A/N: Bit of fluff for Shipsgiving 2010. Can be set anywhere really, but in my mind it's post S8 in the 'getting to know you' phase. This is what happens when you mix a sunny day, Queens of the Stone Age and a repeat of Robot Wars on TV :)
One of the things Jack O'Neill loved about Samantha Carter was her constant ability to surprise him.
In fact if he didn't know any better, he would swear that he was standing in the entrance to someone else's garage right now; machine parts or no machine parts strewn about the place.
The song blaring out of the portable stereo was not one he recognised, but then he hadn't really taken much notice of any music released in the past twenty years or so. The fact that it was loud, heavy, full of bass and thrashing guitars, booming drums and a melodic male voice was all he needed to know. Heavy rock? Metal? Hadn't they coined a new phrase now which represented a new wave of this type of music? Okay, so he did listen to the radio... he couldn't help it if some things seeped subconsciously into his brain when he wasn't paying much attention.
Anyway, there he was, leaning against the frame to Carter's garage... leaning because, well, he was somewhat surprised by the scene before him and he needed time to stop and take it all in.
The sun shone in through the open garage door, illuminating the workbench that she was currently hunched over. The golden strands of her hair glittered in the light... glittered? Had he actually thought that? Well... yes he surmised, because right now, it was shining all over the place, bouncing off the rays of sun like it was some sort of golden halo. And damned if it wasn't captivating.
She was humming... humming... along to this noise and coined with the glowing hair and the fact that her arms were elbow deep in some machine with smudges of grease dotted around her face, well, how could he not be completely and utterly mesmerised right about now?
A loud horn blasted outside in the street, and unable to stop the automatic reaction, Jack turned to locate the source of the distraction. Of course Carter had to do the same, and when he turned back he was faced with that brilliant smile of hers. Head tilted up, hands still somewhat buried in whatever it was she was building, hair dangling down slightly beside her cheeks... and did he mention that smile? Because that was definitely something else he loved about her. It was certainly in his top ten, which if he was honest, rotated constantly because just when he thought he could list each and every thing he loved about her, she did something else which turned it all on its head.
"Hey," she said, her smile somewhat indulgent about the fact that she'd caught him standing there silently staring.
"Hey," he replied back, reluctantly pushing himself from the door frame and stepping inside the garage. "What are you listening to?"
Sam shrugged nonchalantly, even though Jack knew that if he probed further, she could probably reel off at least ten facts about the band and their music.
She reached for the stereo and turned it down a notch, standing up fully and taking a step back from the bench. Putting her tools down, she reached for a rag and wiped her hands, all the while knowing there were a pair of eyes watching her every move.
"Is that...?" Jack motioned to the machine on the bench with his head.
"What?" Her eyes darted from Jack to the machine and back again.
"What I think it is?" He finished, his hands now firmly stuffed into his pockets.
"That depends," She continued to wipe her hands, her eyes now fixed on his.
"On what?" His eyebrows rose slightly.
"On what you think it is..."
Jack could swear that was a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "A robot...?" His voice carried a hint of uncertainty in it, despite the smile on his face. He swayed backwards and forwards slightly before she responded.
"A robot?" That hint of a smile was back again, this time accompanied by a slight glint in her eyes. That was another thing in his top ten, he realised, the thought briefly distracting him from the conversation at hand.
"Not one of those useful robots," he added, his hand extracting itself out of its pocket and waving around in the air. "One of those other robots... you know, fighting ones... like in Battlebots..."
"You like Battlebots?" Sam asked, a hint of incredulity in her voice.
Jack merely shrugged. "Yeah... they used to have a few tournaments in that warehouse off the highway heading out to Denver..."
"You went to see Colorado's Critter Crunch?"
He shrugged again. "I...might have been a bit of a fan of the ol' triple C..."
"So was I..." Sam admitted.
Big grins suddenly emerged on both of their faces and they stood there for a moment, staring at each other.
"So," Jack cleared his throat, "What weapons have you got?" He moved closer to the bench, coming to a stop, just shy of touching her.
"Circular saws and spikes," she replied as Jack leaned over to take a good look at the machine.
"Self-righting mechanism?"
"Uh-hu," Sam nodded, "I even plan to have a complete shell to encase it... you know... to protect it from flames and that sort of thing..."
"Plan?" He shuffled closer.
"Well... it's not completely finished yet..." The rise of Jack's eyebrow spurred her to continue. "I actually designed it a few years ago based on the random parts of scrap metal I had lying around here, but I never got round to finishing it so..."
"So?"
"Well I found it when I was clearing up a few things, and thought... why not, you know?"
Jack nodded his head absently, his eyes glued to her face. "You need a hand?"
"Really...?" Her voice hitched slightly, a brief smile flittering across her face.
"Compared to you, I seem like a complete mechanical novice, but I'll have you know I do know how to fix a thing or two..." He reached out and swept his thumb across her cheek.
Sam held her breath, not daring to move.
"Smudge..." he said, pulling his thumb away and holding it up for her to see.
A tiny spec of grease sat upon his skin. And for some reason she just couldn't stop staring at it. Her eyes glanced from his thumb to his face. Eyes searching eyes as they stood mere inches from each other.
"Besides..." Jack continued. He inched closer, feeling the heat radiating from her body. "You need me..."
"Is that right...?" Her tongue darted out to wet her lips.
"It does seem to be missing something..." His breath fell across her cheeks.
"Such as?" She whispered.
"Full body spinner..."
"Uh-hu..."
"...Flipper..."
"Mmmm..."
"... Crusher..."
"Anything else?"
"Just this..."
And his lips claimed hers.