Set between season 8 and 9! A continuation from chapter one.
General Jack O'Neill stood at the entrance of her lab watching her work.
Sam was sat on a stool at her lab bench with oversized goggles on her forehead. She was alternating between typing on her laptop and drawing gobbledegook on the whiteboard next to her. Alright, Jack knew it was important math, but it definitely looked like gibberish to him.
She had tried to explain it to him 5 days ago in her kitchen. She was working on some formula and theory to do with black holes, supernovas and subatomic particles. Those were the only words that Jack could understand as she talked a million miles a minute.
A smirk grew on his face as he fondly remembered how he distracted said Lt. Col from her monologue on theoretical astrophysics. Unfortunately, he didn't think it would be entirely appropriate to kiss his former second-in-command on the base, as if his life depended on it.
Technically, they weren't doing anything wrong as Sam's transfer had already been approved and so had his promotion to DC. They hadn't let the relationship get further than a few steamy kisses though.
After the whole Kerry incident in his back yard and then Jacob's death, they both agreed that they wanted to change the nature of their relationship to a more personal one. However, he wanted to give her time to grieve and after an awkward first date where she called him "sir" several times and a request to go for a walk ended up sounding like an order, they decided to take things a lot slower and go back to basics.
The care, love and affection they both had for each other was there, but they'd spent so long building walls and personas around each other. They agreed after that date, it was just going to take them a little while to get accustomed to their new relationship dynamic.
In fact, it only took 2 weeks before they were making out like horny teenagers on his roof. But it took every inch of his self-control not to let it get any further. Not until their new orders were confirmed. He respected her way too much to act like that. She, on the other hand did not care and was very forward in their make-out sessions. So hot. In fact, just the other day she reached out and touched…
At that thought, Jack straightened up and shifted his position. He was here for a specific reason and he didn't need memories of Sam's… skills… distracting him.
He knew for a fact that she hadn't left her lab in almost 9 hours. It would have been 32 hours but he ordered her home the day before and banned her from coming back to the base for a minimum of 8 hours.
He watched as her long elegant fingers danced over the keys. She reminded him of a pianist, just lost in the music. Her beautiful face lost in a trance of numbers and symbols. She often got like this, usually when she had some sort of brain wave and was trying to write a paper. Her muse had clearly struck and she was not to be distracted by anything, not even a make-out session with him (which she made clear yesterday).
Luckily, Jack knew just the thing to stop her from working. He raised his fist and knocked on the door jamb. To her credit, she stopped typing for a few moments and acknowledged his presence, "Sir."
"Hey, Carter. Whatcha doing?" He asked in a singsong tone.
"Working sir," came her short reply. She didn't sound pissed at being distracted, but there was a hint of annoyance at having lost her place. So she definitely wasn't in a playful mood.
She returned her eyes to the screen in front her and then picked up the whiteboard pen. She drew a few more squiggles and numbers on the board before replacing the lid to the pen with a click. She swivelled back to face him with a questioning look on her face. He realised he hadn't said anything in the last 2 minutes.
He just stood there with his hands in his pocket and smiled awkwardly at her. When he still didn't say anything, she asked "Was there something you needed?" Pause. "Sir." She was good at that. She had perfected her subordinate insubordination. She flirted with the line on occasion and he knew he shouldn't think this but it kinda made him proud.
"Yeah, I noticed you've been here a while. Thought you might want to stretch your legs and grab a bite to eat."
Without missing a beat she replied, "I'm not hungry sir, but thanks." With that she turned back to her laptop and started clacking away at it. That was her way of saying he was dismissed. Damn, he knew it should annoy him but he did love how she politely stuck it to the man.
"When was the last time you ate, Carter?"
When she stopped to think about the answer, he knew it had been too long. Probably not at all today.
"Alright, come on, you need to eat! Food is fuel for your brain right?"
She gave him a soft smile and said, "Thank you sir, but really I am in the middle of this. It's really important." And then she went back to tapping.
So seduction hadn't worked yesterday and food didn't work today. Jack racked his brain thinking of something else…and then he hit gold.
"Well that's too bad, Carter. I signed the requisition form for jello earlier this week and we should be getting in a shipment today, so…."
He watched her stop completely and turn to face him fully for the first time since he entered her lab.
"Jello…sir?" There had sadly been a jello shortage recently. A combination of supplier issues and failed deliveries.
He clapped his hands together and rubbed them. "Why yes, we've got it all. There's some red jello, green jello, even some pink jello…" his voice trailed.
"Is…is there blue?" The look of hope in her eye was so endearing. And right then he knew he had her.
"Why yes colonel, I believe there is" he finished with a smirk.
"Well I guess the work could wait a few minutes…" And she started to tidy her papers and press save on her computer.
Jack wanted to start dancing at his victory and it took every inch of his training not to let the corner of his mouth even twitch.
"Excellent," he said in his Burns impression. He pointed his arm in the air and loudly stated "Off to the commissary we go!" He considered it a double victory as he managed to get a little giggle out of her too.
He let her walk past him and as they reached the door, he reached out and gently grabbed her arm. She turned to him and their eyes met. He took a step closer and he was most certainly invading her personal space. Their stance was definite intimate. He could smell her shampoo and it was so overwhelming. He let his warm eyes lose themselves in her bright ones. He saw a slight flush creeping up her neck as he dropped his gaze briefly to her lips before returning to her eyes. His hand was still holding her wrist and he could feel her pulse quickening.
He lowered his head forward, as close as he could without touching. Her response was to lift her head slightly in anticipation of the kiss.
"Carter," Jack whispered. "Your goggles."
"My goggles," she whispered back, unfocused. Then slowly she realised what he said. "Wait, what…?"
Jack straightened up and let go of her wrist. He stepped around her and continued to the door with the biggest shit eating grin on his face. "The googles on your head, Carter. You look like a bug."
Sam took the googles off and caught up with him at the elevator as he was pressing the button to go up. He was still chucking to himself and the look of annoyance on her face, the redness in her cheeks and the lines the googles had imprinted on her forehead made him smile even more. She really was adorable.
As they stepped into the empty cart, Sam folded her arms and looked at him from the corner of her eyes. "Your really are an ass, Jack O'Neill."
Jack huffed another laugh as he pressed the floor he wanted. The smirk didn't leave his face for several hours.