Plot Challenge: Power Outage

Rated: General (It's kid stuff, folks)


She'd stopped over to drop off his miter saw and somehow got roped into helping him finish a report on their last mission. Well, it wasn't that big a mystery – the getting roped in part – since none of them had done very well with being alone since they'd gotten back. Hell, it was the reason she'd finally seen fit to return a tool she'd borrowed eight months ago that he hadn't even asked for yet.

But after a couple of hours, the light grey sky had turned dark and threatening with that olive green cast that always screamed "tornado". It didn't take long before rain was coming down in buckets. Shortly thereafter it gave way to hail. She'd just reminded him to save his document when the house around them was plunged into sudden darkness.

She gasped uncharacteristically and tried to calm her thundering heart.

"You okay?" he asked as if something could have happened to her while she was perched, safely, in one of his dining room chairs.

"I'm fine, sir. Just startled."

"By the power going out?" he queried wryly. "Why Carter, I had no idea you were such a girl."

His assessment gave her pause. Should she take it like she's one of the guys and blow it off? Or should she pay attention to that soft, squishy part inside her that would really like it if sometimes the guys she worked with realized that she was, in fact, an actual, bona fide girl?

He interrupted her chain of thought. "Well," he cleared his throat and she could see him faintly in the residual light from outside that was streaking through the windows and he was most definitely uncomfortable, "obviously you're a girl…"

Apparently she hesitated long enough that he picked the point up on his own. And while she considered how she might let him off the hook, he apparently decided that he was in pretty hot water and proceeded to dig his hole and all those mixing sort of metaphors.

"Because, you know…you have the face. And the hair."

All of a sudden his discomfort was amusing.

"And those legs," the reverence with which he said it made her blush. And then he ruined it holding up his hands and tracing an hourglass silhouette that made her scowl. "And you, you know, just like you're supposed to."

But he amused her, so she let him continue to make his penance. She sat back and crossed her arms over her chest as lightning flashed and she was sure fix her face into a stern look of disbelief.

"And, well, your eyes. And your voice. And…" He started to run out of things and that made her chuckle – which is when he knew he'd been had. "Awe, c'mon, Carter – you know you're hot."

His frank observation surprised her. "You think I'm hot?"

"Well," he floundered, "yeah. I mean, who wouldn't?"

"Geez, sir, most the time I'm not even sure you guys know I'm female."

"That's pretty hard to miss," he pointed out.

"Because of the…" she mimicked the silhouette he drew.

He shrugged one shoulder, "You've gotta admit, you do have a great—"

"Sir!" She tried to cut him off just as he said, "Rack".

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Rack? Really?"

"I don't care what women think – there are no good words for those things. The ones that aren't complete schmoop get men smacked when we use them around women and the ones that are complete schmoop women don't actually want to hear in a…situation."

She considered his assertion and found she agreed. "Okay. I'll give you that one."

"The point is there's no forgetting that you're all woman, Carter." In his voice was a weight she wasn't sure how to handle so she waited to see if he'd continue. He didn't disappoint her. "For some women, that's all they've got to offer. Don't sell yourself short – you're a lot more than a pretty face and some killer curves."

She chuckled, a little taken aback by the surreal nature of their conversation – a conversation she's positive would never have happened if they weren't shrouded in the kind of silent darkness that made you want to fill the space with noise.

"What's really hot is that you look like you do, and then you open your mouth and you think like you do. It's really not fair to all the other girls when you think about it."

She snorted. "Okay, sir, that's enough."

"Yeah, well," she watched as a pinched look crossed his face during the next lightning strike, "if you ever need another ego stroking, I guess you know where to come."

"Maybe you've got another saw I could borrow?"

The lights burst to life around them and suddenly the low hum from the fridge sounded incredibly loud. He considered her carefully. "Sure," he finally said with a shrug, "bring it back whenever you need to."

She smiled at him – a real smile she knew she reserved for him alone. "Yes, sir. I will."