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“Damn,” Jack cursed, seeing the lights ahead turn to red, bringing the line of cars before him to a complete stop. He pulled up behind them and silently wondered if the run of bad luck he’d experienced all morning would ever let up.
But somehow, he doubted it. In the short time since he’d left his bed, barely one hour before, everything that could go wrong, had gone wrong.
Sitting in traffic, he silently cursed the alarm clock that had gotten his morning off to such a wonderful start. It had failed to go off at the time he’d set, leaving him to wake with a start nearly twenty minutes late. He’d known something wasn’t right and it hadn’t taken long to hit him. Leaping from bed, he’d barely managed to stay upright as the sheets tangled around him.
Needless to say, his usual five-minute shower had been drastically reduced.
And just as he’d begun to think he’d make it out of the house without losing too much time, he’d promptly spilled half his cup of coffee down his front. His favourite orange shirt had immediately been discarded and a plain grey jersey had taken its place.
He wasn’t even going to think about how his keys had ended up where he’d found them.
Not his typical morning.
But it was, he was sure, due to the fact he wanted, no needed to get onto base early that day.
Fingers tapping impatiently on the steering wheel, he glanced down at the clock, and muttered something about the Asgards never being in the right place at the right time. If ever he could have used a quick lift in one of those transporter thingies, now was it.
Looking up, he spotted the lights changing to green and silently urged the cars in front to go just a little faster.
Finally he was on his way again, and if traffic didn’t get any busier, if no other unfortunate incidents befell him, he should get to the base before Carter.
Carter.
He just had to get there before her. He knew she was often in early, eager to get to work on one of her experiments, or to assist one of the other SG teams with some new discovery.
But today, Jack O’Neill was determined he’d be there first.
Oh yes.
It wasn’t every day he was presented with the opportunity of seeing her in her biker outfit, her leather biker outfit.
And he was most certainly not going to squander such an opportunity. As soon as she’d casually mentioned her car was going in for repair, and she’d be using her bike to get to the base, the image of Carter dressed from head to toe in leather had popped into, and remained, in his mind.
Filled with a renewed sense of purpose, Jack stepped on the gas and pulled out to overtake the person crawling along in front.
Swinging his jeep into the parking lot, Jack unbuckled his belt and leaped out, slamming the door shut behind him. He’d already walked a few metres before he remembered he’d left some work he’d taken home on the passenger seat.
Rolling his eyes upwards, he took a deep breath, deciding the person who had invented the saying ‘more hurry, less speed’ hadn’t been far off the mark.
With precise movements, he turned, unlocked the door, opened it, glared at the brown folder as he made a grab for it, and then straightened before shutting the door.
Again.
At least there was no sign of……
“Damn,” he cursed, for what must have been the hundredth time that day. Carter’s bike was already there, sitting in her usual spot.
“Sir?”
Startled, Jack turned to see an airman walking towards him, concern spreading across his face.
“It’s nothing airman, carry on.” Not waiting or even bothering with a response, he strode off.
He wasn’t giving up just yet. There was still a chance he could catch her before she changed.
More images of Carter in leather had Jack picking up his pace, whizzing by the security checks as fast as he could, and calling the elevators all the names under the sun for not moving quickly enough.
“Which level, Colonel?”
Looking over at the fellow occupant of the elevator, he quickly thought where on base he’d be most likely to find Carter.
“Level 19,” he decided, thinking he’d give Sam’s lab a go first.
You could never go wrong with checking Carter’s lab first.
Arriving on level 19, he left the elevator, and deliberately slowed down. Whenever you found yourself needing to be somewhere quickly, that was when everyone wanted a piece of you.
The base was only just beginning to come to life, people arriving, some leaving. Jack was grateful; there would be less chance of meeting someone who needed to talk to him.
Hopes rising, Jack mentally prepared himself for something he’d been desperate to see ever since he’d found out Carter rode a bike. That Carter wore leather when she rode said bike.
But the feeling didn’t last too long. Jonas was heading straight for him.
“Hi Colonel, you’re in early today?” Jonas stopped in the corridor, effectively blocking Jack from going any further.
“Yeah, I had some……stuff to do,” Jack said, looking over Jonas’ shoulder for any sign of her. Her lab was just around the corner.
“So did Major Carter,” Jonas began. “We were just discussing the relevance of the symbols on the artefact SG-5 brought back from P3X-475.”
After over five years of commanding SG-1, Jack knew when someone was about to launch into some archaeological or scientific speech. He didn’t have time for that. He was more interested in something else Jonas had inadvertently told him.
So he interrupted before Jonas could get much further.
“So, Carter’s in her lab?” He tried to sound casual, tried to slowly edge his way around Jonas without making it obvious he was doing so.
“No, you just missed her. She left a few minutes ago.”
Jack was very proud of his restraint. He’d been so close. He seriously doubted he’d catch her now before she got to the locker room.
He was about to say goodbye and rush off when Jonas spoke again.
“Colonel?”
“Yes, Jonas?” He really did try his best to hide his impatience.
“Major Carter and I made arrangements to meet in the commissary in half an hour to discuss the artefact some more. She said she had to see General Hammond before heading to the locker room.”
“General Hammond?” Jack repeated.
“Yeah, you’ll probably catch her, if you want.”
Oh yes, he wanted. And Jonas had just earned himself an extra hour excavating in a wet, muddy field the next time he wanted it.
“Uh, Colonel, can I ask you something?”
Desperate to be on his way, Jack looked down the corridor, along the path Carter would have taken not so long ago, but instead turned back to Jonas.
“Sure,” he said.
“Is it true that leather is made from a species of animal found on this planet?”
Suddenly, he had Jack’s full attention.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and said, “Yes. Why do you ask?”
Now he was torn between the corridor and hearing what Jonas had to say.
“Major Carter was wearing something rather unusual. She said it was called leather, that she wears it whenever she rides her bike.”
Momentarily speechless, all Jack could manage was an, “Oh.”
“We don’t have anything like that on Kelowna,” Jonas continued, obviously intrigued.
“Hmm, really?”
Jack stood in silence, still unable to think of anything sensible to say. But by the time he'd managed to pull himself together, Jonas had already called goodbye and reached the other end of the corridor.
He had to see Sam. He just had to.
Jack arrived on level 28, deciding he'd pass through the control room, just in case. On seeing she wasn’t there, he headed up the metal staircase, nodding as he passed Siler on the way.
If he didn’t get so see Carter in those leathers soon, he knew he’d go insane.
Reaching the top, he glanced over towards the General’s office, trying to catch a glimpse of Carter. But before he could see if she was there or not, the door opened suddenly, surprising him. Before he had a chance to react, Hammond called out.
“Ah, just the man I wanted to see. A moment please, Colonel.”
Jack opened his mouth to answer, but the General was already inside his office, the door lying open, inviting Jack to enter.
“Sir?” Jack said as he entered the room, a room with no Carter, and made his way to stand in front of the General’s desk.
“Major Carter was in just moments ago, Colonel. She’d like SG-1 to spend a few days on P3X-475.”
Jack’s shoulders slumped. This day was so not going to plan.
It didn’t go unnoticed by the General.
“I know you’re not keen on these types of missions, Colonel,” Hammond continued, mistaking Jack’s disappointment at just missing Carter again as disappointment in their new assignment. “It should only be a few days, and hopefully it should give you all some time to grow accustomed to working together. I know the change in the team hasn’t been easy on any of you.”
“Yes, sir.” Jack answered.
“There’ll be a briefing at 0830 this morning. Major Carter said she’d inform Jonas and Teal’c. Any questions?”
“No, I think that covers everything, General.”
General Hammond nodded. “Good, dismissed.’”
Jack left the General’s office, closed the door, and slouched against the wall. He wasn’t bothered about SG-1’s new mission. He was sure everyone would welcome something a little less arduous than the last few they’d endured.
But damn it, he’d just missed her.
Again.
Jack walked into his office, dropping the folder he’d carried all over the base that morning on his desk. He slumped into the chair and stared aimlessly ahead, still unable to believe the luck he’d had. Or more appropriately, hadn’t had.
After leaving the General, he’d set off with only a shred of hope that he'd catch Carter at the locker room. But he really hadn’t been surprised to find his run of bad luck continuing when he was told he’d ‘just missed her’.
Hah. He had so not been surprised.
He ran his fingers through his hair, attempting to forget the images of Carter that had occupied his mind for the entire morning. Instead, he tried to think of matters concerning their upcoming mission.
But boy, it was difficult. It wasn’t as if he needed to concentrate on anything urgent at the moment. There was no dire situation that required his utmost attention.
He reached for the mission reports from SG-5, deciding to get a head start on the upcoming briefing. What had they discovered that had Carter and Jonas so excited? Oh yeah, something about an artefact.
He managed to concentrate for nearly two full minutes when a knock at the door interrupted him.
“Come,” he called, looking up.
“Sir?”
Carter.
It was Carter.
Carter dressed in fatigues.
Damn.
But fatigues or not, all his hard work went flying out the proverbial window on seeing her. The images he’d worked so hard to forget came flooding back.
Images of Carter in a leather jacket, leather pants, leather......
He suddenly thought it wise to clear his throat before speaking.
“Carter, what can I do for you?”
“You wanted to see me, sir?”
“I did?” he asked cautiously. She couldn't possibly know.
“Jonas said you were looking for me,” she began, sitting down opposite him. “Mentioned you were interested in the artefact SG-5 brought back?”
“I was?” he asked again. He was completely lost, and the smile Carter was unsuccessfully attempting to hide, and the teasing tone in her voice wasn't helping.
Why would Jonas think he was interested in……?
Then it dawned on him.
Jonas had thought he was looking for Carter to discuss the artefact. He mentally threw up his arms. Of course. It wasn’t as if it would occur to Jonas that the CO of SG-1 really wanted to see his 2IC in her leather biker outfit.
He quickly recovered.
“Oh, yeah. Hammond said we’ll be heading off for the muddy plains of P3X-475.”
He relaxed back in his chair, watching Carter as she brought him up to date on the artefact and the findings SG-5 had made.
He found, as he often did, that he was quite content to sit there, watching, listening, and watching some more.
Nope, he didn’t need to see her in leather. It was fun just seeing her become this animated about some new alien technology.
“Oh, we’d better go, Colonel. It’s nearly 0830.”
Only when Carter stood did he realise he’d missed the latter half of what she’d been saying.
He quickly checked his watch then shuffled the reports back into place before joining her on the other side of his desk.
“I’ll need to leave Jonas with SG-5 later today, sir,” she said as they left his office. “My car will be ready for me to collect, so I’ll have to leave the base earlier than I’d wanted.”
Jack knew she was reluctant to do so. She hated leaving early when there was something new to work on. And by the sounds of it, this could be a big something. No doubt she had planned to stay on base that night, allowing her to work late and get an early start.
But then it dawned on him.
He stopped dead in his tracks, falling a few paces behind her.
“Sir, is something wrong?” she asked, turning round.
He looked at her, trying to hide the hope stirring inside him.
“You’ll be leaving early?” he repeated.
“Yeah,” she answered, puzzled. “Is that okay?”
Jack began walking again, leaving a confused Carter to play catch up.
“Oh, yeah, that’s definitely okay,” he replied, finally allowing the grin to spread across his face.
Heck, Carter looked great in fatigues. She’d look great in anything. But who was he trying to kid?
He really wanted to see her in her biker outfit, her leather biker outfit.
Maybe he’d just have to leave early himself, he thought, watching Carter as she entered the elevator before him.
Maybe, just maybe, his run of bad luck was finally over.
Maybe he’d get to see her in leather after all.