperate to try and show you. But all that doesn’t matter now, I just want us to be friends again. I just wanted to say it, to hear myself say it, to know that you heard me say it to you once."
She bent down and kissed him softly on the lips. "I love you too Jack. It’s just…" she trailed off not knowing what she really wanted to say.
"Not the right time? It’s not enough? You hate me too? The regulations? My dress sense?"
She smacked sharply on the head, smiling as she did so. "Yeh, I mean its all of that. But there is something else I can’t explain. It’s just a feeling."
Jack began shifting nervously. "It’s not Marty is it? Please tell me its not him. Lie to me if you have to but please don’t say it has something to do with him!"
She laughed at his stricken look and assured him it had NOTHING at all to do with Martouf. "But Jack, I do love you. Since our profession is so dangerous, I wanted to say it out loud so neither of us have regrets. But I don’t think I can handle anything more at the moment. Let’s get SG1 back to normal and then we’ll see about us."
He smiled up at her radiantly. "Samantha, I will happily wait for as long as it takes for you to feel comfortable around me again. I must admit, its nice that you can look at me again, and smile at me again."
"Well I admit that seeing you clutch the purple fluffy pillow to you raised your stock a few notches. But I’m not promising you anything. I can’t."
Jack nodded. It was best that they both had some time to get over all the feelings of resentment and anger rather than forcing the issue.
Sam pushed herself up off the couch causing Jack’s head to unceremoniously hit the couch. He pulled himself up and looked at her mock accusingly. "Carter?" he growled threateningly.
"Coffee Jack?" she asked innocently.
"You can you olive branch and stick it…"
"Jack!"
"Hey that’s what you said to me Major! Besides, you do not abuse a hangover man’s head like that. That is dangerous to everyone’s health."
‘So was that a yes to coffee sir?" Sam asked, hands on her hips and smiling at him like she used to do.
He walked over to her and put his arms around her waist, daring her to push him away. Instead she reached up and kissed him, an intense and passionate kiss. She pulled away and walked into the kitchen, "Remember that kiss Jack, it’ll be a long while till your next one."
He sighed and mentally smacked himself for imposing the torture upon himself. Although once he began watching her move around his kitchen, making the coffee he smiled. He had hope now, hope that one day it would all work itself out and that they would be together. All that mattered at the moment was that they were friends again and for the first time in weeks he felt secure that they were.
THE END!
Story Notes: EMAIL: breniah@hotmail.com
ARCHIVE: SJA and Heliopolis
SPOILERS: 100 Days, Shades of Grey kinda
SEQUEL INFO: Sequel to It Doesn’t Matter (Sam and Jack’s POV’s)
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Thanks to everyone who sent feedback to "It Doesn’t Matter" (I love you guys!) This is for everyone who asked for a sequel, I’ve forgotten who asked/begged/pleaded/threatened, stupid me deleted the emails but this is for all of you. (sorry it took me so long)
ARCHIVE: SJA and Heliopolis
SPOILERS: 100 Days, Shades of Grey kinda
SEQUEL INFO: Sequel to It Doesn’t Matter (Sam and Jack’s POV’s)
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Thanks to everyone who sent feedback to "It Doesn’t Matter" (I love you guys!) This is for everyone who asked for a sequel, I’ve forgotten who asked/begged/pleaded/threatened, stupid me deleted the emails but this is for all of you. (sorry it took me so long)
End Notes: Ok so I totally lost the angst somewhere in there, sorry people, I tried. I don’t think there will be another sequel to this however feedback would be very nice.
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 ]