Disclaimer: See Default Chapter
Chapter 11:
"Molson, right Jack?"
Jack nodded at Daniel, who headed for the bar to get their drinks. He leaned into his crutch as Teal'c and Sam slid into the booth, Teal'c on one side – Sam the other.
The moment of truth. Did he sit beside Teal'c? That way he could see her face. Or did he sit beside Sam? Just to... well, just to be beside her. In the end, Sam won. Besides that, he could always use the excuse that sitting on her side let him extend his braced leg from beneath the table.
She glanced sideways at him, and in the dim light of the bar, he saw the slight blush stain her cheeks. Jack would be willing to bet her skin was warm to the touch. Her eyes were still wide whenever she looked at him, and he saw the turmoil behind them.
He wondered if he had been way off on his assumptions. In the eight years they'd been CO and 2IC, there had been some pretty heavy flirting. A few shared moments... granted, some had been as a result of distorted reality one way or another. Time Loops. Lost Memory. Regression. But if there wasn't something there, would any of those kisses happened. Hot kisses. Great kisses. Like that time in the locker room when he had her against the wall...
"Here you go," Daniel said, returning with everyone's beverage of choice.
Jack took one of the two Molson bottles, and slid the other towards Sam. Her fingers brushed his when she took it, but he didn't look up, tried not to react.
For cryin' out loud... he felt like a damn teenager. Maybe he should go to the head and make sure he hadn't been switched with his Mini Me again.
Teal'c took his Shirley Temple, removing the fancy umbrella the barmaid always made sure he got, and pulled off the extra cherries from the stem. Jack smiled, remembering the collection of stupid little paper umbrellas the big Jaffa had back in his quarters. To Teal'c they were a gift, to be kept. Course, it didn't hurt that the pretty young woman gave Teal'c her special smile whenever they came in.
"So..." Daniel said, settling into his seat.
"So..." Jack mimicked.
Sam shifted, letting her hip brush his. Her blue eyes darted in his direction, but she quickly looked away.
"Have you reached a decision in regards to which path you may take, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, breaking the silence.
Jack arched his brows and tipped his head. "Nope. I don't need to until the end of my two weeks. I figure, by then I'll either be enjoying my free time so much I'll take retirement ... or I'll be going insane and will have to get back to work." He waved his hand. "In whatever capacity."
"Are you really considering taking the job in DC?" Daniel asked. "To be honest, I'm surprised the President made such an offer... Even with Kinsey gone..."
"Perhaps your President has seen the wisdom of the Stargate program, and desires O'Neill to lead him down a more logical path."
Jack smiled. "I was thinking of taking it, just to piss people off."
Sam remained silent, swirling the bottom of her beer bottle in the ring of condensation left on the tabletop. Jack saw Daniel's eyes shift between him and Sam, then he focused on Jack. His eyes squinted slightly as he seemed to think of what to say.
"Do you really want to be away from Colorado that much?"
Jack paused, taking a long drink from his beer. It was cold and wet, and felt good going down. He wondered how many it would take to kill the pain in his knee, and clear up the confusion in his head. Course, when you're drunk the things that seem clear as day are usually worse by the time you sober up.
"Well, without my trips Off World, what's there to keep me busy?" he said, weighing his words carefully.
Daniel's eyes darted to Sam. Jack didn't turn. Wouldn't put that kind of pressure. He had put it out there... not in so many words... but the next move was Sam's. He waited for Daniel to look back at him, waited until their eyes held for a second, then shook his head. A slight movement that would hopefully only be seen by Daniel, maybe Teal'c. Daniel lifted his chin, then looked down at the table... an equally subtle response. Teal'c only raised an eyebrow.
They drank a few more rounds. Enough to loosen the mood, without getting stupid. And around 2300 hours, Jack tossed a handful of bills on the table and moved to stand.
"Who gets to drive me home?"
He held his breath, hoping Sam might offer. Give them some time to talk, without cameras and well-intending friends around. When the silence lasted a heartbeat too long, Daniel cleared his throat.
"Um, I'm driving Teal'c so I don't mind taking you, too."
"Thanks."
They left O'Malley's and Jack hobbled to the parking lot, thankful Daniel had parked near the door. Daniel unlocked the doors and he and Teal'c climbed in, leaving Jack standing near the back passenger door. Sam was parked right beside Daniel, and as she reached to open her door, Jack touched her arm.
"Hey," he said softly.
She looked up at him, the light of the moon making her eyes sparkle.
"If I made you uncomfortable..."
"No," she said, cutting him off. "No, you didn't. It's just... a change."
"Changes can be good."
The slightest hint of a smile bowed her lips. She dropped her gaze, looking to where his hand still lingered on her jacket sleeve. "Sometimes, they can be great. But they're always scary as hell."
Then she opened her door, and Jack took it as his hint. He climbed in Daniel's car, and within minutes was inside his house, another beer in his hand. He sank onto the couch with a sigh. It felt like weeks had passed since he'd been here. The last time was the morning before the mission to P3X-453. It still amazed him how quickly things could change.
He tried to shift, but his immobilized leg whacked against the leg of his coffee table. He cursed, barely catching his beer before it fell over on the rug. A rush of anger hit him, the first since earlier that day when Malcolm told him the verdict. The first he had let himself feel. Using every swear he could think of, he cursed at the empty house as he yanked each Velcro strap free and chucked the leg brace across the room. It landed, silently, on the floor at the base of his fireplace.
"Damn it!" he shouted one last time; annoyed he couldn't even get the satisfaction of a crash.
He slouched down on the couch and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. Sometimes he felt so damn old.
"You're a fool, Jack," he said to himself. A fool to think that, if finally given the opportunity, Sam would want anything to do with him.
He remembered back to when the 'other' Sam had come through the mirror, and he found out that in her reality, she and he had been married. He'd asked her then how she ended up with someone like him, but she never really answered.
She was young. Smart. Damn Smart. Beautiful. What would she want with an old warhorse like him? But if she wanted the same thing he did, wouldn't she have said it? Wouldn't she have come to him? Wouldn't she have told him what she wanted him to do?
Jack draped his arm across his face, his elbow lying across the bridge of his nose.
"Damn fool," he said again.
Chapter 11:
"Molson, right Jack?"
Jack nodded at Daniel, who headed for the bar to get their drinks. He leaned into his crutch as Teal'c and Sam slid into the booth, Teal'c on one side – Sam the other.
The moment of truth. Did he sit beside Teal'c? That way he could see her face. Or did he sit beside Sam? Just to... well, just to be beside her. In the end, Sam won. Besides that, he could always use the excuse that sitting on her side let him extend his braced leg from beneath the table.
She glanced sideways at him, and in the dim light of the bar, he saw the slight blush stain her cheeks. Jack would be willing to bet her skin was warm to the touch. Her eyes were still wide whenever she looked at him, and he saw the turmoil behind them.
He wondered if he had been way off on his assumptions. In the eight years they'd been CO and 2IC, there had been some pretty heavy flirting. A few shared moments... granted, some had been as a result of distorted reality one way or another. Time Loops. Lost Memory. Regression. But if there wasn't something there, would any of those kisses happened. Hot kisses. Great kisses. Like that time in the locker room when he had her against the wall...
"Here you go," Daniel said, returning with everyone's beverage of choice.
Jack took one of the two Molson bottles, and slid the other towards Sam. Her fingers brushed his when she took it, but he didn't look up, tried not to react.
For cryin' out loud... he felt like a damn teenager. Maybe he should go to the head and make sure he hadn't been switched with his Mini Me again.
Teal'c took his Shirley Temple, removing the fancy umbrella the barmaid always made sure he got, and pulled off the extra cherries from the stem. Jack smiled, remembering the collection of stupid little paper umbrellas the big Jaffa had back in his quarters. To Teal'c they were a gift, to be kept. Course, it didn't hurt that the pretty young woman gave Teal'c her special smile whenever they came in.
"So..." Daniel said, settling into his seat.
"So..." Jack mimicked.
Sam shifted, letting her hip brush his. Her blue eyes darted in his direction, but she quickly looked away.
"Have you reached a decision in regards to which path you may take, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, breaking the silence.
Jack arched his brows and tipped his head. "Nope. I don't need to until the end of my two weeks. I figure, by then I'll either be enjoying my free time so much I'll take retirement ... or I'll be going insane and will have to get back to work." He waved his hand. "In whatever capacity."
"Are you really considering taking the job in DC?" Daniel asked. "To be honest, I'm surprised the President made such an offer... Even with Kinsey gone..."
"Perhaps your President has seen the wisdom of the Stargate program, and desires O'Neill to lead him down a more logical path."
Jack smiled. "I was thinking of taking it, just to piss people off."
Sam remained silent, swirling the bottom of her beer bottle in the ring of condensation left on the tabletop. Jack saw Daniel's eyes shift between him and Sam, then he focused on Jack. His eyes squinted slightly as he seemed to think of what to say.
"Do you really want to be away from Colorado that much?"
Jack paused, taking a long drink from his beer. It was cold and wet, and felt good going down. He wondered how many it would take to kill the pain in his knee, and clear up the confusion in his head. Course, when you're drunk the things that seem clear as day are usually worse by the time you sober up.
"Well, without my trips Off World, what's there to keep me busy?" he said, weighing his words carefully.
Daniel's eyes darted to Sam. Jack didn't turn. Wouldn't put that kind of pressure. He had put it out there... not in so many words... but the next move was Sam's. He waited for Daniel to look back at him, waited until their eyes held for a second, then shook his head. A slight movement that would hopefully only be seen by Daniel, maybe Teal'c. Daniel lifted his chin, then looked down at the table... an equally subtle response. Teal'c only raised an eyebrow.
They drank a few more rounds. Enough to loosen the mood, without getting stupid. And around 2300 hours, Jack tossed a handful of bills on the table and moved to stand.
"Who gets to drive me home?"
He held his breath, hoping Sam might offer. Give them some time to talk, without cameras and well-intending friends around. When the silence lasted a heartbeat too long, Daniel cleared his throat.
"Um, I'm driving Teal'c so I don't mind taking you, too."
"Thanks."
They left O'Malley's and Jack hobbled to the parking lot, thankful Daniel had parked near the door. Daniel unlocked the doors and he and Teal'c climbed in, leaving Jack standing near the back passenger door. Sam was parked right beside Daniel, and as she reached to open her door, Jack touched her arm.
"Hey," he said softly.
She looked up at him, the light of the moon making her eyes sparkle.
"If I made you uncomfortable..."
"No," she said, cutting him off. "No, you didn't. It's just... a change."
"Changes can be good."
The slightest hint of a smile bowed her lips. She dropped her gaze, looking to where his hand still lingered on her jacket sleeve. "Sometimes, they can be great. But they're always scary as hell."
Then she opened her door, and Jack took it as his hint. He climbed in Daniel's car, and within minutes was inside his house, another beer in his hand. He sank onto the couch with a sigh. It felt like weeks had passed since he'd been here. The last time was the morning before the mission to P3X-453. It still amazed him how quickly things could change.
He tried to shift, but his immobilized leg whacked against the leg of his coffee table. He cursed, barely catching his beer before it fell over on the rug. A rush of anger hit him, the first since earlier that day when Malcolm told him the verdict. The first he had let himself feel. Using every swear he could think of, he cursed at the empty house as he yanked each Velcro strap free and chucked the leg brace across the room. It landed, silently, on the floor at the base of his fireplace.
"Damn it!" he shouted one last time; annoyed he couldn't even get the satisfaction of a crash.
He slouched down on the couch and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. Sometimes he felt so damn old.
"You're a fool, Jack," he said to himself. A fool to think that, if finally given the opportunity, Sam would want anything to do with him.
He remembered back to when the 'other' Sam had come through the mirror, and he found out that in her reality, she and he had been married. He'd asked her then how she ended up with someone like him, but she never really answered.
She was young. Smart. Damn Smart. Beautiful. What would she want with an old warhorse like him? But if she wanted the same thing he did, wouldn't she have said it? Wouldn't she have come to him? Wouldn't she have told him what she wanted him to do?
Jack draped his arm across his face, his elbow lying across the bridge of his nose.
"Damn fool," he said again.