Did Someone Say Fishing?
Spoilers: Just general stuff up to what's currently aired on Sci-Fi channel
Pairings: Uh duh…Sam and Jack!!
Summary: Jack has a laptop and he's discovered emailing...
Disclaimer: Not mine!
A/N: Here I am again!! Sorry to annoy you with another one of my random ideas but I'm sitting in Geography and we're doing a SAC (that's like a test, but it's a project…don't ask lol) but I finished it early and I'm BORED so here we go…
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Bing
Sam looked at the corner of her computer screen. She had one new email. She clicked on it and it opened
From: Brig. Gen. J. O'Neill
To: Lt. Col. S. Carter
Subject: Watcha doin?
Hey Carter!
I'm so incredibly bored. Do you know how boring paper work is? Seriously I don't know why I took this job!
Please remind me why I took this job…
Anyway Teal'c was saying that he walked past your office and you were sitting at your computer, so I'm expecting a reply. See I was having fun procrastinating by having a wonderful discussion with Teal'c about the Simpsons but for some reason he had to leave…
I don't think he gave me a reason!
So what are you doing?
Anything interesting?
Jack
He'd signed it Jack. Sam stared at that for a few moments, but then decided to think nothing of it. He probably just signed it that out of habit, she knew he emailed Daniel all the time. And to Daniel signing it as 'Jack' was perfectly normal…
She opened a new email and replied.
From: Lt. Col. S. Carter
To: Brig. Gen. J. O'Neill
Subject: Re: Watcha doin?"
Good morning sir,
I can see you must be bored, considering you've been here for a whole 2 out of 12 hours of your work day…
OH and by the way you took the job because well a) you didn't really have a choice and b) Daniel told you that you could do whatever you want.
I'm sure there's other reasons your not telling us! Maybe a pay rise?
I'm sure Teal'c was extremely interested in the Simpsons discussion sir, as he always is…
I'm actually writing up a report that I have to hand in to you by tomorrow morning. But we're going off-world so I figured I'd hand it in today.
Carter
She waited a few minutes for the reply. This was fun! They were actually having a light-hearted conversation. It had been a long time since they'd done that. For so long they'd been locked in a very different kind of relationship...not something she'd call friendship in the way they'd once had. Ever since her engagement to Pete things had been…
Awkward…
Bing
Sender: Brig. Gen. J. O'Neill
To: Lt. Col. S. Carter
Subject: Make a new subject!
Carter!! You're supposed to make a new subject when you email back!
What report?
Oh YEAH! I remember…that…one…
So watcha doin this weekend? I was thinking of heading up Minnesota way, being a long weekend and all…
If your not busy…I was thinking maybe you'd wanna join me…
Jack
She stared at it. Fishing invitation? He had invited her fishing for two years, and the last time he'd asked wasn't really an invitation, more of a change to comment on the fact that she'd never come.
She held her hands over the keyboard, not sure what she should say in reply. She could say yes…but she knew if she went there with Jack it was as something much more than CO and 2IC.
Sender: Lt. Col. S. Carter
To: Brig. Gen. J. O'Neill
Subject: Fishing
Uh, sir as much as I'd love to come fishing I was planning on spending the weekend with Pete…
Carter
She hovered the mouse over the send button for a few moments. That was a lie, Pete was on a case and in all likelihood she wouldn't even see him that weekend…
But Jack didn't know that, did he? She clicked send and waited.
Bing
She clicked on the new email
Sender: Brig. Gen. J. O'Neill
To: Lt. Col. S. Carter
Subject: Re: Fishing
Carter, I know Pete's on a case. You told me yesterday because you were disappointed about not being able to spend the weekend with him…
I just think you need a little fun. When was the last time you left Colorado Springs…not work related
Jack
He'd added a small animation of a man throwing a fishing rod into a lake and it getting bitten by a fish, which then managed to jump out of the water, swallowing the rod and the guy fishing before jumping back into the water.
Why did he have to keep signing it Jack?
Sender: Lt. Col. S. Carter
To: Brig. Gen. J. O'Neill
Subject: Re: Re: Fishing
General, I really shouldn't…
And I leave Colorado Springs. Only last week I went to visit my brother in Denver…
Carter
Sender: Brig. Gen. J. O'Neill
To: Lt. Col. S. Carter
Subject: Goddamnit Carter
I really have to talk to you
Please
She stared at the short email.
I really have to talk to you
What was that supposed to mean? Talk about what? What could he possible have to talk about that would make it necessary to drive all the way to Minnesota.
She knew exactly why.
The exact same reason she'd never gone to Minnesota with him. To tell the truth she didn't mind fishing. Her father used to take her and Mark fishing when they were younger and it always brought back the only good memories she had of her family life.
But she couldn't go with him.
She stared at the email for a long time.
Please
She stared at the word. She felt a sudden wave of fear sweep over her. What was she doing? She'd spent so long denying that she felt anything for him. It was only when on the brink of death, or experiencing loss of a friend, that either of them dared to show their feelings for each other. She knew, deep down inside, that she cared about him a lot more than she did for Pete.
But everything about her relationship with Pete was perfect, was how she'd always imagined a relationship to be. The way her parents relationship had been. The friendship, or non-friendship, she had with Jack was completely different to anything she'd ever read about or dreamed of having and she wasn't even sure if anything could ever happen from it…
That's why she'd said yes to Pete.
And she'd been happy, for the most part…since she'd accepted his proposal. It had given her something to look forward to on the weekends. Jack should be happy, he'd always told her to get a life.
Bing
Sender: Brig. Gen. J. O'Neill
To: Lt. Col. S. Carter
Subject: (none)
Carter?
She had to reply. She clicked on 'New' and sat with her fingers poised over the keys.
Sender: Lt. Col. S. Carter
To: Brig. Gen. J. O'Neill
Subject: Re:
Ok
She couldn't think of anything else to write so she clicked send and immediately doubts washed over her. Was this such a good idea?
"Sam?"
She turned around in her chair to find Daniel standing in the doorway.
"Uh, hi," she said.
"What's up?" he asked.
"Nothing," Sam lied.
Daniel raised his eyebrows as he wandered into the lab, his hands jammed into his pockets. "I see…"
Sam could tell that he knew she was lying, but he wasn't gonna say anything.
"And I suppose Jack inviting you fishing again has no effect on you at all…" Daniel muttered.
"How do you…" Sam started and then realised. "You just guessed, because he told you he was going."
"Yeah, well, he used to invite me and Teal'c…but he's stopped doing that, he reserves fishing invitations just for you," Daniel sat down and leaned back in the chair, yawning. "But of course, that's just how I see it."
Bing
Sam ignored it.
"You gonna read that?" Daniel asked.
"Yes," Sam said, still not turning back to the computer.
"Well…" Daniel nodded at the computer screen.
"Alone," Sam stated.
"Read it, Sam," Daniel said. "I'm not gonna read over your shoulder…look I'll take my glasses off so I'm blind, happy?"
He placed his glasses on the desk next to her computer.
Sam sighed and turned around, clicking on the email.
Sender: Brig. Gen. J. O'Neill
To: Lt. Col. S. Carter
Subject: Re: Re:
Really?
I'm…shocked Carter, really I am. No reactor to work on?
Sam clicked reply
Sender: Lt. Col. S. Carter
To: Brig. Gen. J. O'Neill
Subject: Re: Re: Re:
Do you want me to say no?
"What did it say?" Daniel asked.
"Nothing," Sam said. "Just asking for a mission report…"
"Really…" Daniel didn't sound convinced.
"Really," Sam replied.
Bing
Sender: Brig. Gen. J. O'Neill
To: Lt. Col. S. Carter
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re:
I didn't say that…
I'll pick you up from your place at 1900 hours Friday?
"Well that's interesting…"
Sam closed the email out of shock. "DANIEL!"
"Well you said it was about mission reports…I didn't take it as being too private…" Daniel said, smiling secretively.
"I didn't say you could read my email!" Sam replied.
"Well are you gonna reply?" Daniel asked. "You if I didn't know better I'd think it was a date…"
"It's not," Sam replied, truthfully.
"You keep telling yourself that," Daniel said. "And I'm going to find Teal'c."
He stood up and left before Sam could open her mouth and respond to his comment. She sighed and opened the email again.
Sender: Lt. Col. S. Carter
To: Brig. Gen. J. O'Neill
Subject: (none)
Sounds good to me, sir.
And now I really do have to do some work…
Carter
A few seconds later came:
Sender: Brig. Gen. J. O'Neill
To: Lt. Col. S. Carter
Subject: Re:
Have fun and I'll see ya tomorrow night
Jack
Tomorrow…right…it was tomorrow.
Sam breathed in deeply and switched her computer off. She had some tests to run on the naquadah they had just received from P4X–540.
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Friday 1900 Hours
Sam looked up as there was a knock on her door.
Great, he was on time, and she wasn't even fully packed yet.
She ran to the hallway and pulled the door open.
"Hi, sir, I just have to finish packing," she said, running back to her room.
"OK…" Jack said.
As usual he was dressed in baggy beige pants, a grey T-shirt and a baggy leather jacket. His typical fishing gear. Sam could hear him wander into the house, shutting the door behind him and making his way to her bedroom.
"Uh Carter, we're only going for three days, you're not gonna need a whole suitcase of stuff," he said.
"I'm only bringing a small bag," she replied. "I am military trained, remember?"
She pulled a hiking backpack up from the other side of her bed and threw it onto her bed. "I just left it a little late to start packing…"
"We'll drive half way tonight, stop over at a hotel, and then the rest of the way tomorrow morning if that makes you feel safer," Jack said.
"We can share the driving, I'll drive half, you drive half – then we can get there in one go," Sam replied.
"If you want," Jack replied, shrugging. "Makes no difference to me."
Sam grabbed her hair brush off her bedside table and shoved it into her bag, closing it and picking it up.
"OK, sir, lets go," she said.
Jack nodded as she lead the way out of her house. She'd already double checked everything was locked and shut up properly before she'd shoved a few things into her backpack. She let Jack out and then shut the door behind her.
She couldn't believe she was actually going to do this. What had gotten into her? She couldn't go fishing with Jack.
Something was going to happen.
She looked down at the engagement ring on her finger and cringed. No, absolutely nothing was going to happen. She wasn't going to let anything happen.
Right?
She ignored her thoughts and locked the door quickly, jogging to Jack's car and dumping her luggage in the back before jumping into the front.
"Got everything?" Jack asked, smiling at her slightly.
"I hope so," Sam replied, smiling back.
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1100 Saturday Morning, A little lake in Minnesota…
"Morning Carter," Jack said as she wandered up to him yawning.
"Morning," she yawned. "What time is it?"
"1100 hours," Jack grinned, throwing the rod out again.
"Oh, I slept in," Sam said.
"Yes, you did…see that's the idea of coming up to a nice secluded cabin in the middle of nowhere with no cell phones and no aliens," Jack said.
"Well, I did bring a cell phone, sir…" Sam said, sitting down next to him on the edge of the small jetty.
"So did I," Jack muttered. "Apparently when your in charge of something like the SGC you have to contactable at all times."
"Pete demanded I bring one," Sam said.
"You told Pete you were coming fishing with me?" Jack asked.
"You sound surprised, sir," Sam replied.
Jack shrugged and ignored the comment.
Sam sighed. "Actually, sir, I told him I was going with Teal'c and Daniel as well…"
"Ah," Jack said, staring at the water.
There was silence for a long moment.
"Caught anything yet, sir?" Sam said.
"Drop the sir, Carter," he said, still avoiding looking at her. "We're in the middle of nowhere, no one's gonna hear you."
"Habit, sorry…" she said, restraining from calling him 'sir'. "Sooo…"
"You hungry?" he asked suddenly.
"Yeah, I am actually," Sam replied.
"I'll get you a sandwich…watcha want?" he stood up, leaving his rod to catch any fish while he was gone.
"Uh, I'll come and see what you have," Sam replied.
She also stood up and followed him back to the cabin.
"You know Teal'c doesn't like the Simpsons?" Jack said all of a sudden.
Sam smiled. "That doesn't surprise me…"
She barely stopped herself from saying 'sir'.
"Yeah, I suppose he's more of a Star Wars person. Damn Daniel for getting him into that stuff," Jack said.
"Ah, it was me," Sam replied.
Jack turned and stared at her, mocking horror. "Why?"
"Well he asked me for a good movie, I told him to go and watch Star Wars Original Trilogy," Sam shrugged. "I didn't know he was gonna become a fanatic!"
Jack pulled open the fridge and looked inside. "Hmm, I didn't bring much up. How about jam?"
Sam smiled. "Jam's fine, thanks."
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Jack flopped on the couch. "Well I'm tired."
Sam sat down next to her. "That was nothing, we do more than that on every day missions…"
Jack looked at her. "In case you've forgotten Carter, I no longer participate in those."
"Oh, right," Sam said. "Getting unfit huh sir?"
"No sir," he said, a sad expression crossing his face for a moment.
"OK…" Sam said. "Well thank you for taking me up there, sir, that was a great view!"
"I always go up there and watch the sunset, I think it's the best place in Minnesota to do so," Jack said.
"Well, I've never really been to anywhere else in Minnesota…" Sam said.
"That's because you need to get out more," Jack said, the side of his mouth twitching slightly into a smile.
"Thank you for inviting me," Sam said, watching her CO carefully.
"Thank you for accepting," Jack replied, turning slightly on the couch so he could see her. "You want a beer?"
"I'm fine," Sam replied, smiling.
"Then excuse me if I just get one," Jack said, standing up and walking to the kitchen.
Sam turned and stared at the fire place. They'd left it burning when they'd gone to watch the sunset, and now it had used up all the wood so it was only burning embers glowing in the fire place.
She stood up and walked over to the logs, picking up one of the smaller ones and throwing it on top of the fire, hoping she wouldn't kill it completely. She looked up and saw a picture of Charlie and Sara sitting on the mantelpiece. She picked it up and looked at it.
She heard Jack walk back into the room and stop when he saw her looking at the photo of his past family.
"You never talk about them," Sam commented.
"I don't like thinking about the past," Jack said, the look in his eyes telling her to leave it alone.
Sam nodded and placed it back where she'd found it.
She turned around and faced Jack who was standing about four feet away. "You wanted to talk…"
It was a comment, not a question.
"Ah, yeah…" Jack said, walking over to the couch and sitting down, placing his beer on the table.
He didn't lean back and make himself comfortable.
Sam paused, not knowing whether to move and sit down or to stay where she was.
"Sit down, Sam," he said.
She stopped breathing for a second. The use of her first name only meant two things.
a) one of them was about to die; or
b) he was going to talk to her about his feelings for her.
In this particular situation the second one was more likely…
She walked over and sat down on the couch next to him, the only light in the room coming from the fireplace.
"So…" Sam said.
"Daniel made me invite you, you know," Jack said. "I wasn't even gonna bother…"
"Oh," Sam said.
"He made me realise something," Jack said. "And I can't just ignore it…I can't just pretend…"
Sam could feel her engagement ring sitting extremely heavily on her finger.
"He had a thing for Janet, you knew that right?" Jack said.
Sam looked at him. "Well, I never heard either of them say anything, but I guessed that…"
"He never said anything," Jack said.
"Yeah," Sam replied.
There was a long pause.
"Why did you say yes?" Jack asked suddenly, looking in her direction and meeting her eyes.
She could see the pain in his eyes as he thought about Pete.
"I…" Sam looked down, she couldn't look into his eyes, couldn't see the hurt they revealed.
"I won't pretend I'm not happy for you, I am…but there's a part of me…" Jack stopped, not quite knowing whether to finish that sentence.
She looked back up at him, willing him to continue.
"There's a part of me that wants it to not work out," Jack said, cringing. "I know that sounds horrible…but I guess the whole reason I've never said anything is because I just assumed that…"
"…after the war with the Goa'uld was over we'd…" Sam continued.
"Yeah…" Jack said, watching his hands.
"So did I," Sam said.
Jack looked up at her. "Then why'd you say yes?"
"Because it might never be over," Sam said. "And I want that," she nodded towards the photo of him with Charlie and Sarah, "I want a family, I want kids…Pete gives me that chance…now…"
"What if I quit the Air Force?" Jack said, searching her eyes.
Sam shook her head. "I would never ask you to give up your career…"
The familiarity of the words struck her.
She'd heard them spoken before. By a vision of Jack she'd had while knocked unconscious on Prometheus the year before.
"It's just an excuse," Jack said, standing up and walking towards the window.
He sounded angry.
"No…Jack…" she stood up, following him.
"Then what is it Sam? If it's what we really wanted then one of us would've done something, wouldn't they?" Jack said loudly.
"Then you don't want it…" Sam said, she could feel tears welling up.
"Of course I want it Sam!" Jack was almost shouting. "I want it more than anything! But I was never sure if you wanted it! And then you met him and I decided it was better to back off till that was over!"
He stopped and turned around to face her. "And then you agreed to marry him, and I gave up hope."
"So why'd you bring me here?" Sam asked.
"Because I wanted to tell you…" Jack stopped and searched her eyes. "I wanted to tell you that I loved you before you married Pete."
He broke eye contact and stormed past her, out of the room. She stood alone in the living room, staring out the window at the beautiful view.
She burst into tears and walked back to the couch, sitting down. She sat there for what seemed like half an hour, her eyesight blinded by tears.
"God damnit," she said to herself, wiping the tears away. "I'm such an idiot!"
Suddenly she felt movement and looked up to see Jack sitting down on the couch next to her.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "C'mere…"
He reached out and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her and leaning her head against his chest.
"Don't leave," she whispered.
"I'm not," he replied. "I'll always be here for you, Sam…no matter what."
"What have I done?" she said quietly, more to herself than to him.
"Marry him Sam, you'll be happy with him…I know you will," Jack said. "Just, never forget…"
"I have nothing to forget," Sam said quietly, sitting up slightly so she could see into his eyes.
Or more specifically she could reach his lips with her. She leaned forward and felt her lips brush against his. For eight years she'd dreamed of this, sure at first it was just a fantasy about her good-looking CO, but now it was so much more than that.
After a few moments he pulled back. "We shouldn't…"
Sam nodded and leant her head against his chest again.
She wasn't going to move from that position for the rest of the night.
And maybe when she got back to Colorado Springs she had some rethinking to do in her life.
A/N: Hope you liked it!! Please read & review!!