Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are not my property. No copyright infringement is intended.
It seemed like any other briefing. General Hammond sat at the head of the table, Teal'c across from her and the Colonel beside her. Daniel stood, talking a mile a minute, gesticulating with his hands. The more he talked, the more excited and animated he became as he briefed them on the planet they were scheduled to visit next. And she, Samantha Carter, usually so serious and attentive during their briefings, had a case of the giggles.
A few hours ago at home, she had awakened, yawned and stretched. A smile came to her face as she breathed deeply. She slowly turned over, looked at the clock and realized she would be late for the team's early morning briefing if she didn't hurry. She quickly threw back the covers, dumping poor Schrodinger on the floor. He screeched loudly and what had she done? She giggled. She apologized but her cat had stared at her as if he hated her. Any other time, she would have picked him up and petted him until he purred, but not today.
For some reason, she was feeling carefree and finding everything funny. Maybe it was PMS, but PMS usually made her cranky, moody or sad . . . not giggly.
On her drive to the Mountain she stopped for a red light. Next to her was a man about her age, driving a convertible. He happened to glance at her about the same time she looked at him. She didn't know what had come over her, but just as the light turned green, she smiled and winked at him, leaving the man staring at her and the person behind him blowing his horn. She giggled as she sped away.
When she arrived at the base she parked beside the Colonel. A mischievous grin came to her face as she reached into the back seat, picked up a notebook and tore out a piece of paper. She got a pen from her purse and, so the Colonel wouldn't recognize her handwriting, printed in big block letters "We think you're hot!" She signed it "Walter and Siler." She got out of her car, looked around to be sure no one was watching and stuck the note under the windshield wiper of Jack's truck. She giggled, wishing she could see the Colonel's reaction when he read it.
She walked to the checkpoint to see that Lieutenant Fleming was on duty. Janet had tended to the young Lieutenant a few weeks ago when he had come to the infirmary after injuring his arm. He had asked Janet several questions about her. Janet had come to her lab to inform her that the young man had a huge crush on her.
"Good morning, Lieutenant" Sam greeted him with a smile.
The young Lieutenant quickly looked up from his desk and seeing that it was Sam, immediately blushed.
"Oh, uh, good morning, Major Carter" he stammered.
Sam tried not to giggle and quickly signed her name. "Have a nice day, Lieutenant."
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am. Uh, you too, ma'am. Have a nice day, ma'am." He dropped his head and stared at the sign-in log, trying not to embarrass himself any further.
As Sam got into the elevator she burst into giggles. The elevator went down a few floors and stopped. The doors opened and there stood Daniel and the Colonel and they stepped in just as she was trying to compose herself. They both stared at her and another giggle escaped.
"What's so funny?" Daniel asked.
She looked at the Colonel and he grinned at her.
"Something amusing, Major, or are you just happy to be here to play with your doohickeys?"
Giggling again, she shook her head and started to blush. The elevator stopped, the doors opened and she hurried off.
"Well, that was . . . weird" she heard Daniel say as the doors closed.
She had changed into her BDU's and hurried to the briefing room, arriving right on time.
She sat down beside the Colonel and gave him a big smile.
"What's up with you today?" he asked.
Before she could say anything, the General came out of his office and started the briefing.
So here she now sat, really trying to pay attention to Daniel but having little success.
She pushed herself back a little from the table and crossed her legs. She laid her notepad in her lap, picked up her pen and started to doodle. She wrote "Sam" and under it she drew a heart. Underneath that she wrote "Jack." Realizing what she had done, she quickly but quietly tore out the sheet of paper. She folded it and stuck it in the back of her notepad.
From the corner of his eye, Jack had watched her hide the piece of paper.
She put down her pen and sighed, feeling very bored.
She looked over at Teal'c. He was always so serious and she wondered what he would do if she suddenly stood up, went around to his side of the table and tickled his ribs. She could just imagine the big man laughing as he tried to bat her hands away.
She put her hand to her mouth to cover the giggle that was about to escape. She cleared her throat and the Colonel looked at her and frowned.
His expression was so cute she grasped the arms of her chair tightly, trying so hard not to giggle.
Taking a deep breath, she set up straighter in her chair and tried to focus on Daniel, but her mind just wasn't where it was supposed to be.
She stared at General Hammond and glanced at Teal'c. 'I wonder what it's like to be bald' she thought to herself. She pictured Daniel, the Colonel and herself with no hair and all five of them comparing heads to see whose was the shiniest. She couldn't hold in the giggle any longer and out it came.
Daniel stopped and the four men looked at her.
"Major, is something wrong?" the General asked.
He looked so serious that she had to bite her lip to keep from giggling.
"No sir" she managed to say with a straight face.
Jack leaned back in his chair and stared at her.
"Really. I'm fine, sir. I didn't mean to interrupt."
"Very well. Continue, Dr. Jackson."
Daniel frowned, then went on with what he was saying.
She knew this was not her normal behavior. Maybe she was infected with a goa'uld. Maybe she needed a vacation. Maybe she needed more sleep. Maybe she needed to have sex. Maybe she needed to have sex with the handsome man sitting beside her. She imagined Jack as he slowly seduced her on the briefing room table.
"Oooh mmy" Sam said dreamily, not realizing she had said it out loud.
The men stared at her again.
She could feel her face turning red as she glanced at Jack. He raised his eyebrow but she could see that he was trying not to smile.
General Hammond looked at Daniel. "Are we finished here, Dr. Jackson?"
"Uh, yes, I'm finished." Daniel took a seat but kept his eyes on Sam.
The General picked up his briefing report. "You're all dismissed but I'd like to see you in my office, Major."
General Hammond stood as did she and Jack. The General went to his office and closed the door.
"Somebody's in trouble" Jack teased her.
Her teammates watched as she reluctantly headed toward the General's office, leaving her pen and notepad on the table.
Daniel and Teal'c left the room to go to the commissary. Jack told them he would wait for Carter and they would join them when she was finished with Hammond.
Jack sat back down and slowly put his hand on Sam's notepad and picked it up. He glanced at Hammond's office to be sure he wasn't going to get caught as he flipped to the back and pulled out the piece of paper. A big grin came to his face as he looked at what she had written. He stared at it a few moments, then put it back and slid the notepad back to where Sam had left it. He walked out into the corridor to wait for her.
Sam sat in General Hammond's office, waiting for him to finish a phone call. The General finally hung up the phone and clasped his hands on top of his desk. "Is there something wrong, Sam? Are you okay?" he asked in that concerned fatherly manner he sometimes did when they were alone.
"I apologize for my behavior, sir, I don't know what's wrong with me. I just can't concentrate today. I seem to have a case of the giggles."
The General chuckled. "Yes, well, I'd rather see you like this than upset about something."
Sam smiled. "Yes, sir. I'll be okay, sir."
"Maybe you need a short vacation since SG-1 has been working so hard these past few months. You should take some time off and go visit your Dad. I'm sure he'd love to see you."
Sam nodded her head. "That might be a good idea. I'll think about it, sir."
The General smiled. "You're dismissed, Major."
Sam stood. "Thank you, sir."
She opened the door and closed it behind her as she breathed a sigh of relief that he had not reprimanded her.
She went back to the table and picked up her pen and notepad. She started down the corridor, kept her head down and talked out loud to herself. "I think I need to go home, get up again and start this day over."
"Oh I don't know, Carter, it's good to see you not being so serious for once."
Her head snapped up to see Jack leaning against the wall, smiling at her, making her blush once again.
She clutched the pen in her hand and the notepad to her chest as she looked at him shyly. "I'm sorry I'm not quite myself today, sir."
"Nobody's perfect on the job all the time, Sam" he said gently. "Not even geniuses like you."
A smile came to her face. "Yes, sir."
They looked into each other's eyes for a few moments until Jack realized they were staring so he glanced away. "I told Daniel and Teal'c that we'd join them for breakfast."
"Sounds good, sir."
They walked silently side by side until Jack stopped so she stopped too. He gently tapped her notepad as he leaned over and whispered in her ear "and Jack loves Sam."
Sam stared at Jack as he grinned at her, then continued walking. A smile spread across her face as she realized why she was feeling so giddy. She was hopelessly and completely in love with Jack O'Neill. So what could she do about it? Nothing for now . . . except giggle with happiness.
The End