See You In the Morning or 5 Times Jack watched Sam

by Mandarax

Jack’s watching Sam sleep one night, and flash-backs to five other times he watched her prepare for sleep.

See You In the Morning or 5 Times Jack watched Sam prepare for sleep

By Mandarax

Rating: T

Summary – Jack's watching Sam sleep one night, and flash-backs to five other times he watched her prepare for sleep.

Author's note – took me a month to write it and I don't know why. Not one of my best but needed to get out there. Started out as that last scene and developed into the rest.

Enjoy

*

Jack opened the bedroom door, pushing it softly, one hand pressed softly against the carved wood. He poked his head in letting his eyes adjust to the darkness of the room and looked over at the bed where he knew she lay sleeping. His eyes found her face and a hint of a smile appeared on his lips. His mind flashed back to previous times he'd seen, had watched her sleep, over the years.

The First Time

Jack opened the flap of his tent and crawled to his sleeping bag. He sat down and rubbed a hand over his face. He was exhausted. It had been a long day. Squeezing his eyes shut, he massaged his temples. He heard the flap open and recognized his tent-mate by the soft steps.

He'd left Carter, Teal'c and Daniel outside, arguing who sleeps in which tent. He pointed out that they needed to figure out a system for sleeping arrangements sometime soon and then headed into the tent.

"Pull the short stick and get stuck with the grumpy old man, did you?"

She snorted.

Jack opened his eyes and looked at her, "You okay?"

She nodded, "just tired, sir."

He shrugged. Who wasn't?

He watched her crawl around the tent and start getting ready for the night. She had second watch, meaning she had two hours to sleep and then she replaced whoever has first watch. And then she will wake him up for his watch.

His eyes followed Carter as she prepared for sleep. He watched her as she sat with her back to him, unbuttoning her uniform shirt and folding it. She put the folded shirt on top of her bulletproof vest and placed them both in hand's reach from where her head will be when she lays down to sleep. She then pushed her shirt sleeves up and pulled her backpack to her.

He averted his eyes from her form, still seated with her back to him on the sleeping bag. This was the first time they shared a tent since SG-1 was formed, several months ago. When they first started going through the gate he decided he and Sam will each share a tent with one of the non-military members of the team. They were all still getting to know each other and still learning to trust each other and while Teal'c could take care of himself, Daniel was still a spaz. Someone had to protect the geek if something happens during some random night. Jack also thought that this would be a good way for the warrior and the dork to learn some Air Force rules and directives and other essential and less-essential thingies to help them become accustomed to Air Force life. They needed to learn the basics for the team to work together, and the team needed to work together like an oiled machine for them to survive alien crazies.

"Uhm, Carter, do you want me to step out?"

She swung her head to look at him, a surprised look in her eyes; as if she'd forgotten he was there. "Uh, no, sir, I'm nearly done," she gave him a half shrug half smile, "thanks."

He shrugged back and started fumbling with his own stuff, preparing for sleep. They were in enemy territory so no one was going to get too comfortable. They both knew they would have to be up and ready for a fight in an instant if it came down to that. So boots stayed on feet. As did the BDU bottoms. He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and wondered for a moment about the bra. Sara used to say sleeping in a bra is one of the most uncomfortable things she'd ever done and so she only did it when she went camping. This was kind of like camping. In enemy territory. He shrugged mentally and lay down on top of the sleeping bag, still looking at her.

"Want me to take your watch?"

She turned her head to look at him again, this time with a slightly confused smile. There were white spots of facial cream on her cheek, the tip of her nose, her forehead and right below her eye. "No, that's okay, sir."

"You have –" he indicated to his face with his hand and she turned her head back to her backpack, a slight blush rising on her cheeks.

He liked her. She was book smart and street smart. She was young, still needed guidance in the how to deal with an angry alien running at ya with a big honkin' gun department, but then again, who didn't. She had a twisted sense of humor that only reared its head every once in a while when she felt comfortable enough. Which meant she still didn't feel comfortable enough around him. But that's a time thing. She'll get used to him. She's already less formal with him than she was a few months ago.

He watched as she worked the cream into her face with her fingers then twisted the cap closed. She pushed the tube back into her bag and rummaged in it for another moment before pulling out a labelo chap-stick and applied it to her lips. She then pushed it back into a small pocket in her backpack and lay down. She slowed her breathing and then turned on her side and pulled her knees towards her, her back turned to him.

He raised an eyebrow. "See you in the morning, Captain."

"Goodnight, Sir."

He watched her for another moment, and another, before he too turned on his side, his back to her, and closed his eyes.

Trees

The yawn escaped his mouth before he managed to cover his mouth. It was a big one, the kind that when he was a kid people would tell him he should be careful because he might swallow a fly. As he opened his eyes he saw Carter slip into their tent. She read him so well sometimes. He yawned, and she went to get ready for bed.

As time passed and they shared tents more frequently, they developed a routine that worked for them. She would go into the tent before him to get ready. He learned that when they were off-world, sleeping between one tree and another, she had a different routine than the one he was introduced to the first time they shared a tent. He also got an answer for the age old question of the brassiere - She would go into the tent, change her bra to a sports-undergarment-type-thing and put her shirt and vest back on, then join them outside again.

This time though he was too tired sit around with the rest of them, he headed into the tent as soon as she opened the flap again.

She followed him back into the tent. "Tired?"

He sat on his sleeping bag and rubbed his eyes. "Been a long day."

"Yeah," she agreed as she settled on her own sleeping bag, facing him.

"Too many trees," he said through another yawn.

She chuckled (because she wasn't allowed to giggle).

He unzipped his vest let it slide off his shoulders and dumped it casually by where his head will be. Stretching his arms he watched as she let her own vest slide down her arms. She pulled it up front from behind her back and folded it. She kept it on her knees as she unbuttoned her uniform shirt and then pulled it off. She folded that as well and put it on top of the vest. Then she stretched across her sleeping bag and put both vest and shirt on the tent floor by her head. She smiled at him as when she caught his tired eyes.

As his fingers fumbled with the buttons on his shirt he watched as she pulled her boots off one by one. The socks came off as well. She rolled them into a ball and threw them into a nylon bag in her backpack (he would never do that, too… girly). She must have already set out the clean pair when she changed before because there it was, a ball of socks, in her hands. She looked at it for a moment and he knew she was trying to decide whether to put them on now or keep them in the boots. He threw his shirt on the vest and pulled his tee-shirt off. With another yawn he dumped the tee-shirt in his own backpack and began rummaging in it to locate fresh socks and tee-shirt.

As he searched his backpack, the sinking feeling that he may have forgotten them back on base starting to form in his mind, he started wondering about underwear. He needed to change into clean boxers. She would need to change into clean underwear too but when she was in there on her own long enough to do so. And changing in the bushes where she decided was the women's toilets wasn't really smart for off-world, god knows what's out there. So when did she change? And there was no doubt it in his mind that she did. He shrugged and released a breath he didn't know he was holding when he found clean socks.

He put his pack down and started pulling his boots off. She was just pulling a new tank top on as he managed to pull his feet free of the boots. That's how he knew about the sports-bra. She told him once a sports bra is like a swim suit, sometimes it covered more than a swim suit, and she didn't mind taking her shirt off with them around when she had it on.

His socks came off and he balled them and dumped them in his pack. He wiggled his toes to stretch them a bit before pulling the new socks on. He noticed she had hers own as well. It made sense. If anything happened that they needed to be prepared for battle quickly it was easier to just stick your feet in your boots then have to pull the socks on as well.

He leaned against his knees and exhaled softly. She was busy with her backpack, doing the usual cream-on-face thing she always did. She would put some cream on her finger and tap it against her forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin, then work the cream into her skin. Then she would take out the chap-stick and apply it to her lips and put it in a different pocket in the backpack. She would then straighten her back and close her eyes, then roll her head on her neck from side to side to stretch the muscles, then the left shoulder and right shoulder. Then she would pull both shoulders back and count to ten. He half smiled as he watched her lie down and stretch her legs, all the way down to her toes, which was the final stage of her routine.

Finally, she turned on her side and pulled her knees up – the perfect position to jump up from if need be – and looked at him.

"We have another really long day tomorrow, don't we?"

He followed her lead and lay down, throwing one hand over his eyes. "Yeah."

"Hrmph."

"Yeah."

He turned on his side to face her.

"Good night, sir."

He watched as she closed her eyes and slowed her breathing. He liked her. She had spunk. She eased up on the whole overly respectful thing when she got to know him better. She answered him now, still respectful but sometimes it was borderline. If she could roll her eyes at him she would. She probably did, behind his back. She's a nerd but he could usually forget it. She's beautiful. She managed to be Air-Force strong, a good officer, but still feminine enough. Oh no, he could never forget she was a woman…

She got along well with Teal'c and the geek. Sometimes she and Daniel would get into one of those science discussions that would make Teal'c decide to take a walk around parameter. It drove him nuts and not only because it was geek-talk. He liked how she got engrossed in the conversation.

After two and a half years together the team worked together as well as expected. She became an important part of the team, 25 percent of the team, part of the whole and whenever they did anything she wasn't involved in, she was missed.

"See you in the morning, Carter."

The Tent

Sam stepped out of the tent and straightened her back, wincing when her neck popped. It was loud enough for the others to hear her and she smiled at them when they looked up at her.

She took a seat next to Daniel, extending her arms out to the fire in front of them.

"You okay?" her seat-mate asked.

She nodded.

Jack watched her. He understood her apprehension about going to sleep. She wasn't the type to face away from a problem. Not that he thought they had a problem.

It had been two months since the 'incident'. But it was the first time they were sharing a tent since then. It wasn't that they avoided sharing a tent; it just didn't work out because of all kinds of reasons.

But the routine remained the same as before – she went in to get ready and came out so he could go in. There were no night-watches this time around. They could sleep a whole night without interruptions. Babysitting scientists was nice sometimes. It meant that there were a bunch of marines working around the clock to secure the parameter. They were safe. And he suspected Daniel maneuvered her to share a tent with him because he had a problem with the tension between them, like a little kid not understanding why mommy and daddy aren't talking to each other.

He rose from his seat by the fire and went into the tent. He lowered himself onto all fours and opened the ropes holding his sleeping bag together and spread it out on the ground. Then he sat on top of it and pulled his backpack to him and pulled out fresh clothes. He changed and threw the dirty clothes into a nylon bag he brought with him. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. This was going to be… Weird. Straightening in the face of awkwardness, he pulled his toiletries (who woulda thunk he would have ever used that word? Or actual toiletries?) from his pack. He glanced briefly at his feet and wondered about putting his boots back on before he went out to relieve himself and wash his teeth but eventually decided to go barefoot. She'll have wet wipes for him to clean his feet. She started bringing them on missions when she realized she was dealing with three two-year-olds who got themselves dirty all the time.

When he left the camp, they were all seated by the fire. When he returned to the camp, they had all scampered away. He was about to open the tent flap and slide in like he would have before the 'incident', but he stopped short of entering.

"Carter? You decent?" It was as if their routine was off-course somehow.

"Yes, sir."

He climbed in and sat down on his sleeping bag. She was nearly finished with her nighttime routine. She was applying the chap-stick to her lips now, the clothes folded at a hand's reach, socks and boots by the leg-part of her sleeping bag.

There was one difference though. When in the past she would do this whole cream and stick thing while sitting cross-legged on the sleeping bag, looking and talking to him during it, she was staring at the tent flap, looking a million kilometers away. She didn't have her back to him but it was as if there was a distance between them that hadn't been there since they first formed SG1.

"Carter, you okay?" running a hand through his hair, he lay down on top of the sleeping bag.

"Fine, Colonel."

She put away the chap-stick, handed him the wet-wipes and lay down on the sleeping bag. She put one arm over her eyes and he knew that was that for the day. He sighed as he watched her fake sleep so that they didn't have to talk.

He liked her. A lot. She was growing and maturing and becoming a better officer and a better leader. Air-force wise, she was the best second in command he could ever ask for. The problem was that she is everything he could ask for in a woman, too. She is smart, and she has a good sense of humor, and she's beautiful, she has spunk, she's sassy, and she flirted with him, and she is so damn sexy.

Her breathing evened out and he knew she wasn't faking anymore.

They'd become a sort of a tiny family. So small that each of them served more than one role. They were fathers, brothers, uncles. She was a mom, she was a sister, and she was an aunt. She filled any role she was required to, either by the situation or by her own decision. She was too important for the team because of this to do anything about the fact that he was feeling attraction to his second. He couldn't even talk to her about it, much as he wanted to.

He raised himself up on one elbow and looked at her. She wore BDU trousers and a tank top. Her socks were rolled in her boots by her sleeping bag. Her hair was tousled around her pillow. He sighed. He wished he could someone fast forward time, or maybe rewind it, to sometime where this didn't weigh quite as heavily on both of them.

It was a good thing she'd gone to sleep, he decided. It was hard keeping things in the room when the room is a tiny little tent.

Alpha Site

He picked himself up from the chair and headed to the barracks without saying a word. The day could not end any faster. The damn alien – ugh! He smiled too much and he asked too many questions… And the worst of it all was that he was supposed to share a room with the damn kid for the next three nights.

He shut the room door behind him and dropped his lengthy form on the bed. Where was Daniel when you needed him? Ascended whatever or not.

He didn't even bother to look up from the bed when the door opened.

"Come to bombard me with more questions?"

"I thought you'd rather share a room with me than with him."

He sighed softly and let a half smile cross his lips. He lifted himself up on an elbow, "My hero."

She grinned at him as she dropped her backpack on the bed across from his. She then picked up Jonas's pack and dropped it outside the door for him. She closed the door behind her again.

"You need to be more patient with him, Sir."

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Isn't that what you're there for?"

She smiled at him as she unlaced her boots and pulled them off. "I'm not always there."

"Maybe you should be," he gave her a mild grin.

She rolled her eyes at him. "I think you should consider this – if you've managed five years of Daniel, you'll get used to Jonas too."

"Daniel wasn't that bad."

She smiled at him and unbuttoned her uniform shirt.

"If you tell anyone I said that I'll deny it." He pulled his tee-shirt over his head and threw it on her bed.

She started unbuttoning her BDU trousers but kept the last button closed so that it hung low on her hips. He stood up and turned his back to her, quickly unbuttoning his own trousers and pulling them off. He turned around and threw them at her too. They landed on top of his tee-shirt.

He straightened the boxers around his waist. "Do you want me to step out or will just shutting my eyes really tight be enough?"

She glanced at him, a hint of a smile on her lips. "No, that's fine, I'll be back in a few."

She picked up his clothes and her own, folded them quickly and put them in the locker they each had in the room they shared. She then picked up her toiletries and headed out the door.

He liked her. She's feisty and funny and still as beautiful as ever. And a great conversationalist. He could get into the deepest conversations with her over nothing. Like the good old argument that they could always pick up whenever they wanted about blue jell-o vs. red jell-o. She rolled her eyes at him, right to his face, every time he said something stupid. She knew him well enough to know when he was serious and when he wasn't. They'd been through plenty together to work out each other's quirks.

He picked up his own toiletries and followed her out the door.

When he came back into the room she was sitting on her bed, applying whichever facial cream she used these days (which smelled like vanilla). He sat on his own bed and watched her, running a hand over his face and through his hair.

"Think they'll have jell-o for breakfast?"

She didn't seem surprised about the question. "Maybe they'll have cake instead."

"Ohhh… Cake..." His eyes glazed over.

She chuckled as she put away the cream and the chap-stick. She rose from the bed and crossed the room quickly, opening his backpack and searching for something inside.

"Back pocket, on the bottom."

She pulled out a bottle of water, "thanks. Finished mine earlier."

He snorted.

"Or, you finished mine because you didn't feel like going all the way back to the barracks, all the way into you room to get your own."

"You would have an old man walk all the way there and all the way back? What if something happened to me on the way there? Or even worse, on the way back!"

She rolled her eyes at him but he also noted a hint of a smile.

He gave her an innocent grin.

She wore black boxer shorts and a black tank top. She wore the sports bra because they were off-world. Her boots were thrown somewhere around the room with his. At least there were no watches for the duration of their trip to the alpha site. He still didn't understand why officers shared sleeping quarters at the alpha site, but if he had to, there was no one else he would rather share with than her.

She settled back on the bed, this time drawing the blanket back and sliding under it. He followed suit, curling into his covers. He slid one hand out to tap the light fixture.

She lay on her side, facing him, eyes wide open. "Sir..."

"Yeah."

"Do you think he's okay?"

"Space Monkey? No doubt about it. Probably preaching to some great ascended being about some really old glyph."

She chuckled. "I hope so."

"He did what he thought was right for him, Carter," he said from his bed, staring up at the ceiling. "It was either some sort of life as a big white light or death."

"I know."

"I bet you," he said after two minutes of silence, "that he's here with us watching us and shaking his head at us all the time."

She laughed out loud. "I didn't know Daniel is a voyeur."

"Yeah, well…."

"Good night sir."

"See you in the morning, Sam."

He yawned and squeezed his eyes shut. Then, opening his eyes, he raised himself up on one elbow and looked at her. They'd come a long way since that awkward stage a couple of years ago, after the "incident". They managed to pull through and settled on an easy professional relationship and he could even call her a friend.

This would be a good mission.

The Last Time

"Good night boys!" She got up with a flare and with a bright smile she waved goodnight.

"Wait, Carter, it's the last time! You can't go so fast!" He called after her.

She turned to face them, still seated by the fire. "Somehow, I doubt it's the last time."

"Aww Sam, don't go!" Daniel called when she started walking away again.

"Sorry boys, I've been through your all-nighters, and I'm not 25 anymore. Anyway, you're all going to crash in half an hour anyway." With another cheeky grin she disappeared in her tent.

They stared after her for several long minutes.

"The thing is," Jack said, "she's right." He was already yawning.

Daniel smiled, rubbing blurry eyes.

Teal'c was already rising to follow Carter's steps.

Jack was still sitting by the fire when Daniel bid him goodnight.

Ten long minutes passed before he heard Teal'c come back, ready for his watch. He returned to sit by the fire quietly, not saying a word.

"Sir?" Carter's voice came from their shared tent, "You can come in now!"

Jack looked at Teal'c. After long minutes of silence, he snickered and stood up. "Well, look at the time!" and he headed into the tent.

He heard Tealc's "Sleep well, O'Neill" floating from behind him.

She was in BDU bottoms, sports bra, and the usual black tank top. His mind flashed back to the first time they shared a tent on a mission, nearly eight years earlier.

"I will miss all these face things you put on every night," she was just dabbing facial cream onto her face.

"If that's all you're going to miss, General, you're all set."

He held up a finger, "not until after this mission, Major."

She grinned at him as she applied her chap-stick.

There were some differences than that first time they shared a tent. Like the fragrance of her cream changed. And the color of her chap-stick changed from pink to white. And she started using eye drops about three years ago. Her perfume changed to a softer, not as sweet a fragrance (which he liked. A lot.) And he knew her better than he knew himself sometimes.

With an exhausted sigh he pulled his shirt down his shoulders. He ran a hand through his hair and proceeded to undo the laces on his boots. He sat down on the sleeping bag on the right side of the tent, same as he slept for the past eight years. He pulled his backpack to him and pulled out a nylon bag and dumped his dirty socks and shirt in it. Sara'd have been proud of him for that. She tried to teach him to keep his dirty laundry away from the rest of the things in his backpack for years. Carter got him to do it. He checked that the P90 was near him and lay down.

"Sir, can I ask you a question?"

He turned his head to look at her, yawning. She hasn't asked for permission to talk to him since… Well, sometime in the beginning of their friendship, six, seven years ago.

"Do you want a desk job?"

He hadn't expected that, but the answer was simple enough. "No."

"So why did you decide to take the job?"

She was sitting across for him, legs crossed in front of her. She was looking at him with a look of pure concentration.

He liked her. She was didn't circle around the subject, she was straight-forward. She asked what she wanted to know. It took her time to get used to the fact that she can ask him whatever she wanted, but once she got it, once that fear that she was crossing some invisible lines she shouldn't cross disappeared, she talked freely. She called his bluffs when needed. She played along with them when the time called for it. She techno-babbled at him to annoy him sometimes, and kept it down when he needed her to. And she could read him like an open book most of the time.

Over the years, more so after the "incident", he realized that he didn't just like her. He loved her. He liked her character, he liked her person. He loved all of it together. If anyone ever heard him say this, or even think this, he would have to kill them. He did not do emotional. The thing was that the feelings may have been mutual before, but she's moved on; she was dating the cop now. He's been moved to the friend zone.

"I'm old, Carter."

She snorted, "Didn't seem to stop you so far."

"I've been a colonel too long."

She raised an eyebrow at him this time. "You never cared what others think, either."

"I needed a change."

"Sir, you always said this is the best job in the world."

"I've been doing this for nine years, Carter."

"The year off between the first Abydos mission and the second one doesn't count," she said softly. "We have been doing it for eight years."

"It's a long time, Sam," he said softly.

She met his eyes. "Jack, are you leaving SG1 because of me?"

Somehow the use of her name didn't surprise him. She didn't do it often, only when things got really personal. He held her gaze. "If I left because of you I would have left the SGC completely. I wouldn't be here. Taking over Hammond's position just makes more sense that bringing someone else in."

It was a rare moment of honesty between them, he knew. And now it had to be over, before they went too far.

"Anyway, Carter, I'm too old to run around trees anymore. They say that when you turn 50 you're not a kid anymore."

She chuckled and he knew she understood the change of subject was needed.

"Have you given any thought to who you're going to select to replace me?"

Carter shook her head and with a shrug lay down on her own sleeping bag. "No, still too upset about you leaving me to fend for myself, Sir."

He was lying back down, but he grinned anyway. "See you in the morning, Carter."

"Good night, Sir."

He closed his eyes.

Every once in a while they would have a private moment where things between them would surface. Over the years they both learned to make the most out of those moments. This one, tonight, made him realize he wasn't completely cast into the friend-zone.

That last one was what kept him going during the year he was in charge of the SGC. When she showed him the ring the cop had gotten her and asked him about him, he told her he wouldn't be there, referring to that conversation on the last mission. He knew she understood the reference.

And now the cop was gone. And he really wasn't going to be there what with going to DC the following week and all. He wanted to make a move, wanted to tell her he was more than happy that she dumped that oaf of a cop. But he wasn't sure how to do it. How not to offend her three and a half seconds after her father passed away. He said he would be there for her always. He was planning on it.

He was about to close the door softly and head over to couch in the cabin living room when he heard her move. He glanced into the room once more, to find her looking at him through sleep-blurred eyes.

"Jack? Aren't you coming to bed?"

His lips curved in a smile and he closed the door. Behind him. He tiptoed to the bed. This was the Earth-bound Sam. No BDUs, no P90 near her head. No backpacks with nylon bags for dirty clothes. No facial creams or chap sticks. No stupid sports bra. This was Sam in her tank top, which wasn't black. This one was blue. She wore boxer shorts with planets on them because she was a geek (and it may have been a gift he got her years ago). She was laying on her side, facing the wall, completely at ease, not a bone in her prepared to jump up and fight. He'd only seen her like that a handful of times.

He lifted the soft blanket and slid into the bed next to her, aligning himself with her, his chest to her back, the way he wanted to do oh so many times in oh so many missions. She snuggled into his chest and he heard a soft content sigh escape her lips. He breathed in softly, smelling the soft fragrance of her hair.

"See ya in the morning, Sam."