# # # # #
Days went by before the pair saw one another. Daniel saw Sam moping around one day and pulled her aside from the rush of the afternoon.
"Sam. I haven't seen you in a while. How did that party go? Was it."
"I can't really talk now Daniel.I uhh.I'm looking for Jack so I can ask him something.maybe I'll talk to you later, ok?" Sam cut him off and shot out her words so fast he only just managed to understand her. He also managed to notice her mistaken use of his name. She had been doing it a lot lately, and wondered why.
"Sure Sam.see ya." Daniel mumbled to himself as she bolted off down the corridor towards her quarters.
Sighing as she closed the door behind her, Sam got out her overnight bag and began to pack everything she could fit in it. Then there was a knock at the door. She panicked and tried to push the bag under her bed, but it wouldn't fit. She called out that she would just be a minute and started to take things out of the bag in hope it would fit better. Then - without any warning - the door flew open and she quickly stood up and turned around to face her CO.
"Colonel, what are you."
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Nothing, why?"
"Don't bullshit me Sam. You're packing, aren't you? What are you gonna do?"
"I'm leaving, ok?! You happy now?"
"Leaving?! Why the hell are you doing that?"
"Don't yell at me! I'm leaving because that way you have nothing to worry about. No obligations or things you have to worry about dealing with. I'm doing this because I want to, ok? I want to make things easier for both of us, and it's better for both of us this way."
"Did you ever think of asking me what I think about all this?"
"No, because I knew you would argue with me. I knew you wouldn't agree, so I thought I would just go. Save you the worry."
"You knew I wouldn't agree, you got that part right. And I wasn't yelling at you either by the way."
"See, I know you. I knew you wouldn't agree with anything I said, so I just thought I would go and that would be that. Ok?"
"No, it's not damn-well ok! Look, despite what you think, I happed to care what happens to you. I know you might not be able to see that, but it's true. And if you're pregnant, I still care. Even more. Listen, I'm not the best at explaining the way I feel. I'm sorry, but if you don't believe that I care, there's nothing else I can say. I care what happens to you Sam."
She stood silently, feeling so alone after being so thoughtless to his feelings. She knew he had them. Everyone did - whether or not they showed them, was beside the point. She hadn't considered what he would think. She felt guilty that she hadn't. Guilty and generally awful. Why hadn't she thought about what he thought? She asked herself several times to no avail. Standing silently, each in their own quadrant of the room, their thoughts combined made the strangest picture. One that only Picasso could decipher. Even he would have had some difficulty with its abstraction.
"I'm sorry," Sam suddenly broke the silence.
"What for?" Jack questioned.
"I should have thought. Should have known you would care what I did. What would you say.if I told you I was pregnant?"
"Is that what you're telling me, or are you asking me?"
"I uhh.I'm telling you that I am."
There was silence again. Tears overcame Sam again, and she sat on her bed while weeping uncontrollably. Jack watched her for a moment, before it dawned on him how important it was for him to be there for her. No matter how hard - he promised he would. Sitting next to her on the bed, he wrapped his arms around her, and she cried into his shoulder.
# # # # #
The tearful day was to come to an end. Again - tearful, but it was only to be expected.
"Sam."
"What is it?" she sniffed.
"You asked what I would say. Do you still want to know?"
"Of course."
"I'll always be there. Ok? I don't care what happens, to either of us. I'm always gonna be there for you. I don't give a stuff about the SGC either."
Sam's eyes found their new favourite thing rising in them once more. Tears crumpled themselves up at the bottom of her eyes and began to trickle down her cheeks. She was so grateful.
"Thank you," was all she could manage to say. Jack nodded knowingly.
"If you want to, you can come and stay with me. I don't mind. Plenty of room. It's up to you though."
Sam's mind of cluttered thoughts, squashed another problem into it. Does he love me? Does he feel the same love for me as I feel for him? In one portion of her mind, it screamed yes, of course he does. And the other part was uncertain. Does he? Or is he just doing this because he cares? Cares.he does care, but how much? And what does he care as? A friend, or more? In her confusion, her voice left her.
"Sam?"
"Oh.I'm sorry. Can I.can I think about it a while? And tell you tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Sure. See you later." She watched him go, and went back to her confusing thoughts.
# # # # #
Days went by before the pair saw one another. Daniel saw Sam moping around one day and pulled her aside from the rush of the afternoon.
"Sam. I haven't seen you in a while. How did that party go? Was it."
"I can't really talk now Daniel.I uhh.I'm looking for Jack so I can ask him something.maybe I'll talk to you later, ok?" Sam cut him off and shot out her words so fast he only just managed to understand her. He also managed to notice her mistaken use of his name. She had been doing it a lot lately, and wondered why.
"Sure Sam.see ya." Daniel mumbled to himself as she bolted off down the corridor towards her quarters.
Sighing as she closed the door behind her, Sam got out her overnight bag and began to pack everything she could fit in it. Then there was a knock at the door. She panicked and tried to push the bag under her bed, but it wouldn't fit. She called out that she would just be a minute and started to take things out of the bag in hope it would fit better. Then - without any warning - the door flew open and she quickly stood up and turned around to face her CO.
"Colonel, what are you."
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Nothing, why?"
"Don't bullshit me Sam. You're packing, aren't you? What are you gonna do?"
"I'm leaving, ok?! You happy now?"
"Leaving?! Why the hell are you doing that?"
"Don't yell at me! I'm leaving because that way you have nothing to worry about. No obligations or things you have to worry about dealing with. I'm doing this because I want to, ok? I want to make things easier for both of us, and it's better for both of us this way."
"Did you ever think of asking me what I think about all this?"
"No, because I knew you would argue with me. I knew you wouldn't agree, so I thought I would just go. Save you the worry."
"You knew I wouldn't agree, you got that part right. And I wasn't yelling at you either by the way."
"See, I know you. I knew you wouldn't agree with anything I said, so I just thought I would go and that would be that. Ok?"
"No, it's not damn-well ok! Look, despite what you think, I happed to care what happens to you. I know you might not be able to see that, but it's true. And if you're pregnant, I still care. Even more. Listen, I'm not the best at explaining the way I feel. I'm sorry, but if you don't believe that I care, there's nothing else I can say. I care what happens to you Sam."
She stood silently, feeling so alone after being so thoughtless to his feelings. She knew he had them. Everyone did - whether or not they showed them, was beside the point. She hadn't considered what he would think. She felt guilty that she hadn't. Guilty and generally awful. Why hadn't she thought about what he thought? She asked herself several times to no avail. Standing silently, each in their own quadrant of the room, their thoughts combined made the strangest picture. One that only Picasso could decipher. Even he would have had some difficulty with its abstraction.
"I'm sorry," Sam suddenly broke the silence.
"What for?" Jack questioned.
"I should have thought. Should have known you would care what I did. What would you say.if I told you I was pregnant?"
"Is that what you're telling me, or are you asking me?"
"I uhh.I'm telling you that I am."
There was silence again. Tears overcame Sam again, and she sat on her bed while weeping uncontrollably. Jack watched her for a moment, before it dawned on him how important it was for him to be there for her. No matter how hard - he promised he would. Sitting next to her on the bed, he wrapped his arms around her, and she cried into his shoulder.
# # # # #
The tearful day was to come to an end. Again - tearful, but it was only to be expected.
"Sam."
"What is it?" she sniffed.
"You asked what I would say. Do you still want to know?"
"Of course."
"I'll always be there. Ok? I don't care what happens, to either of us. I'm always gonna be there for you. I don't give a stuff about the SGC either."
Sam's eyes found their new favourite thing rising in them once more. Tears crumpled themselves up at the bottom of her eyes and began to trickle down her cheeks. She was so grateful.
"Thank you," was all she could manage to say. Jack nodded knowingly.
"If you want to, you can come and stay with me. I don't mind. Plenty of room. It's up to you though."
Sam's mind of cluttered thoughts, squashed another problem into it. Does he love me? Does he feel the same love for me as I feel for him? In one portion of her mind, it screamed yes, of course he does. And the other part was uncertain. Does he? Or is he just doing this because he cares? Cares.he does care, but how much? And what does he care as? A friend, or more? In her confusion, her voice left her.
"Sam?"
"Oh.I'm sorry. Can I.can I think about it a while? And tell you tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Sure. See you later." She watched him go, and went back to her confusing thoughts.
# # # # #