The Colour of Pain – Chapter 7
OK peeps, you asked for longer chapters - be careful what you wish for, you might regret it from now on!
**
Sam had tried to argue with the General. She had too much work to be getting on with. It was unnecessary as she could do it alone. It was a waste of two valuable resources! But he'd remained firm. Insisted his orders stood. Dismissed her. Now she was stuck with a further 2 hours of PT on top of her daily hour of physio. And she had to do it with Colonel O'Neill. Fantastic. She didn't just have to spend several hours a day, most days, with him, horribly scarred, she had to be all hot and sweaty too.
**
Jack observed that Carter didn't appear in too good a mood. She hadn't said one word to him since he'd joined her and her physio in the gym. While they'd continued her leg strengthening exercises, he'd warmed up and played with the speedball. He'd just finished that and decided to have a go on the rowing machine when the physio departed, leaving them alone. He tried to sound enthusiastic.
"So, what do you want to do now? A run? Weights? Exercise bike? Rowing machine?"
He didn't catch whatever it was she muttered under her breath but decided not to ask. He pressed, gamely, on.
"What about a run? You'll have to run 3 miles in under 20 minutes, or… whatever it is you women have to do… Sorry?"
Sam repeated, louder, what he'd just missed as he was speaking for the second time.
"I said, "I want to spar". You asked me what I want to do and I want to spar."
"Uh, Carter… Not to sound too un-PC here but I don't think we're uh… in the same weight class. As it were…"
She ignored him, picked some sparring gloves from the floor in the corner and tossed them to him, then selected a pair for herself. Was she insane? She had to know he could flatten her without trying, even at his age. No, she was very sane, he realised. Hitting him would be far more satisfying than any punchbag. While Jack was an officer, he'd never been sure about the "gentleman" part, but he knew beyond any doubt he couldn't lay a glove on her. He'd been brought up never to hit girls… He'd been KO'd before she even squared up to him.
**
It was a bright, clear, afternoon as Jack hiked through the woods surrounding the base with his former 2IC. He'd quickly recognized his mistake the day before in being too gentlemanly. No more choices, or at least only limited ones. Nothing open ended. And definitely, no more sparring. At least the swelling had gone down a bit during the night and he could see out his left eye again.
**
As Sam walked behind Colonel O'Neill, she felt rather guilty about his black eye. She had been feeling pretty aggressive but hadn't meant to actually hurt him, just scare him off a bit, hopefully even get him to leave. She hated the thought that she was being manipulated, which seemed pretty likely considering she was being made to train with him. Still, his being pissed at her had some compensations. Neither of them had any breath to talk as they hiked uphill. And she was afforded some great views, particularly from her position, slightly behind and below her Colonel. She realised she was thinking thoughts she ought not be, whilst staring where she definitely shouldn't and knew that if her cheeks were not already red, they certainly would be in a matter of seconds.
**
Standing on the ledge, getting his breath back, Jack glanced over at Carter. She was looking back down the mountainside, her cheeks flushed. He felt his stomach doing funny things and was sure it had nothing to do with digestion. He almost laughed out loud at the thought. Yesterday she'd given him a black eye and today, half way up a mountain, he was gazing at her like a love-struck teenager. This whole situation was insane.
**
She was watching him out of the corner of her eye. She wished to God she'd reached the ledge first, then he'd have been standing on the other side of her. Her "good" side. She hated him seeing her face as it was.
**
He'd been watching her staring down the mountain for several minutes, trying to think of something to say. Lately his "lightning wit" seemed to have deserted him.
"Good view."
**
She'd managed to hold back the snort of laughter, turning it into a cough.
"Yes, Sir. Absolutely, Sir."
They stood there for another few minutes before Sam felt the chill creeping into her.
"We should head back down, Major, if you're ready."
Hmm… Between his formal tone and his use of her title, she guessed he was still a bit narked.
"Major?"
"Yes, Sir. Down, Sir."
He looked for a moment like he was going to make one of his little quips, probably about her choice of words, but apparently, he changed his mind, because he said nothing. He simply held out his hand, indicating she should lead. Damn, he was getting a good view of the wrong side of her face today. Sam quickly turned and began the long walk back down the hill.
**
Oops. They'd ended up on the road a little further out from the facility than they'd been aiming but Jack had no intention of accepting the blame. The fact that it was his fault, he'd insisted they bear further left on the decent than she thought, he decided was completely irrelevant. Carter did not appear to care enough to argue. Jack was momentarily tempted to tell her her navigation skills "sucked dead Goa'uld ass" to get a rise out of her but for once in his life, he managed to keep his smart mouth closed, realising it probably wasn't the right approach. They walked single file, back towards the base entrance. He watched her walking, about 8 feet in front of him. Yep, only the barest hint of a limp left, and my God did she look toned from all those exercises… Jack immediately felt guilty at thinking such unprofessional thoughts. He was supposed to be helping her, not ogling her! Yet, he heard a treacherous little voice in his head.
If they decide she's unfit, even if she stays on as a civilian she won't be allowed through the Stargate again. There won't be any damn regs in the way then.
A sickening feeling accompanied the realisation that he had no idea how she felt about him. He knew how she used to feel…
But that was then and this is now.
Since that fateful night, she'd done pretty much everything physically possible to avoid seeing him. Admittedly, she tried to avoid everyone in general but just not with quite the same… zeal. Not for the first time, Jack wondered if she blamed him. Not that he didn't blame himself, mind, but he couldn't see how he could have done things differently. He'd sent Daniel on ahead to open the Gate with Cochran covering him, while he, Carter and Teal'c had laid down suppression fire to give the other SG-5ers time to get their wounded wan to safety. Of course he was going to trust Carter and Teal'c for that job, not a couple of guys he barely knew and couldn't predict, even if they were Marines. Yes, he felt guilty, but he'd long known that was simply a part of Command. And if she blamed him, well, he wouldn't try to talk her out of it.
**
As they approached the lift to go back down inside the mountain facility, the doors opened, revealing Daniel, who appeared to be talking excitedly, and Teal'c. Daniel interrupted himself mid-sentence on seeing Sam.
"Hey!" he greeted her, with a grin. "Been out hiking then? Mother's love! What happened you your face Jack?!"
Apparently they hadn't seen one another all day and Sam felt her face going very red. Daniel's jaw dropped just as Teal'c raised his eyebrow.
"Sam, did you do that? You… You… You wife-beater, you!"
**
End of chapter 7