Jack groaned melodramatically into his pillow as a slight noise behind him told him someone had opened the door.
Oh, what *now*....
He wished he'd ignored his first instinct to stay behind on the Alpha site, just in case things got out of hand again. He wished he'd ignored that instinct, and the advice of his Second and of Teal'c that they remain there for another day. He wished he'd told the lot of them to shut the hell up and get over to the gate so he could later spend the night in his nice comfy bed in his nice secure house away from all these aliens.
But no. Oh no. He'd had to be the responsible one. The one who listened to people. He had to do what was best for *relations* with their allies - allies which had been a pain in the mik'ta the whole damn day long.
Stupid damn conscience.
So now he was lying here, face down in his pillow, mentally already beating up whoever had decided to interrupt his rest for the *eighth* time that night. He hoped it was a Tok'ra.
"What? What could you *possibly* want?" he demanded of the person who'd walked into the room.
"Well," began an amused voice, "that certainly put me in my place."
Jack lifted his head and hoped there wasn't any drool on his pillow. He turned his head around and frowned at the shadowy figure standing at the side of the bed he had set up in a storage closet. He'd figured this would be the perfect place to get some rest - right up until Teal'c had mentioned to Bra'tac where he was staying. And Bra'tac had told all of his friends and their friends had told their friends... suddenly Jack's private space wasn't so secret any more.
"Hey, you," he greeted, rolling onto his back and propping himself up onto his elbows. "What's up?"
She shifted slightly and the moonlight that filtered through the only excuse for a window just caught the very tips of her hair and the edges of her features. He could see she was smiling. "Not a lot. Everyone's gone to bed."
"Hopefully not the guards."
Carter shook her head and slid down onto the bed, her butt resting against his hip. "No. Though, I caught one napping a few minutes ago."
He frowned. "One of ours?" Perhaps not strangely, considering his feelings about the arrogant superiority complexes of alien races, it was a point of honor that all the humans were acting on their best behavior.
"No." Bending down, she began to do something out of his eyesight. He suspected she was undoing her bootlaces.
Jack glanced down his body, a little miffed. She was just taking off her boots, he informed certain parts of his anatomy. It was nothing to get *that* excited about.
His body replied - gleefully - that as far as it was concerned, any time that Carter wasn't fully dressed was just the sort of time to get excited.
Jack unfortunately couldn't help but agree.
"Carter?" he queried. "Are you sure this is wise?"
She sighed and stood up to pull off her belt. "Everyone's asleep. Besides... I really, really *want* to."
"To....?" Yeah. The belt thing was sexy, Jack decided, watching her tug it slowly from the belt loops. He had no idea why, though. Mentally, he did a word association in his head. Leather belts... leather... leather pants, the sound of the zipper undoing on said leather pants....
Christ. No wonder it was sexy.
"Just to sleep! God, you're such a man." Her shirt was pulled off and neatly folded - she *always* neatly folded her clothes. Well. Nearly always, he amended, smugly remembering a few choice occasions.
Sternly, Jack mentally told his disappointed body off - no nakedness off-world, he reminded it - and then he pulled the itchy woolen cover up so she could slide in next to him on the very small bed.
"God. I'd forgotten how thin these are," Carter murmured into his chest as they wriggled around trying to find a comfortable way to sleep together. They finally settled on lying on their sides facing one another, both figuring that the considerable dip in the bed would keep them anchored in place.
"Can you move that leg?"
Trying to find out which limbs were his, he moved one against her experimentally. "This one?"
"Uh huh."
But where to put it? He finally settled and sliding it between hers and then sliding his left arm underneath the pillow they were sharing. "Better?"
"Mmm. Much." She sighed contentedly, her fingers rubbing over his side. "Good day," she muttered, her voice already thickening.
Readily admiring her ability to go to sleep immediately, he nonetheless took the opportunity to chat with her. There was *nothing* he liked more than talking about his day with someone, particularly when that someone had the same day and had experienced the same things with him.
"Eventually. Thought it was all going to hell at the beginning, though."
"Yeah. God. Talk about butting heads with a brick wall." She snorted softly and managed to sneak her head up and kiss him sweetly.
Suspiciously, he eyed the top of her head. "What was that for?"
"You were... really great today."
Never ready to take a compliment at face value, not even from her, Jack shuffled down a bit so he could look her in the eye. "I'm not always great?"
Carter grinned brightly. "You know what I mean. You kept your head, even though I knew you wanted to kick Tok'ra ass all day."
Though he smiled in acceptance, he wished it wasn't quite so obvious to everyone just where his thoughts lay. There was something to be said for trying to seem neutral at times. "Hey, the Jaffa were being a pain in the mik'ta as well," he said halfheartedly.
"Yeah, but you see the Jaffa differently. You see them all as potential Teal'cs." Pausing, she chose her words carefully. "And you trust their loyalty," she added moments later.
Sighing, he bumped foreheads with her. "I guess I'm pretty transparent when it comes to the Tok'ra."
"It's understandable," Carter said softly.
"Even if it bugs you sometimes?"
"Professionally, it bugs me. Personally, I can see where you're coming from." She touched his cheek lightly, not needing to go into any more details, willing to spare him the part of the conversation they both knew he would clam up about.
Deciding to change the tone to something more lighthearted, Jack rubbed his foot over hers and raised his eyebrows. "They were being assholes, today. You have to admit."
"I'll do no such thing."
"Do you have to sit on the fence like that?"
"Yes."
Jack sighed; he knew there was no point trying to get her to argue with him about it. Not when they were off-world. At home, maybe, but not here. "Did you lock the door?"
"Storage rooms, as a rule, don't have locks on the inside, Jack. I put a chair in front of the door. Hopefully if anyone comes in, the noise will be enough to wake us, but I really can't imagine anyone coming to bother you any more. It's past midnight."
He patted her back. "Knew there was a reason I kept you around."
"And there I was thinking it was for the sex."
"I don't suppose..."
"No!"
"Damn."
"Hey, you came up with the rule," she reminded him, pointedly. "I was actually *against* the rule."
"You were not!" he exclaimed, trying, desperately, to remember the conversation when they'd actually come up with the rules. He had a feeling it was about thirty seconds before the first time they'd ever had sex. Which meant he would probably never remember.
Oh well.
"Well, I was drunk. And when I'm drunk I'm, you know..."
Jack chuckled. "You get really, really horny." He could all but feel her blushing, which he found unbelievably amusing. Suddenly, he had a thought. "Weren't you supposed to be sharing with your dad?"
"Are you kidding? My dad snores like a bear!"
"Ah, like father like...ooff!"
"Finish that sentence and die," she said aggressively.
Rubbing his chest, he told himself he should have seen that coming. "Sorry, sorry. Still, how'd you get out of it?"
"Waited until he fell asleep. Then I snuck out."
"Won't he get worried?"
"I'm thirty-five years old, I explore the universe on a regular basis and carry a gun, I think he can handle me being out of his sight for a couple of seconds."
"No, Miss Sarcasm, won't he wonder where you've gone in the middle of the night?"
Swiftly, Carter rose up on her elbow and loomed over him. "Do you want me to leave, Colonel?"
Oooh, she was pissed; she was using his rank. That was always a bad sign. "Nonononono. Stay. Stay." He pulled her down on top of him and kissed her - always a nice way to end a potential disagreement. They broke off to breathe and he panted, "See? Want you to stay."
She sighed in evident satisfaction. "Yeah. I know." Affectionately, Carter patted his chest. "I was just playing with you. Can we get some sleep now?"
He agreed - they had an early call to Hammond the next morning. 0630, of all times. Jack had a feeling Hammond had suggested the early hour because he would be up all night dealing with the loss of SG-12 - both the emotional repercussions and the necessary paperwork that was due when men were lost off-world. He really did not envy Hammond's job in the slightest.
Sam dropped off to sleep quickly, her head lolling against him, her hand curled up in the minimal space between them. He watched her sleep for a while as he waited for his mind to slow down. Mentally, he made a list of things he needed to do tomorrow, the checks he needed to make and the things he needed to supervise. He needed to remember to ask Teal'c if he wanted to hang around for a little while - Bra'tac was healing fine, according to the Doc, but Teal'c would probably like to stay behind just in case.
Sometime around half past one, Jack, too, dropped off to sleep. The night was spent fitfully, both of them trying to sleep as naturally as possible in such a small space and neither succeeding particularly well because any movement inevitably woke the other and often led to complaints, which led to grumpy arguments and frustrating attempts to get comfortable.
Dawn found Jack waking one final time, an uncomfortable weight across his legs.
"Sam?"
"Mpfh?"
"You're doin' it again."
Sighing, she shifted her legs off of his knees. "Sorry."
Lifting his head from where it had ended up - all but buried in her armpit - he pulled his watch into view and rubbed his eyes to clear his view. "It's nearly 0545." Reaching up, he deactivated his alarm.
"So?"
That hadn't been the answer he'd expected and he peered at her in the light. Her face was scrunched up mutinously. "Sam?" he whispered.
"What?"
"Honey, we're off-world. In a closet." He poked her lightly, then kissed her cheek. "Wake up now."
Making noises of complaint, she rolled onto her front - nearly shoving him out of the bed - and buried her face in the pillow. Much amused, he patted her ass and climbed over her. Tripping on her neatly arranged boots, he managed to steady himself against the wall and straighten. "Carter, we have forty-five minutes before we report to Hammond," he said, more seriously.
"Oh God!"
Chuckling, he slid down onto the ground and pulled his boots from under the bed. "I love our conversations first thing in the morning."
"Bite me."
"I have. Many times."
Lifting an incredibly tousled head, she glared at him blearily. Then the glaring seemed to become too much for her because she flopped back on the bed again and just looked at him sleepily. "How can you be suggestive this early in the morning?"
"Talent?"
"Ug." She flung herself onto her back and scrubbed at her face furiously. "That was probably the most uncomfortable night I've ever had."
He had to admit, he was aching in unusual places too. It had initially been romantic as hell, but, next time, well, there just wouldn't be a next time. "If you insist on crawling all over me..."
"I'm not used to sleeping in that small a bed. I need my space!"
"You do it at home as well," Jack pointed out, smiling at her. She made a faintly comical image - her short hair spiking up and curling in random places. He couldn't imagine how her hair had got like that. It wasn't as if they'd been able to move much.
Tentatively, he touched his own hair. Hell. Him too.
She flushed. "You don't complain there!"
"That's because, well, you know."
Sitting up, she raised her eyebrows. "You're being suggestive again."
He finished off his laces and stood up, shaking out her shirt and giving it to her. "Get up."
"Yes, sir," she sighed, standing and stretching. Slipping the shirt on, she looked around. "Where's my belt?"
"Where'd you leave it?"
"Around somewhere..." She stopped suddenly and looked across his shoulder. Pushing him a little, she leaned to the left. "Did you move the chair?"
"The chair?"
"The one I put against the door."
A little alarmed, he turned around. "It's not there."
"I know it's not there - where is it?" She walked over, past the shelved stacks of supplies and peered to the left and right. "It's not inside anywhere. Why would someone come in, take the chair and leave? Why didn't we wake up when they did?"
Jack shrugged. To be honest, he wasn't particularly worried. If it had been one of the SGC personnel, they would have radioed ahead to say they wanted to speak to him, therefore that only left a Jaffa or a Tok'ra - neither of whom would make a fuss about him and Carter spending the night together.
Eying him in concern, she turned and faced him. "You don't look remotely worried."
"I'm not. Not really. You can't even see the bed from here," Jack pointed out, coming to stand by the door and nodding at the supply stacks which were mostly blocking the view of the bed. "Maybe someone was *looking* for a chair."
Carter didn't look convinced. "I guess." Shrugging a little, but still frowning, she walked back to the bed and sat down to pull on her socks and boots. "Besides, if it was anyone, you know, important, they'd have radioed ahead."
"Exactly."
"Or knocked," she then said. "I mean, Bra'tac would have knocked, wouldn't he? So would Malek."
"Yup."
She nodded and picked up her belt from where it had hidden itself under the bed and started to thread it through the loops. Struggling with the back, she gave him a look and he came to help her out. "So whomever it was just came in, grabbed the chair and left with it. Right?"
"Probably." He reached around her, grinning and did her belt up for her himself, sliding the leather through the metal and tightening it, knowing all the while that she was rolling her eyes. And, since he was there anyway, he kissed her warm neck and gave her a hug. She leaned into him for a moment. "Apart from the sleeplessness, I was glad I came over."
"Me too." Resting his chin on her shoulder for a moment, he broached his least favorite subject. "You want to go first, or shall I?"
"I'll go. I've got to pick up my stuff from the shared accommodation." She lifted her hand and stroked his head. "What are you going to suggest to the General?"
"That you and I go home and that Teal'c can stay behind with Bra'tac."
Tilting her head up, she tried to look at him. "Has he said he wants to?"
"No. But I figure..."
"Yeah. You're probably right. You know, it would be nice to let Jonas see the alpha site."
"You're not suggesting we come back and give him a tour, are you?"
"Noooo," she said slowly, turning in his arms and threading her arms about his waist, looking up at him encouragingly. "But it might be nice."
"But... he'll smile!"
Carter looked disapproving. "Jack, he hasn't had much to smile about, has he? What's wrong with letting him enjoy new things?"
If he complained any more, Jack knew she'd just get pissed at him, so he went silent and considered the chaos of her hair affectionately. "I guess I ought to let go now."
"Yeah."
Resigned, he kissed her forehead. "Love you."
"Love you too."
They released one another and Sam headed for the door. Glancing over her shoulder, she smiled. "See you at the gate."
He nodded and grabbed his radio and vest from the corner, sticking one in a pocket and shrugging the other on. To give her time to get a suitable distance away, he made his bed perfectly, then went through the pockets of his vest and radioed Teal'c to find out if he was up and around.
Five minutes later, Jack was at the door, slowly pushing it open a little, checking that there was no one around that he could see from that angle. Carefully, he opened the door inch by inch, poking his head out and scanning the camp. There was nobody around in this area and it was with relief that finally Jack stepped out into the open and let the door swing closed behind him.
Something cold and horribly familiar pressed against his temple and a low, angry voice intoned, "Don't. Move."
"Okay, okay." Straining his eyes to the left, Jack could just about make out a shoulder. "Let's calm down, shall we?"
"Calm down? Trust me, Colonel O'Neill, this is as calm as I'm going to get, so you'd better get used to it."
What the...? "Jacob?"
The zat dug into his temple harder. "I think we can drop the first name basis, *son*."
Shit.
Jack rapidly put two and two together and nervously made four. "You came looking for her."
"Sure. My daughter disappears for an hour in the middle of the night, I'm bound to get a little worried. Get back into the storage room, Colonel."
"Jake... ow! Okay, General, don't you think you're going a little far....Ow! Okay, I'm just going to turn around..." Hands in the air, he turned and reached for the door handle. He yanked it open and walked inside, Jacob hot on his heels.
Jacob gestured to the bed with his zat. "Sit."
Man, this was so clichéd, Jack thought, heading for the bed where he'd spent the night with this crazy person's daughter. Sitting down on the edge, Jack draped his arms over his legs. "So, what, you've been waiting outside all night?"
Jacob's jaw muscles twitched, then he started pacing. "Yes," he said shortly, twiddling the zat in his hand expertly.
"Right." Jack winced and looked longingly down at his radio. Maybe he could call Teal'c....?
And what? Ask him to come and rescue Jack from his girlfriend's father?
So not cool.
"I am... so unbelievably pissed off at you, Jack," Jacob spat.
Jumping a little, Jack looked at the fuming Tok'ra. "No kidding. And there I thought you were planning our wedding."
"Don't even *joke* about it!" Jacob yelled.
Leaning back - he had *never* seen Jacob this pissed before - Jack tried to summon some kind of a serious response. "Sorry, sorry. Yeah. This is... this is not the best way for you to have found out."
"You know what, I *never* should have found out. You know why?"
"Because it should never have happened?" Jack guessed, sensing a theme.
He'd known it was going to be bad when Jake found out. But he'd rather hoped it would have happened... after. After Jack transferred or Sam got her own team, or Jack retired or... something. After. When this relationship he had with his 2IC suddenly became less... illegal.
Sadly for Jack, that wasn't going to happen. Why was life never easy that way?
"Yes!" Jacob all but pounced on the word. "*It* should never have happened. *You* should not be sleeping with *my* daughter."
"Ah... shouldn't that be 'second in command' because the way you..."
The zat swung around at him again, pointing very accurately at Jack's groin. "You shouldn't be talking right now!"
Jack shut his mouth. And pulled his legs together. Just in case. "Sir..."
"Don't! I don't want to hear a word. I just want to *think*."
Hadn't he been doing that the whole time he'd been waiting for him outside? Jeez. Suddenly, Jack was really glad he and Sam hadn't got up to anything. These walls weren't exactly soundproof.
"I am *furious*."
Though the statement didn't seem to be aimed at anyone - Jack got a strange feeling that Jacob was in fact talking to himself - he couldn't help but reply, "Yeah. I got that."
"You... you of all people!"
Jack nearly sighed, but caught it just in time. Didn't want Jake to actually kill him, after all. "Yes, sir."
"Her *commanding* officer."
He nodded understandingly. "It's bad, I know."
"It's... it's... the worst thing that could possibly happen to her," Jacob exclaimed, his eyes all but bugging out of his head and his hands waving in the air.
Watching the zat with hawk eyes, Jack continued to agree, "Professionally, definitely."
"What if people find out? Her career... completely ruined. All her dreams, completely screwed because her CO couldn't keep his hands to himself!"
"Hey..." He was about to point out that Carter couldn't keep her hands to herself either but some sixth sense suggested that alluding to Jacob that his daughter was... sexually active might not be a great idea.
Jack wondered if Sel'mak was in there, giving Jake advice. Hopefully... wise and calming advice. Maybe it was Sel'mak who had stopped Jake from murdering him in bed. It was possible, he guessed.
"Jesus, Jack, what were you *thinking*!"
Again, might not be a good time to say that the first time, neither of them had been thinking too much, Jack decided. Thankfully, Jake didn't appear to want an answer.
Suddenly, the man gasped and stopped dead. His eyes swung around to Jake. "Is this why you call me 'dad'?"
"No! Nononononono!" Jack said, very, very hurriedly. "Sam and I... we've only been together for a year."
"A *YEAR*!?!"
Shrinking back slightly, Jack swallowed. "A year. Yes."
"This has been going on for a year? Does General Hammond know?"
"I don't think so."
"You don't *think* so?"
"Well, it's not like we get together and chat about it!" Quickly, Jack raised his hands defensively as Jake made a sudden move towards him. "Sorry, sorry. The humor - it's instinctive when I'm feeling threatened."
Jake smiled. Evilly. "Good. You're threatened. I'm so thrilled that I'm scaring the shit out of you."
"I've learned it's a Carter family trait."
He winced even as he said it. Open mouth... insert foot.
General Carter clenched his free hand and teeth. "I swear to God, Jack... why *you* for God's sake."
Like he'd never pondered that before, Jack thought, shaking his head. "And here I was, thinking you liked me."
"Clearly, I was blind to your obvious faults," Jake hissed, going back to his rapid pacing. "What the hell are we going to do?"
"Do? Do what?" Pretty certain he actually *wasn't* going to get shot, Jack shifted up until he was standing. "Look, I know this all comes as a complete shock to you..."
"No shit, Colonel."
"But, that in itself is a good thing. Carter was always concerned you'd figure it out, right from the beginning she always said you'd see through us..."
"And this is a good thing... how?"
"Well, if her father doesn't get it, who else is?"
"Her father 'didn't get it', Jack, because her father sees her once, maybe every few months. A *year*? You've been... doing this for a year." Helplessly, Jake glanced towards the bed and Jack's eyes followed. "How *could* you, Jack? Couldn't you have some responsibility? Some measure of command? She's... she's..."
"Your little girl?" Jack supplied instinctively.
"That is not what I was going to say."
"No. Probably not." Jack sighed and raised his hands to his side. "Jake.. Jacob.. General... I'm in love with your daughter. She's in love with me. We were responsible and we were... in command for years before we acted on anything. And even now... we could lose each other every day. We're going to take every moment we can together. It's that simple."
"It's not that simple," Jacob said quietly, his expression still deadly serious. "Not here. Not now."
"Not to you. It's that simple for us. Here and now." Wanting to reach out and touch the man's shoulder, Jack had to stick his hands in his pockets to restrain himself. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way."
"I shouldn't have had to find out," he repeated.
Jack shrugged. "Perhaps not."
The radio buzzed. "Colonel O'Neill?" Carter's voice rang out, clear as a bell.
He pulled the radio from his vest. "I copy, Carter."
"We're due to contact the SGC in ten minutes, sir."
"I'll be right there, Major. O'Neill out." Sliding the radio back into his pocket, he half smiled at Jake. "Do you want to join us? I'm sure Hammond would be pleased to hear from you."
Jacob's eyes drifted to the bed again and then he looked away hurriedly. "No." He sighed deeply. "Hell of a start to a day, Jack."
"Yeah, it is."
Jake jerked his head towards the door. "Get lost."
"Yes, sir." Moving past him - careful to keep a good distance - Jack headed for the door for the second time that day. He paused. "Do you want to see Carter? I could... send her to see you."
"No. I'm moving out with the first set of Tok'ra in forty-five minutes. I'll say goodbye then."
"Right. I'll see you then."
"Actually, Jack... " Staring firmly at a line of toilet rolls, Jake continued, awkwardly, "I'd rather I didn't, if you see what I mean."
Hurt, Jack swallowed and fought for something to say. "Okay. Sure. See you around, Jake."
"Fine."
Jack blew out a disappointed breath, then pushed open the door and headed straight to the gate. Glancing behind him, he saw the chair tucked neatly around the side of the building.
"You okay?" Carter queried when she saw him. From the way her hand twitched, Jack knew she wanted to reach out to touch him but had to stop herself.
"Fine." He nodded for Teal'c to dial up the SGC, then he looked back at his 2IC and girlfriend, his eyes lifting to her hair which she apparently hadn't done much to tame. "Nice hair, Carter. You been through any hedges recently?"
-END-
Story Notes: Email: jojo@randomleaves.com
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Spoilers: Allegiance. Season 6.
A/N: Thanks to Melly and Emry. Episode addition for Allegiance - I have no idea why I keep doing them for that particular episode.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Spoilers: Allegiance. Season 6.
A/N: Thanks to Melly and Emry. Episode addition for Allegiance - I have no idea why I keep doing them for that particular episode.
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 ]