Jack O’Neill sat in the SGC cafeteria. He was waiting for Daniel to join him for lunch. I was beginning to look like the younger man had forgotten their appointment. He drummed his fingers on the table, then looked at his watch. He’d give Danny another five minutes, then get something to eat without him. He was ravenous.
He was contemplating the wall, when he heard a female Lieutenant divulge the latest piece of base gossip to her friends, who appeared to be hanging on every word. He managed not to roll his eyes, but looked away. He’d have a better chance of overhearing if they didn’t see his face. He was half a room away anyway, and they weren’t talking loudly, but he could still hear bits and pieces.
Mostly it was all about people he didn’t know, or would only recognize on sight. He tuned out for awhile, until he heard a name that made him sit up straighter.
"Major Carter….." A group of airmen passed his table, he missed the rest of that sentence. //Damn. That could have been interesting.//
"…it’s so obvious…of course they’re sleeping together…"
Jack smiled , still facing the wall. It flattered him that people thought he and the beautiful, blonde major were involved. None of it was true, of course, but the fact that the base personnel thought she’d _want_ to be involved with him, well, that was enough to keep a man’s ego going for months.
He listened again, wondering what else they’d come up with. As far as he could tell, they were still speaking about Carter.
"God, I wish he’d look at me like that. He’s gorgeous."
Jack smiled again.
"I hope he grows his hair back soon, I preferred it when it was longer."
He absentmindedly ran his fingers through his hair, straightening it.
"I think it’s the glasses that do it for me and he’s so smart they’re ideally matched."
Jack did a mental double-take. They were talking about Daniel? Daniel and _Carter_?
He quickly stood up and left the cafeteria.
***
Daniel was at his desk, of course, studying some artefact. He’d obviously lost track of time. Jack didn’t bother to knock. He barged into the office and sat down on the edge of the desk, facing Daniel. Daniel greeted him with one of his cautious, "what’s-Jack-going-to-do-now looks. He didn’t speak. Obviously Jack had something on his mind.
"Forget lunch?"
Daniel sighed and removed his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Aah...I’m sorry Jack," he motioned towards the artefact. "I lost track of time.."
"I thought you’d say that, Danny."
Daniel looked at Jack quizzically. There was something else bothering Jack. He looked almost angry, and it wasn’t about a forgotten appointment.
"Anything else, Jack?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, Daniel," Jack began, and Daniel recognised the tone of voice. It was
the same tone Jack had used in the temple on Keb, discussing the Harsesis child. It was a cautious but deadly tone. "I was wondering how long you and Carter had been sleeping together?"
Daniel nearly choked on his cold coffee.
"Are you _insane_?" Daniel jumped up in outrage. "What in God’s name gave you that idea?"
"The whole base is talking about it, apparently." Jack said dryly.
"And why do you care so much?" Daniel asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Jack locked eyes with him, and Daniel understood. "Why don’t you tell her, Jack?" he asked, sympathy in his voice.
Jack didn’t miss a beat. "Don’t change the subject, Daniel. Are you denying it?"
Daniel smiled. "Of _course_ I’m denying it!. Sam and I aren’t like that."
Jack remained unimpressed and unconvinced. "So why do all these people suddenly think you’re involved with her?"
Daniel shrugged. "I have no idea oh….oh dear."
"Daniel?" Jack’s voice was beginning to get that tone about it again, and Daniel quickly explained it to him.
"Well…you see, I took her out to the movies last week, and then I took her out to dinner last night…" Daniel trailed off, alarmed at the look in Jack’s eyes.
"Okay so, _dating_ would be a good word then?"
"No, Jack, of course not." Daniel said tiredly.
At his friend’s raised eyebrows, Daniel continued, "She’s lonely Jack.. I took her out to cheer her up. She’s been pretty down lately." He didn’t mention that they’d started spending more time together after Jack’s apparent betrayal on Tollana and subsequent retirement. "I guess someone from the base must have seen us in Colorado Springs"
"Ya think?"
"Listen, if you’re so worried about it, why don’t you go and ask her? She’d probably like to see you." Jack and Daniel shared a look. Jack had been avoiding Carter since his return from the rebel base.
"So, nothing then?" Jack asked, suddenly a bit sheepish.
Daniel almost cried out in frustration. "NO!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Daniel knocked on the door of Sam’s house. He hadn’t told Jack they had another "date" tonight. If he’d gone to see Sam as he had suggested, he’d probably already know. As soon as she opened the door, Daniel knew Jack hadn’t made an appearance. Sam looked tired, and slightly sad. Jack’s latest escapade had hit them all, but Sam hardest of all. She invited him in. As they had arranged, he’d brought pizza and a video. A comedy. Sam retrieved some beer from the kitchen, before placing them on the coffee table and sitting down next to Daniel on the couch.
They watched the video in silence. Daniel could tell Sam wasn’t focused on it, and he switched it off halfway through.
Sam had been resting her head on his shoulder, now she looked up at him, startled. "What’d you do that for?"
He smiled. "You weren’t watching it."
A guilty expression crossed her face. "Sorry, I was just thinking." She looked up at him, and he was mesmerised by the hurt in her eyes. He suddenly knew who she was thinking about.
"Are you okay?" he asked gently.
She gave him a small smile. "Of course."
He stroked her cheek, worried about his friend. "You have to talk to Jack, Sam."
"Why?" she asked, angry now. "He obviously doesn’t want to see me. He let us believe he’d leave us like that, he let us believe he’d retired on Edora, with no GDO…." She took a deep breath, calming herself. "And he told me he hadn’t been acting like himself since he met me. He said "now I’m behaving like myself." She did a pretty good imitation of Jack’s voice, but it was bitter.
Daniel winced at that. Teal’c had told him about that encounter, but he hadn’t realised how hurtful it had been from Sam’s point of view.
"He was acting under orders, Sam, you know that."
"He could have told us something, Daniel!" Sam argued. Her voice was full of emotion. "He didn’t have to let us think we never knew him at all." Her voice finally cracked and hot tears began to roll down her cheeks.
Daniel pulled her into a tight hug, before pulling away and wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumb. She locked eyes with him, and before he knew it, they had stumbled into a kiss. He let it go on for about five seconds, before his common sense kicked in. It wasn’t everyday a beautiful woman wanted to kiss you, after all. Even if she did want someone else, and just hadn’t realised it yet. As he pulled away from her gently, he looked up and his heart almost stopped. Jack had obviously not knocked before coming in the back door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Jack!" Daniel shot up from the couch, but Jack had already turned and left.
Slowly, he sat back down. Sam had her eyes covered. "I am…" she took a breath, "So sorry."
Daniel smiled. What would it take for these two stubborn people to finally realise what everyone else had known all along?
"It’s okay Sam, it was my fault too."
"Did he see….?"
"He saw."
"Damn." She mumbled.
"Why don’t we go to his place, explain it all to him?"
Sam looked up hopefully. "You’d come with me?"
"Of course. What are friends for?"
Sam went to change her clothes and brush her hair. Daniel tried Jack’s cell phone. As he had expected there was no answer. She came back out, dressed in jeans and a cardigan top. She looked better, but miserable. They made their way out to Daniel’s car in silence. Minutes later, when they pulled up at Jack’s house, Sam said, "I don’t think this is a good idea, Daniel."
There were lights on in the house. Daniel wondered himself if this was a good idea, but figured if it finally made his two friends realise what they mean to each other, well…a punch on the jaw would probably be worth it. They made their way up to the front door, giving each other a small smile before ringing the bell.
There was no answer. They rang the bell again, and waited. Nothing. Slowly, they headed back to the car.
***
SG-1 wasn’t scheduled for an off-world mission for another few days. //Lucky// Daniel thought, as he headed for Jack office. //At this rate we’d probably kill each other//
He walked straight in, as Jack had done to him the day before.
"Jack." He greeted the man behind the desk. His friend looked up, but his expression darkened when he saw Daniel.
"Daniel." He replied, and went back to his paperwork.
"I wanted to explain to you about last night-"
"Look, Danny, I don’t care that you and Carter are involved, honestly. I just wish you’d told me the truth yesterday when I asked you."
Daniel had reached the end of his tether. He brought his hands up to his head, muttered an oath and then spread them out in frustration. "Look," he said, "Will you just _quit_ with the mind games?"
Jack raised his eyebrows and motioned for Daniel to go on.
"What you saw last night was a one-off, a mistake that we both apologised for. She doesn’t want _me_ Jack, she wants _you_." Daniel’s voice took on a dangerous tone. "Now, go down to the lab and talk to her now before I get Teal’c to carry you down."
"But-"
Daniel put up his hand to silence him. The gesture spoke volumes. Talk to the hand.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Carter was sitting at her computer, seemingly focused on her work. Only someone who knew her would realise she was miles away. He leaned against the door frame for a moment, hoping he wasn’t about humiliate himself.
"Hey Carter."
He must have startled her, because she bumped her knee on the bottom of the desk. "Ow! Oh, hi sir."
"Listen Carter, I think I owe you an apology…." He smiled when she looked up at him in confusion.
"When I said I hadn’t been acting like myself since I met you. It was the truth." Now she looked even more confused and more than a little hurt. He remembered the hurt in her eyes when he had said it the first time. God, he had been so cruel, but he was afraid that she’d see something in his eyes that would tell her things weren’t right. It could have compromised the mission. So he had been intentionally cruel to her, treating her worse than he had Daniel or Teal’c. He deserved this hurt look he was getting now, and the tears forming in her eyes that she was desperately trying to hold back.
"..but not in the way I said it."
"Listen sir, I’m really busy here-"
"Just listen to me for a minute, will you Carter?" He interrupted.
Her eyes widened, and she swallowed. He felt terrible that he’d hurt her like this.
"I’m trying to tell you that you’ve changed me, for the better." He smiled at her. She still seemed unsure of him. He supposed winning back her trust wasn’t going to be easy.
He leaned in and gave her a light kiss on the mouth. "I’m sorry for being such an ass." Smiling at her dumbstruck expression, he said, "I thought you and Daniel-"
"No, sir." she interrupted him.
"I know that now, but you gave me a hell of a fright, Sam."
She smiled for first time since he had walked into her lab. "Now you know how I felt when you ripped that Tollen device out of the wall."
He had the grace to look ashamed. "Come and have a coffee with me."
She stood up gracefully, and he noticed with some pleasure that the sparkle was back in her eyes. Daniel was right, it _was_ him.
She had turned to head towards the nearest coffee machine, but he grabbed her wrist, causing her to look around at him in puzzlement. Leaning in to kiss her again, he banished any thoughts of her and Daniel together as he felt her return the kiss hungrily.
End
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Like it? Hate it? Is it in English? kestra@globalfreeway.com.au
Chief Master Sergeant Kestra: SG-2: Stargate Command
Be nice to the nerds and geeks in high school. You'll be working for them soon.
"Oh, please. The Pentagon's lost entire countries." [Jack] Stargate SG-1
Story Notes: ARCHIVE: SJA and Heliopolis, please. All others let me know first.
FEEDBACK: Yes pleeeease! . kestra@globalfreeway.com.au
SPOILERS: Shades of Grey, tiny one for Maternal Instinct
AUTHORS NOTES: This came from a recent discussion on the Sam and Jack list. Thanks to alli, for starting the discussion, and thanks to Viv, who sent me Shades of Grey. You’re a legend Viv :)
FEEDBACK: Yes pleeeease! . kestra@globalfreeway.com.au
SPOILERS: Shades of Grey, tiny one for Maternal Instinct
AUTHORS NOTES: This came from a recent discussion on the Sam and Jack list. Thanks to alli, for starting the discussion, and thanks to Viv, who sent me Shades of Grey. You’re a legend Viv :)
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 ]