TITLE: The Things He Always Does

AUTHOR: Renée

CATEGORY: Drabble/Thoughts

SPOILERS: Itty bitty ones for several episodes

SEASON: Probably 5 or 6

PAIRINGS: Sam/Jack

RATING: PG

CONTENT WARNINGS: None

SUMMARY: Jack's thoughts on following the rules

ARCHIVE: samandjack, sgfic, Carter Fic, Heliopolis, SJD, and any other site that might find this interesting. Please send me a 'memo' to let me know where my campers are hiding out.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Not even my apartment. Much less . . . Stargate SG-1 and all associated names, characters, situations, and concepts are the property of Showtime/ Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and am not profiting off it in any way. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. Not to be archived without permission of the author. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Companion piece to "The Things She Never Does," but it will stand on its own.

FEEDBACK: Earns you a place in Valhalla.

DEDICATION: For Liquidflame, who suggested this.

The Things He Always Does
By Renée

He always called her by her last name, or her rank. He had stopped using her first name a long time ago.

Calling her "Sam" was downright dangerous. It was too familiar, and familiarity led to `other things.' Other things that were strictly off limits.

Besides, those were the rules. He didn't have to like them, but he accepted them. Anything else would have been wrong. And one of the only things Colonel Jack O'Neill still had was his integrity.

So he always avoided asking her personal questions.

Bent over backwards not to show her any favoritism.

Never cut her any slack on a mission.

And sure, he dropped by her lab without an announcement. But he was the team leader. He got to do that.

He always loved it when she smiled at his lame jokes. He really had to watch out for that one, but it was just so damn hard.

He only asked her to go fishing when he knew she'd be otherwise occupied with `work stuff.' He had no idea what he would do if she ever accepted.

He always brought his own chaperone when he went to her house. Whether it was just Teal'c or a Code Three team.

Always kept his hands to himself. She was the one person he just couldn't allow himself to touch, even casually.

Moved heaven and earth to find her when she'd been kidnapped. Just like he would have for any member of his team. But still…

Always kept his remarks entirely appropriate on her performance evaluations.

Always waited until she was safely in her car and it had started before he pulled out of the parking lot late at night. His mother would have expected no less.

Always threw himself so completely into his downtime activities that he had no time to even consider hers.

Always watched her back off world. And Daniel's, and Teal'c's and Jonas's too. He always knew she'd have his back too.

Always gave her the benefit of the doubt.

Knew she'd always fix the problem, no matter how big, bad or ugly it was.

Always asked her to explain things to him, even when he already knew the answer.

Always feared the worst when she was the one taken away by the bad guys.

Remembered in excruciating, Technicolor detail every time he had almost lost her. He couldn't imagine how dark his world would be without her smile to light it.

Always remembered that they had a purely professional relationship. As much as they both may have wanted more, there were some lines neither of them dared cross.

So he always avoided talking about their `feelings.' Because above everything else, that was the thing that was most against the rules.

And rules were all he had.

Hope you enjoyed it!