A/N: Sorry this has taken, what is it.. two weeks.. wow.. too long!! School is crazy and life is annoying, so I haven't had a whole lot of time. I hope you enjoy this chapter.. it has been somewhat difficult to write.. I had the last part written for awhile, but connecting that to the last chapter was somewhat difficult.
~~
chapter 6
~~
The two completely alert individuals jumped off the bed hurriedly replacing their disheveled clothing as they ran to the living room to survey the damage.
Sam ran to the linen closet to gather a couple of towels and dampened them with warm water from the bathroom sink. She raced back to where she saw Jack patting out the flaming curtains with a blanket that had been draped over the couch. Fortunately the damage was not severe and the flames were quickly contained.
"Well, Carter, my curtains were in need of replacing anyway. I guess now I'll just have to get it done sooner than I had planned." He grinned over at her. She reciprocated the glance.
"I should probably head home.." her voice trailed off as her eyes dropped from his.
"Sam, the regulations don't have to matter.."
"If they were non-existant, we could do this. The regs are the only objection I have. You say that they can be changed.. we won't have to worry about them anymore. Well, if you can prove to me that they won't apply to us, then I will more than accept your invitation." She wanted to continue, but didn't know what else she could say.
Jack paused, he was disappointed, but if talking to Hammond was all that it was going to take for the two of them to be together, he would do it. "Ok. I'll accept that."
She picked up her coat and headed toward the door. He followed, and opened the door for her.
"Carter, do you want to help me pick out curtains tomorrow, say around, noon?"
She smiled, "Of course. And, sir, thank you for dinner."
"Anytime, Sam." She turned to her car and he watched until he saw her drive off. "Anytime."
***
0900 The following morning. At Cheyenne Mountain
General Hammond sat at his desk flipping through various papers as he heard a knock on his office door. He looked up and saw the taller colonel standing in the doorway.
"Colonel O'Neill!" He did not keep the surprise from his voice. "I just gave you downtime yesterday, why are you at the base?"
"Well, sir. I need to talk to you about sonething. More specifically, I need to ask a favor of you." Jack replied, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"Go ahead." the older man replied.
"General," The gray-haired colonel began, "I was wondering if you would be able to grant Sam and I permission..to..uh..how do I say this? OK..let me start over. A situation has come about, er. Ok, sir. I was wondering if there was any way around the regulations. I know that Major Carter and I are both valuable assets to this base, and in my opinion, you cannot afford to lose either of us. We would like permission to pursue a relationship."
"You have got to be kidding me, colonel. You know I cannot bend the rules, no matter how good of friends I am with the requestor."
"Sir, it's just this once. Our relationship wouldn't get in the way of our work. You know that. We need this. I have retired in the past, and you all keep bringing me back, and Carter is too valuable an asset for you to lose. I would not put the rest of my team in jeopardy."
"Although I may be happy for you both, I cannot grant you permission to be together while you are both assigned to this base. I can offer either a transfer or one of you will have to be discharged from the Air Force and given civilian status."
"But, sir.."
"No buts aboout this, colonel. I should not even let the two of you continue to work together now that I have been given this information. I'm sorry, colonel, but I cannot approve your request. Dismissed."
~*~
Yes, I'm ending it there for now. And it's really short.. And I'm sure you all hate me.. but it might get better.. I'm not sure at the present moment.. I will attempt to continue either this weekend or next weekend. The semester ends on Friday.. so I'll see what I can do. If you have any ideas I would love to hear from you.. Please review!! It will encourage me to write more quickly... :)
~~
chapter 6
~~
The two completely alert individuals jumped off the bed hurriedly replacing their disheveled clothing as they ran to the living room to survey the damage.
Sam ran to the linen closet to gather a couple of towels and dampened them with warm water from the bathroom sink. She raced back to where she saw Jack patting out the flaming curtains with a blanket that had been draped over the couch. Fortunately the damage was not severe and the flames were quickly contained.
"Well, Carter, my curtains were in need of replacing anyway. I guess now I'll just have to get it done sooner than I had planned." He grinned over at her. She reciprocated the glance.
"I should probably head home.." her voice trailed off as her eyes dropped from his.
"Sam, the regulations don't have to matter.."
"If they were non-existant, we could do this. The regs are the only objection I have. You say that they can be changed.. we won't have to worry about them anymore. Well, if you can prove to me that they won't apply to us, then I will more than accept your invitation." She wanted to continue, but didn't know what else she could say.
Jack paused, he was disappointed, but if talking to Hammond was all that it was going to take for the two of them to be together, he would do it. "Ok. I'll accept that."
She picked up her coat and headed toward the door. He followed, and opened the door for her.
"Carter, do you want to help me pick out curtains tomorrow, say around, noon?"
She smiled, "Of course. And, sir, thank you for dinner."
"Anytime, Sam." She turned to her car and he watched until he saw her drive off. "Anytime."
***
0900 The following morning. At Cheyenne Mountain
General Hammond sat at his desk flipping through various papers as he heard a knock on his office door. He looked up and saw the taller colonel standing in the doorway.
"Colonel O'Neill!" He did not keep the surprise from his voice. "I just gave you downtime yesterday, why are you at the base?"
"Well, sir. I need to talk to you about sonething. More specifically, I need to ask a favor of you." Jack replied, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"Go ahead." the older man replied.
"General," The gray-haired colonel began, "I was wondering if you would be able to grant Sam and I permission..to..uh..how do I say this? OK..let me start over. A situation has come about, er. Ok, sir. I was wondering if there was any way around the regulations. I know that Major Carter and I are both valuable assets to this base, and in my opinion, you cannot afford to lose either of us. We would like permission to pursue a relationship."
"You have got to be kidding me, colonel. You know I cannot bend the rules, no matter how good of friends I am with the requestor."
"Sir, it's just this once. Our relationship wouldn't get in the way of our work. You know that. We need this. I have retired in the past, and you all keep bringing me back, and Carter is too valuable an asset for you to lose. I would not put the rest of my team in jeopardy."
"Although I may be happy for you both, I cannot grant you permission to be together while you are both assigned to this base. I can offer either a transfer or one of you will have to be discharged from the Air Force and given civilian status."
"But, sir.."
"No buts aboout this, colonel. I should not even let the two of you continue to work together now that I have been given this information. I'm sorry, colonel, but I cannot approve your request. Dismissed."
~*~
Yes, I'm ending it there for now. And it's really short.. And I'm sure you all hate me.. but it might get better.. I'm not sure at the present moment.. I will attempt to continue either this weekend or next weekend. The semester ends on Friday.. so I'll see what I can do. If you have any ideas I would love to hear from you.. Please review!! It will encourage me to write more quickly... :)
