Chapter 3

It had been over a week since he'd shown up in her kitchen, and Jack O'Neill was still following Sam around everywhere she went. Fairly quickly she'd realized there was nothing she could do about it, so she had stopped protesting his constant presence and focused on simply ignoring him instead. To her eternal consternation, the man simply would not take a hint. The ruder she was, the harder he worked on trying to charm her, and although she was loath to admit it, she was starting to enjoy the attention, just a little. Still, she knew she couldn't trust him; Jonas had hired him, and she was certain he was sending him regular reports on her activities. And so she continued to do her best to avoid him.

Other than a couple of trips to the University, she had mostly kept to the house, where it was easier to escape. The only exception was her morning run - he insisted on trailing after her as she made the six mile loop from the house to the ocean and back again. At first it was easy to outpace him, but after a few days she noticed with no small degree of alarm that he was showing more stamina and was therefore able to keep up with her for longer periods of time. He took advantage of that fact, trying to engage her in conversation as they ran. Thus far she had yet to respond, but that didn't seem to deter him in the least. She begrudgingly had to admit she was impressed by his perseverance.

Since he dogged her steps for nine days straight, she was surprised when he didn't join her at the trailhead that morning, as was his habit. For the first three miles of her run, she wondered where he could be and if something might have happened to him. But as she approached the coast, she finally saw him standing on the small cliff overlooking the sea - the same one on which he'd fallen that first day. She stopped to catch her breath and admire the view.

She'd thought that Jack O'Neill was handsome from the very beginning, but seeing him now standing on the edge of the ocean in his fitted running gear, he nearly took her breath away. The silver in his hair was the only thing that hinted at his age, and even that seemed only to accentuate his other attributes. He was lean and muscular and tan, with long limbs and a chiseled jaw that, but for his dark hair and eyes, could have made him easily mistakable for a Gold. He was undoubtedly an extremely attractive man.

As if he could read her mind, he turned and gave her a smirk, obviously pleased with himself. It was only then that she realized he had run there ahead of her, most likely with the very intention of tricking her into missing him and making her concerned about his whereabouts. She swore under her breath.

"You're nothing if not predictable," he said. "For security reasons, though, you should probably work on changing up your routine."

"I'll keep that in mind," she replied acerbically, echoing the words he had said to her during their earlier encounter there. He grinned even more broadly, and once again it occurred to her too late that he had finally received the response that he'd been working so hard to elicit over the past several days. Frustrated with her unthinking reaction to him, she turned with a huff and immediately began running back toward the manor. Even though he didn't follow, she just knew he was still smirking at her from behind.

oOoOoOo

Later that evening, after taking a long bath, Sam was relaxing by the fireplace in her bedroom when she heard a knock at her door. Anticipating Mrs. McMannis and dinner, she quickly got up and opened the door wide, only to find Jack standing in the hallway holding a tray. Silently, she cursed his growing familiarity with the Browns and made a mental note to talk to them about getting too close to him.

"Your dinner, ma'am," he said, extending the tray in her direction as his eyes began drifting down toward her chest. It only took a second for her to realize that her robe was gaping and less time than that to pull it closed. Caught in the act, he quickly brought his gaze back up to her face, almost tipping the tray over in the process. "Sorry about that," he mumbled. Although his voice was contrite, his eyes were still smiling.

Sam wasn't sure whether he was apologizing for almost spilling her dinner or for ogling her cleavage. In the end, she decided it didn't matter because he obviously wasn't sincere either way. Pulling it from him with a little more force than necessary, she took the tray and promptly closed the door in his face.

"I thought we were making progress!" he yelled through the door.

"You thought wrong," she replied.

After several long seconds, she heard him walk away muttering something about hoping she had a nice dinner, and she released the breath she hadn't known she was holding. The interaction had left her flustered. Once again, he'd managed to get her to acknowledge him. But that wasn't what had her really worried.

With slightly trembling hands, she set the tray down on the table and tried very hard not to think about how much she liked the way he'd looked at her.

oOoOoOo

Several days later, she walked out of the Humanities building with Daniel to find Jack sitting on the top step. She'd known for some time that he regularly followed her to the University, but it was the first time he'd actually waited for her outside the entrance to the building.

"Ready?" he asked her as he stood, with another one of his maddening smirks.

She ignored him, walking right by without even looking his direction, while he took up his usual position trailing behind her. Daniel glanced back at Jack at least twice before finally tugging on her arm. "Um, Sam, who's that?" he asked, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.

She stopped abruptly and let out an exasperated sigh. "That," she replied pointedly as Jack approached, "is a third wheel."

"Hey, that's not very nice," he said to her with mock indignation before quickly extending a hand to Daniel, who, to Sam's utter dismay, took it. "Jack O'Neill."

"Dr. Daniel Jackson," he replied automatically as they shook. In the silence that followed, Daniel looked back and forth several times between Sam, who was glaring, and Jack, who was smirking, before finally landing on Jack. "I'm sorry, but why are you here?"

But it was Sam who answered, though her narrowed eyes never left Jack's. "He's my bodyguard, Daniel. I told you about him, remember? Jonas hired him."

"Ah," Daniel replied but still managed to look confused. "Well, I have to get to my class. Thanks again for your help, Sam."

She smiled at him. "Any time, Daniel."

He kissed her on the cheek and began to walk away. "Oh! Nice to meet you!" he called over his shoulder to Jack, who raised a hand in return.

Sam scowled and continued to walk briskly toward the University gates, but Jack easily matched her pace with his long stride. They were almost to the street when he spoke. "Look, I was wondering if I could talk to you."

His serious tone was such a change from his normal flippant demeanor that she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and was surprised to find that he looked somewhat somber. "It's about Dr. Jackson," he added.

That brought her up short. She stopped and looked at him suspiciously. "What about him?"

She watched, fascinated, as he began to fidget. Whatever he wanted to talk about clearly made him uncomfortable. "I know it's none of my business," he began, "but I really think you should be more...discreet."

"Discreet," she repeated, trying to process what he was telling her. Could he know about Daniel's research? Suddenly, his meaning dawned on her. "You think we're sleeping together." Then she remembered his mission, and her anger flared. "Is that what you're telling Jonas?"

He looked taken aback. "Why would I tell your husband?"

But she was really pissed now. "Isn't that what he's hired you for? To spy on me while he's gone?"

"What? No! I'm here to protect you. That's it." He seemed so earnest she almost believed him, but the more she thought about his accusation, the more furious she became.

"You think I would sleep with another man? With a Yellow?" She regretted the words as soon as they'd left her mouth. Despite the fact that she was a Gold, she'd never really subscribed to the whole genetic superiority thing. And honestly, she'd probably rather sleep with Daniel than Jonas; it was just that she'd never really thought of him in that way.

As for Jack, he looked like she'd just slapped him in the face. But the nature of their conversation had made her so mad, she wasn't about to back down now, and so she doubled down. "What do you think - he just bends me over his desk and has his way with me in the middle of his office?"

She'd pushed his buttons; that was certain. He was more than a little angry now, too. "I don't know what you do, and frankly I don't care," he spat. "But it looks for all the world to me like you two have something going on, and you and I both know what will happen if that's true."

People were staring at them now, so she lowered her voice slightly, though her tone was every bit as caustic as before. "Even if Daniel and I were allowed have a relationship, it's not like that. We're colleagues. That's it. We share a passion for science. But then that's something I wouldn't expect you to understand. So you can go tell Jonas whatever you want."

Without waiting for a response, she stormed through the gate and immediately started looking for a transport. He called after her, but she ignored him and quickened her pace. She'd only made it half a block down the street when she heard a loud screeching noise behind her. Turning her head, she spotted a motorblade rounding the corner at high speed, and her only thought was how reckless the driver was.

She'd barely heard Jack yell, "Look out!" when she found herself sprawled on the ground, his body pressing hers into the sidewalk. Furious, she was about to protest when she heard an explosion just above her head. Pieces of steel and glass rained down around her, but it was only when she felt his breath hot on her ear that she registered danger. "Stay down," he whispered urgently. "He's coming back." At the same time, she heard the screeching sound again, and her anger turned to fear.

Instantly, she became acutely aware of her surroundings. All around her, panicking people screamed as they tried to run for cover. An incessant ringing in her ears muffled the sound, and smoke and dust filled her nostrils as pieces of paper and plaster floated through the air. One moment, she was cursing the heavy weight of Jack's body on hers, the next she wanted him back to shield her from the chaos.

Despite Jack's order to stay down, the second he rolled off of her she sat up, just in time to see a hooded man dressed entirely in black, riding a motorblade and pointing a disrupter in her direction. Completely exposed now, she was certain she was going to die. As the man in black gunned the motorblade, Jack yelled something at her and stepped into the path of the vehicle, pulling a disrupter of his own from a holster at his waist. The motorblade lurched forward, and Sam raised her hands to cover her head and shut her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. She winced as several shots were fired, and then there was more screeching, more glass falling from above, and the undeniable sound of steel colliding with concrete before everything suddenly got very, very quiet.

Sam had no idea how much time had passed before she finally became aware that someone was touching her, shaking her gently. Slowly, she removed her hands from her face and opened her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Jack was down on one knee, gripping her shoulders and looking her up and down, trying to determine if she'd been injured.

She blinked at him with owlish eyes. He looked so concerned, she thought. Like he was really worried about her. She couldn't remember the last time someone looked at her that way. It made her want to laugh and cry all at the same time, but all she could manage to do was nod mutely at him instead.

Somewhere in the distance she heard sirens.

TBC...