Sam jumped to action, her body reacting automatically to the task. The General made a few calls while she grabbed her ever-ready overnight bag and at his instruction added a raincoat, fleece and a second pair of shoes. She also packed up some of yesterday's leftover food and a thermos of coffee. Surprisingly, by the time she was done he'd tracked down a boat to hire. He seemed remarkably smug about that. Maybe smug was the wrong word. Bouncy. That was more accurate. He actually bounced on the balls of his feet when she walked past him out of the door.
She had to admit, as she swung her bag into the back of the truck - it was a little infectious. She could definitely feel that tug of anticipation. It was good to be feeling something again.
He grinned at her as he held open the door of the truck and ushered her in with a wide, sweeping gesture of his arm. She couldn't help the smile she gave him in return but as he pulled away from the road outside her house, she started to process the events of the last few minutes.
What the hell had just happened? Was she really about to spend the day with her CO on a boat? It was true that he'd been a steady presence for her these past few weeks and she had become used to him being around, but this wasn't exactly normal for them. Any time off base together was usually with Daniel and Teal'c. And if she was honest with herself, the four of them hadn't really spent any decent time together outside the mountain since she started dating Pete.
Pete. Her mouth creased in an involuntary grimace. What a mess that was. She sucked in a deep, purging breath and pulled her thoughts away from him. She'd spent long enough berating herself for that over the last few weeks, she wasn't going to add today to the list. No, today was about... She frowned. What was today about?
She glanced over at him and thought back to the conversation in the house. She hadn't even thought about her answer to his offer of getting out of there. She'd heard it coming out of her mouth before her brain realised she'd said it. She could admit though, the sense of relief it yielded was something she hadn't felt for a while.
The question was 'why'? Why did she feel so relieved at his offer? Did it mean he might have forgiven her for her spectacular non-reaction to the news of his promotion yesterday? Was she just grateful for a change of scenery? Or that is was good to have someone looking out for her? She sorted through her thoughts and reasons, batting away the one that kept surfacing, the one that couldn't be.
The one that was so simple and so obvious.
She would get to spend the day with him.
She changed her position in the passenger seat, physically moving herself away from that train of thought and shifting her perspective, and her position, from herself to him. He glanced over at her movement and caught her eye.
"Can't sit still huh?" he teased her.
She threw him a small smile in return and allowed herself to study him.
Why had he asked her out for the day? Was she right in her earlier thoughts that he wanted to spend time with friends before he left? Was today a 'goodbye'? The thought of that was too much to get a handle on right now.
She leaned her elbow on the arm of the door and rested her hand on her chin as she took in the view from her window. A few more blocks and they'd be at his place, she realised. And then off to the mountains. Who knew you could go sailing in the mountains? General O'Neill, apparently. The frown line in between her eyes deepened in concentration as she thought through when he might have had time to discover that.
And now he was going to share it with her. Just the two of them. In her stomach, some butterflies took flight and battered against the walls. She chewed the inside of her bottom lip and decided she was being ridiculous. He was with Kerry now anyway.
The tyres crunching into the gravel pulled her attention back as he swung the truck into his drive and killed the engine. He immediately pushed open his door, turning to her as he jumped down.
"Any last requests?" he asked with a barely concealed smile.
She smiled but shook her head at him.
He nodded and turned towards the house. "Back in five." He shot over his shoulder as he covered the ground to the door.
Well, whatever today was, she wasn't going to dwell. She mentally shook herself. If this was goodbye then she was sure as hell going to make it count.
True to his word, he reappeared not much later laden with food bags and coolers. She frowned as she wandered if she'd mentioned the food she had already packed. Maybe not, looking at the amount he was carrying. Definitely not by the way the truck creaked when he added it to boot. Ah well, they wouldn't starve at least. He thumped his hand on the side of the truck then went back into the house, coming back out with his own battered overnight bag and pulling the front door closed behind him. He added the bag to the back and she felt the truck dip as he climbed on the side to secure the lot with a tarp.
Finally he climbed in behind the wheel and turned to her as he flicked the key and fired the engine.
"Ready?" he asked, eyebrows raised and a slightly self conscious smile on his face.
Was she ready, she asked herself? Yes. Whatever the reason, she was ready. She smiled back and gave him a firm nod and he put his arm round her chair to reverse out of the drive.
And that was that. They were on their way to Lake Dillon, a mountain lake just over an hour North West of Colorado Springs.
They didn't speak much for the first few miles. The radio was on low, the inane chatter of the local breakfast show loud enough to fill the silence. She knew the route they'd be taking as she'd done it many times on her bike, although she had never made it to this particular lake before. It was quiet this morning, not many cars on the road.
She turned her head just enough to study him. He looked relaxed. Hands resting on the wheel as he drove, fingers curled lazily round the leather.
"You ok?" He must have noticed her watching him. The fact he'd left off the 'Carter' made it a much more intimate question. One friend asking another. She didn't feel the automatic need to reply as she might have at work.
His eyes were still on the road so he might have missed the smile and small nod as she realised that she was ok. Well, relative to half an hour ago anyway. The tone of her voice when she answered reflected the realisation of that.
"Yeah."
He glanced over at her, seemingly in surprise at the honesty in her voice.
Maybe this was a good time to talk about yesterday.
"Are you?" She asked him in return.
He kept his eyes on the road as gave his effusive answer. "Oh yeah, sure – what's not to like? A beautiful day, heading into the mountains for some fun..." he tailed off before adding,
"I'm good."
She smiled and nodded, then continued to study him for a moment. He'd either missed that she meant it in relation to the promotion or deliberately ignored it. She wanted to talk about it though. She needed to say something otherwise it would eat at her all day.
"I really am pleased for you, Sir."
He glanced sideways at her in question.
"About the promotion." She clarified.
"Ah." He didn't add any further comment.
"I know I wasn't exactly effusive yesterday." She continued. "But, really, I'm pleased for you."
He nodded.
The silence extended for a few moments before he replied.
"It wasn't exactly great timing. I didn't expect high fives and balloons."
He fiddled with the radio before adding, "I just didn't want you to find out...elsewhere."
She grimaced at the thought of that.
"I know. And I appreciate it. I was just...not myself yesterday." She glanced apologetically at him. "Not for a while it feels." Not for the first time today, she surprised herself with her admission and looked out of her window to hide it.
He took a few moments before he responded, quietly.
"It's been a tough few weeks. I think you're doing pretty well, considering."
She looked back at him, surprised. "Really?"
"Well. Sure." He continued, softly. "You've just lost your father."
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting out her reply on the exhale. "Yeah."
She didn't want to delve any deeper into that right now.
Another mile of silence ensued before she mentally shook herself and purposefully lightened the mood.
"So," she started, determinedly, "tell me about sailing. I know nothing."
He went with her tone and turned to her in mock shock.
"Samantha Carter did those words just come out of your mouth?"
She grinned at him, but tempered it with an accompanying eye roll. "Look, I may know how to interface an ancient weapon to a run of the mill Earth computer in order to prevent the destruction of life as we know it," she paused, eyebrows raised for effect, "but I don't know everything, Sir."
He raised his hand to stop her continuing. "Woah, woah, just stop there. Let me have this moment." He closed his eyes and took a deliberately deep breath.
She waited two seconds before opening her mouth to continue but he heard her and raised his hand again.
"Ack. Just another second..."
"Sir, feel free to revel but please open your eyes."
He held up one finger but his eyes stayed closed.
She started to feel the rise of panic - there was a sharp bend in the road ahead. She grabbed his arm to get his attention. "Sir, seriously, you're driving, open your eyes!"
That worked. He opened them in time to adjust for the bend and his instinctive reactions swung the truck in the right direction.
"Crazy man." She mumbled under her breath.
"Hmm?" He replied, mock-tilting his ear towards her as if to hear better.
"Nothing."
He grinned and she resisted the urge to punch him.
"So, sailing." He dialled back the humour. "Honestly, it's been a while," he glanced over then back at the road, "but it'll all come back once we get going." He turned the wheel to follow yet another bend in the road as they continued their climb into the meandering mountains. "I've got us a 26 footer so should be plenty of room. Big enough to be a challenge but small enough for two of us to manage. Plus there's a beer fridge. And..." he paused for dramatic effect, "...there's a coffee pot."
"Ah. Excellent." Dammit. She was channelling Mr Burns. "Sounds like you've covered all the essentials."
"Exactly."
He turned and grinned at her again. That was what, three, four times today? It was almost unnerving to see him smile so much. She turned to take in more of the view as they wound higher into the mountains.
She relaxed back into her seat and realised that the tension of previous weeks had eased off considerably. The bone weary tiredness she'd felt this morning had all but disappeared and she felt almost human again. It was amazing what a change of scenery could do. Ok, she admitted grudgingly, maybe the company helped too.
But the mountains stretching out either side of her really were spectacular.
"You won't get this view in Washington." She sighed, then winced as she realised how that might sound.
"No." He answered quietly.
"Sorry, Sir, I didn't mean to point that out. I was just..." just what? Not thinking before she spoke. That wasn't like her.
"Still, it is a beautiful city. Lots to see and do." She continued, brightly.
He grimaced, "I'm sure there is, but I doubt I'll get to see much other than my office and apartment and the road in between."
And Kerry. She couldn't help that little fact flashing into her head. Kerry was stationed in Washington so he'd get to see her. Probably in his office and his apartment. She swallowed, trying to be happy for him but coming up short.
"It'll be nice to be nearer Kerry, though." She forced herself to say the words but had to look out the window as she said them. She thought she came off pretty well.
The tension in the cab skyrocketed. Wow. So much for keeping things light. The silence stretched out like the road in front of them. He navigated the next bend before giving an answer.
"Uh. We're not..."
Oh! She turned and looked over at him, her stomach lurching and not because of the 200 foot drop into the valley beside her.
"Oh. I didn't know." She continued to study him. "I'm sorry."
He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel but didn't return her gaze.
"S'ok. It was never really...a thing."
They sat in silence for a mile or two while she tried not to ponder the implications of this revelation. She couldn't ignore the feeling of warmth spreading through her though. It had been missing for too long. It felt good and she took in a deep, almost cleansing breath as she turned to look back out of the window.
20 minutes later, they pulled off the mountain road down a gravel track and Sam leant forward in her seat in an unconscious way of taking in more of the view. It was absolutely stunning. Ok, snow on the mountains would have completed the picture postcard scene but she'd take the unusual September warmth over the snow capped mountains. The stillness of the lake literally completed the picture by perfectly reflecting the image.
"Wow." Was her eloquent way of summing it up.
He pulled the truck to a stop at the edge of the lake and leant over the steering wheel to take it in himself.
"Yeah."
They sat in silence for a few moments before he turned to her.
"Ready to go make some waves?"
"Lead the way, Cap'n." She mock saluted.
She climbed down from the truck and stopped to stretch out her back then Jack led them down to a hut by the main jetty, their boots stomping on the wooden platform and echoing out into the lake.
"Mac?" He called out as they got closer.
A man of similar age and build to Jack walked out and a smile spread across his face as he registered them.
"Jack! Long time no see." The two shook hands.
"Yeah, it's been a while. How've you been?"
"Oh, can't complain. The season's just winding up so plenty to keep me busy."
"Speaking of which, is she all ready?"
"Ready and waiting. You guys are the only ones out today so no chance of running into anyone." He gave Jack a pointed look. "You know I've got your credit card details right? Please don't break anything." He drew out the end of the sentence, giving emphasis to the plea.
Sam gave Jack a sideways glance, failing to hide her smirk.
"Yes, well. You know how accidents can happen." He met her glance with his "who, me?" look.
"Only if you push her more than she's happy with."
"Is he talking about me?" Sam mock whispered.
"The boat." He replied, pointedly.
"Ah. Reckless sailing, huh?" She was really starting to enjoy herself now.
He just glared at her then turned back to Mac.
"The forecast looks good for this afternoon."
"Yeah," agreed Mac, nodding "perfect training weather this morning then the wind should give you a good ride this afternoon."
Jack turned to her with an expectant look on his face.
"Ready?"
"As I'll ever be." She replied, and followed him over to the mid-sized boat tied to the jetty.
Jack stood beside the ship, appraising her.
"Sonnet."
"What?" Sam looked over to him in confusion, an image of the General suddenly spouting poetry appearing in her mind. Was it some sort of weird sailing tradition?
"Her name's Sonnet." He sneered a little, gesturing to the side of the boat. "Not overly original."
Sam nodded, relieved at the rational explanation. She looked down at the name he was pointing at, then back up at him.
"Yeah, I see what you mean." She put her hands on her hips and pursed her lips. "X301 could work though. 302 maybe." She looked back, sizing up the boat, then back at him, hiding her smile in an effort to appear serious. "303?"
He stared at her for a second before replying. "Point taken."
She watched him climb on board and turn to offer her his hand to help her up. Despite the fact she in no way needed the help, she took it and he pulled her up.
She stood where she was and looked round. She could feel him watching her.
"First time?"
She pulled in her lips and nodded.
"Ok, boats 101." He paused, apparently relishing the moment.
"Don't get used to it." She said, darkly.
He grinned, again, and then started speaking a different language. She had expected to have a rough understanding as the SGC ships used some original sailing terminology, but there were plenty of words she'd never even heard of. Why not just call them what they were? Big sail, small sail, rope 1, 2 etc. Oh no, let's make up whole new words for the sake of it. In fact, was he doing just that to tease her? Sheets, jib, boom, winches, cleats, shrouds, forestay. The list went on. Ok, the wind related stuff, the telltales and the tack and jibe manoeuvres she could get her head round and, actually, he explained everything quite well. In the back of her mind she was already working out the effect of the wind direction and strength.
He paused in his debrief and nodded to her.
"Of course, I can talk all you like and you can think all you like but it's the same as flying." He ran his hand over the grab rail. "You just gotta feel it." He looked up at her, expectantly.
A surge of excitement hit her belly, something she hadn't felt in a while, and she nodded back at him.
"Let's do it!"
A/N Thanks for sticking with me. I'm really enjoying writing this but it's taking a while!