Just a Drabble.
"Sir," Jack started evenly, without hesitation. "I'd like to retire."
"What? Jack what's brought this on," Hammond asked from behind his desk. Never in a million years would he have expected to hear Jack say this.
"If my retirement isn't a possibility then I would like a reassignment."
"Damn it Jack! Sit down and tell me what hell this is about."
Jack finally took up a seat and in clear, certain, terms explained what he wanted and why.
Two Weeks Later:
Two weeks! Two god damn weeks with out more than five words passed between them, Sam ranted silently. She was pissed, beyond pissed, and she was pissed at her CO. Leaving her without any means to express her anger. It's not like she could call him out on his obvious avoidance of her ... God, she thought vehemently. Give me a break!
Just over two weeks ago she had been painfully reminded of her feelings for the damn man. That stupid ice planet and the damn memory stamp had brought it all out to the forefront. She though it had for him too but clearly that wasn't the case. After their debrief they had been given a few days of downtime, time that Sam was very grateful for. She'd had time to think things through and get used to the idea that IF the Colonel felt the way about her that she felt about him then he wasn't going to do anything about it.
She wanted to, had wanted to since the stupid Zatarc testing crap and when she had tried to hint at that he had brushed it off. She never claimed to be good at these things. She had never been great at relationships and what little confidence she had in that area had been destroyed by Jonas, the shit head. She had offered to keep their feelings in that damn room to give the Colonel an out. She had prayed, actually prayed, that he wouldn't take it. She needed him not to take it but, she couldn't force him to do or address something he wasn't up for. And Colonel Fucking Jack O'Neill had taken the out. The Bastard.
Then Sam had come back from her downtime to find SG-1 still off the team rotation. Apparently several artifacts had turned up that Hammond wanted her to go over. She didn't mind, it was actually nice to fiddle in her lab. But then, then she had noticed that the ass was actively avoiding her. He stopped visiting her lab, left the commissary when she would show up, and actually ignored her when the were in the halls. After the first week she'd asked him about it.
"Colonel," she had asked. "Is everything alright?"
And what had he told her? NO. That's all he had said. One damn word. A conversation of five words in which he had said one before walking out.
It hurt. It always hurt. He'd hurt her when he'd taken the out, but she hadn't blamed him. Couldn't blame him for taking an out if he wasn't comfortable enough to consider everything that had come out at the time. It had hurt to learn she wasn't Thera and that he wasn't Jonah. It had hurt that he treated her like Major Carter but, she was Major Carter and she dealt with it. But this, this hurt was intentional. And she could and did blame him for it. Instead of crying about it the way she had the other hurts she had gotten pissed.
Luckily for her the Gate needed a full diagnostic and the Iris was on the fritz AND the dialing computer was constantly freezing up. She'd never been so grateful for such crazy problems that kept her so busy. If Jack O'Neill didn't want to talk to her she sure wasn't going to make the effort anymore. She had plenty else to occupy her mind. Yeah right, her subconscious mocked her. Oh shut up, she thought bitterly.
General George Hammond stared at the good Doctor, the one to instigate this entire damn situation, and waited. It was all her fault and he wanted an explanation. He also enjoyed watching her squirm because everything was screwed up and it was entirely HER fault. "Well Doctor Frasier," he asked again. His tone clearly expressing his anger.
Janet couldn't look at him as she rubbed her hands together roughly. "I'm sorry Sir, I - I told Colonel O'Neill - I told him that -"
"Spit it out," Hammond shouted, slamming his fist on his desk.
Janet jumped at his behaviour before she closed her eyes tightly. "I told Colonel O'Neill that he was an idiot if he thought the situation had taken care of itself, Sir."
"Try it now Walter," Sam cried as she looked up at the Gate. The Iris closed and opened in a quick succession. "Good," she offered herself with satisfaction. "Alright Walter, close it up again. Well," Sam offered with a small smile to Siler. "Let's see the diagnostic results."
Daniel looked to Janet in shock. This, this couldn't be right. It just couldn't.
"Are you certain General Hammond," Teal'c asked. There was even surprise in the Jaffa's voice.
"I'm certain Teal'c," Hammond said gently. "The President was quite clear on the matter."
"Let's see if that does it," Sam offered before testing the dialing program. The Gate began to spin and Walter continued his tradition of announcing each chevron lock. Until chevron four. That one wouldn't engage. "Damn." Sam moved away from the computer to another on the wall. She was busy working away at the problem she was previously grateful for. Now she was just tired of it. After her very short conversation with 'The Colonel', as she now thought of him, she had thrown herself into the Gate Diagnostic. That had just come back clean today after she'd fixed the Iris but, the dialing problem was still a problem. One she wasn't so thankful for anymore. She wanted to get the hell off base. She was simply too tired from the Gate problems to be angry anymore. As it was she'd been up for nearly 36 hours trying to fix the dialing and - "There! I've got it," Sam smiled as she moved back to sit by Walter.
She typed in a few commands and tried dialing out again. The Gate spun and each of the seven chevron's locked before the wormhole engaged. "Alpha Site," She started. "This is Major Carter at the SGC."
"Good to hear you Major Carter," the familiar sound of Dixon's voice came over the radio wave.
"Sorry about the delay in getting you boys home," Sam smiled. "The Alpha Site treating you alright?"
"Yes Ma'am," Dixon offered with his usual politeness. "All off world team's reported here when we couldn't dial Earth. It's been a fun three days of annoying the scientists - no offense there Major."
"None taken Sir," Sam smiled brightly. "The General said everyone should report back as soon as I made the connection. I'll close down the Gate so you boys can get back."
"We appreciate it," Dixon offered. "Just tell Frasier some of us need showers before she start's sticking us."
"Will do Sir, SGC Out." Sam shut down the wormhole and the Iris closed automatically. "Well Walter, it looks like everything is in working order again," Sam offered as she stood up. The Gate began to spin and she waited. All of the Chevron's locked and the wormhole formed.
"I have SG-13's code," Walter offered.
"Open the Iris." Sam looked behind her to find Hammond, Daniel, Teal'c, and Janet coming down the stairs. "I take it you've fixed things Major?"
"Yes Sir," Sam smiled before looking back to the Gate Room. SG-13 began their decent down the ramp followed by the other teams. Dixon waved up at her with a smile and Sam waved back. "I'll have a report for you tomorrow if that's alright with you Sir."
"That will be fine Major," Hammond offered. "Now go home and sleep. You look exhausted."
"Yes Sir," Sam smiled up at him. She moved to turn around, more than ready to take a break, only to find herself wrapped up in a pair of arms being kissed! She was so startled she didn't even push 'The Colonel' off of her but, she didn't kiss him back either. Finally he pulled away from her smirking. Sam stood there, staring at him like he had gone insane and he was smirking at her. She tried to ignore Hammond and the others, she couldn't deal with this. Giving up she shook her head before turning away and leaving the Control Room.
"Sam!" She kept going, kept walking down the hall toward the elevator. She was going home and leaving this day behind her. "Sam," Janet cried again as she finally caught up to her. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going home Janet. I'm tired of all of this and I am going home. I am going to take a hot bath and crawl into bed and sleep for the rest of the day." Without another word Sam stepped onto the elevator and headed to the surface.
"What just happened," Dixon asked Walter and Siler.
"I - I don't know," Siler offered.
"She walked away," Walter began. "I can't believe it. Who would have thought ..."
"Indeed," Teal'c offered.
Knocknockkncokknockknockknoc kknock.
Sam slowly opened her eyes to the incessant pounding and sighed. She had fallen asleep in the tub and was having such a lovely dream but that damn knocking wouldn't stop. She pulled herself out of the tub and wrapped a robe around herself. Whoever was at her front door was still knocking and she made her way to the door. "What -" Sam started as she pulled the door open only to find herself cut off by 'The Colonel' kissing her again. This time ... this time she found herself kissing him back and her hands came to rest against his chest as he pulled her tightly to him. A moment of sanity returned and she pushed him away. "Sir! Would you please stop kissing me. What is wrong with you?"
Jack slowly stepped towards her, following the path she made as she moved away from him, stopping only when she felt her back press into the wall behind her. "What's wrong with me," Jack started. "Is that I've been waiting two weeks for the okay to kiss you and now that I've got it I intend to kiss you."
Sam placed her hand against his chest, trying to keep him from getting any closer. As it was he was nearly pressed into her and she was pinned against the wall by the length of his body. She tried, she really tried to slow her breathing but, it didn't seem to work too well. "I never gave you permission to kiss me Sir. Now please leave."
"But you want me to kiss you, don't you." It wasn't really a question and clearly neither her words nor her hand could keep him from getting even closer to her. He brought his face down to her's, clearly ready to kiss her again. "And stop calling me Sir."
She couldn't help but furrow her brow in confusion. None of this made any sense. He had kissed her not once but twice. And the first time Hammond hadn't ordered him to stop, he'd let it happen. Now 'The Colonel' wanted her to stop addressing him like she always had and she didn't get it. "I don't understand." It had come out as a whisper. She hadn't meant it to but he was so close that had heard her and he was really distracting her. Did she mentioned she was having trouble slowing her breathing?
Jack gently cupped her cheek with one of his large hands and gently ran his thumb across the soft skin. Sam tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat as she watched him. "After our last mission I told Hammond I wanted to retire or be reassigned."
"What?! Why?"
"Because Doc Frasier said I was an idiot if I thought you had moved on. She said I was stupid and pig headed and an all around jerk for taking the out. I thought you wanted the out. I didn't realize you offered it for me Sam."
Sam closed her eyes and unconsciously bit her bottom lip. She couldn't do this, couldn't handle anymore. She couldn't get her hopes up again. Suddenly his lips were pressed into her neck, kissing her gently just below her ear. She held her eyes tightly shut as she took a very shaky breath. Jack barely pulled back. He wasn't kissing her anymore but she could still feel his lips against her skin as he spoke, it was very distracting.
"I told Hammond I wanted to retire or be assigned so that I could pursue a relationship with you." Sam didn't move. "He ordered me to stay away from you." Her eye's shot open and she turned her head to look at him; and, found his lips almost pressed against hers. "He said I had to stay away until the President could decide what he wanted to do. Apparently it took him two weeks to for him and the Joint Chiefs to decide."
"Decide what," Sam whispered again.
"That I'm staying on SG-1 and we get special dispensation to pursue a relationship."
Sam couldn't help her small gasp of surprise at his words. She also couldn't help kissing him back or wrapping her arms around his neck.
Epilogue:
"Hello George," the President offered over the phone. "How'd everything go?"
"I figured out what inspired the Colonel to make his move," Hammond offered with a soft smile. "Apparently Doctor Frasier called him an idiot after their last mission. She also informed him that the Major's offer to keep things in the room was an out for him, not herself."
"I knew it," the President offered. "So how's the pot?"
"According to Walter that pot is a fifty / fifty split. Half the base thought she'd said that because she wanted to pretend nothing was different and the other half thought she had offered the out for his sake."
"And the other pots?"
"Most people thought Jack would be the one to make the first move so that wasn't really a surprise. Very few people besides you and I thought they'd ask for permission first."
"What, everyone thought that the only way this would come about was if they just couldn't stand it any longer?"
"Apparently, they say it's easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission Sir."
"I've heard that," the President said. "So who else made money off of that pot besides you and I?"
"Teal'c." Hammond smiled as the President laughed wholeheartedly at his answer. "There's something no one ever considered though."
"What's that?"
"After I informed Colonel O'Neill of your decision he kissed her here on base but," Hammond offered quickly. "She didn't kiss him back. She also walked away from him."
"What? What do you mean she walked away?"
"She just walked away. Didn't say anything to him or anyone else, she just left."
"What's the running bet on that?"
"Well, since he ran off after her people are placing bets that she's putting him in his place, trying to move on kind of thing, or that they're deciding to pursue the relationship."
"A hundred bucks says they walk in tomorrow the happy couple."
"I'll put you down in the books Sir," Hammond smiled.
"Good. Oh and George. I expect to see the rest of my winnings soon."
Hammond agreed and the two men said their farewells. As he hung up the phone he tried to think of how to get back at Janet Frasier. If she hadn't opened her big mouth he would have had a better chance at winning the pot on when Jack and Sam finally got together. As it was the President was the one who had won that damn pot. A hell of a lot of money too. Although ... he had really enjoyed telling Daniel, Teal'c, and Janet that even the Joint Chiefs had their own bets running on the to AF members of SG-1. Daniel's look of disbelief had made that almost worth losing out on the pot the President won. Almost but not quite. He really had to get Janet Frasier for saying something to Jack ...