#1 - Have a Little Faith
"No, sir."
"What do you mean, 'no, sir'?"
"I mean exactly what I said."
"Aww, c'mon, Carter."
"That was a pretty emphatic 'no, sir', wouldn't you say, sir?"
"But… it's a party!"
"And yet there's not enough liquor in the place."
"It could practically be our song!"
"Our song?!"
"Yeah. SG-1 should have a song. I mean, we should probably have a theme song. But until the brass gets behind that idea I think we're stuck with this."
"Ah."
"So. Whaddaya say?"
"No, sir."
"I shall do it, O'Neill."
"Now that's what I call taking one for the team, sir."
#2 - Busted
"It's…well…it's…"
"Spit it out, Carter."
"Well, sir, it's…busted."
"Busted?"
"Yes, sir."
"Is that the scientific term, Major?"
"Um…well…"
"Geez, Jack, it's not like she broke it."
"Your point, Daniel?"
"You're being an ass."
"Carter?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Am I being an ass?"
"Oh, like she'd actually –"
"Yes, sir.""What?!" Daniel spluttered.
"Excuse me?" Jack's eyebrows climbed towards his hairline.
"Busted is the scientific term, sir."
Daniel couldn't help but chuckle.
Jack just sighed. "Okay, break it down for me, Carter."
"The DHD is usually one big…piece. Now it's several. It's busted, sir."
Daniel outright guffawed.
"Right. It's busted."
"Yes, sir."
#3 - To Oz
"This isn't how it was supposed to be."
"I know."
"You don't have to sound so conciliatory. Not when we're talking through the bottom of a pint glass."
"What do you want me to say, Jack?"
"I want you to call me sir, for starters."
"It doesn't exactly apply anymore, does it?"
"Damn, how did we get here?"
"Metaphorically, the restaurant, or half-drunk?"
"You choose."
"You know what? Sometimes bad things happen."
"Sometimes you just catch a glimpse of the man behind the curtain?"
She shrugs. "There is an upshot here."
He raises his glass, half grins. "Then, to Oz!"
#4 - It's Complicated
"It's complicated," he said to the woman shining a glass behind the bar.
"Tell me one I haven't heard before." She cocked a hip out to the side and pierced him with a look.
"Okay. She's my second in command. She's brilliant. She's beautiful. She's completely untouchable and only partly because the second-in-command thing."
The bartender looked over his shoulder and he looked up into the mirror. Sam stood behind him.
"So what are the other reasons?"
He dropped his gaze and nodded with defeat. Yep. He could have predicted her appearance what with the day he'd had. "Drink, Major?"
#5 - Seeking Solace
She cupped her hand over the cool marble. It was a wicked black with swirls of midnight blue and pinpricks of white. It suited him, she thought.
She tucked a strand of long grey hair behind her ear; she was still uncomfortable with being old. More so even now that she wasn't the youngest of a pair.
And when you're old, well, you're supposed to go suddenly or after a long struggle. You're certainly not supposed to go in battle. But anyway, it's what he would have wanted.
She leaned into Daniel who stood strong next to her. Thank goodness.
#6 - A Moment In Time
She stared into his eyes. Let her eyes travel the planes of his face. She reached as if to touch him and let her fingers settle as near to his lips as she could. The ice was first cold, and then it burned.
But she burned from within, too, and the ice turned to slick water beneath her fingertips. She slipped them down the ice until they were hand to hand.
She couldn't leave him there. She didn't want to.
She didn't have a choice.
She turned away from him, prepared to flee – the moment, her feelings, both.
Not goodbye.
#7 - Triumph
She twisted with a grunt. Turned with a sigh. Whacked something metallic and heavy against the inside of the device with a curse. She flipped over and suddenly her six was waving in the air.
"Uh, Major?"
"Sonuva—"
"Carter."
"This stupid mother—"
"Carter!"
She pulled back and banged her head on the edge of the DHD. "Ouch! Dammit! What?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"Sir." She had the courtesy to blush prettily.
He waved her off. "Carry on."
She nudged a crystal with her toe and the device began to hum. A satisfied grin bloomed across her face. "Success!"
#8 - Irregular Orbit
He watched with half amusement and half trepidation as she walked uneven circuits around the small camp they'd set up. Sometimes a perfect circle, sometimes a wobbly ellipse, he knew it was evidence of inner turmoil.
"Hey Carter, coffee?"
"No, thank you."
And still she walked. The look on her face taking her farther from him than her orbit around the campfire.
Several laps and many minutes later, "Tea?"
"No, thank you."
Finally, she ran smack dab into his chest – proof that while she was looking straight ahead she wasn't seeing a thing. "Carter, it's okay. You can stop. C'mere."
#9 - Never Again
They sat side by side on the dock, bobbers floating along the surface of his pond. They made small talk about the weather, about lunch, about the SGC, but never about anything that really mattered.
She was bungling it all up. She could feel it. This was supposed to be about something more than fishing though neither had yet worked up the guts to say so.
Then Jack cleared his throat. She tensed, waiting for him to speak. But he settled back with a sigh.
He shifted. He spoke. "Hey. Sam. About that whole 'other guy' thing. Never again, okay?"
#10 - Obsession
"A clutch."
"Yep."
"And a manifold."
"Okay."
"A rebuilt crankshaft."
"Uh-huh."
"Jack. Are you listening?"
"Yep."
"Most likely a head gasket. And new pistons."
"Sure."
"Jack."
"Yep."
"I'm pretty sure I'll need a new merry widow. Maybe some lace panties."
"Okay."
"Jack!"
He looked up from the report in his hands. "What?"
"What did I just say?"
"We were talking about parts for your motorcycle."
"And…" she led.
He rolled the conversation back through and his eyes grew big and round. "A merry widow?"
"Yeah." She rolled her eyes. "It's like you're obsessed."
"Sam, it's a planet with yellow people!"