....Or Another...
She had visited the pub solidly for the next three nights, assuming the same position at the bar as she stared mournfully into her vodka, or whatever drink she felt like losing herself in. Occasionally throughout the night, random men would approach and she would hurriedly rebuff their unwanted attentions. She'd sit and wait. For him. It was the same routine; watching the crowd pathetically to try and spot him in the seas of dancing couples and overly merry patrons. Sam truly wondered why she was even attempting to convince herself that he would care. No doubt he would walk in the door sooner or later, but upon his arm would be his dutiful wife, and his eyes would meet hers over the din of the pub, and he'd smile awkwardly, and never think of her again.
"Wondered when you'd be here again," She felt a soft, fluttery feeling descend over her skin as she heard a voice behind her. She swivelled on the stool with a smile as she came face to face with him again.
"Well you'd made me feel so at home last time that I should make this place my local haunt," She smiled witheringly as he took the seat next to her and a rotund man made his way across, behind the bar, and Jack smiled, leaning over to shake the man's hand.
"Surely that's gotta be worth a free drink huh Bill?" Jack suggested, causing Bill, who evidently was the owener of "O'Malley's" to roll his eyes. Sam had the feeling that this was something that Jack O'Neill regularly did.
"If I gave free drinks out every time you asked for one, this place would be dry by now..." Bill replied in a friendly manner, reaching for the Guiness tap as he ordered a young waitress to get another gin for Sam, who initially hesitated, "Don't worry about it; any friend of the Colonel's is a friend of mine."
Bill handed over the two drinks before being distracted by the poker game on the other side of the pub, and left their presence, "Colonel?" She questioned, her brow furrowing as she watched him take a sip of the Guiness, something he'd obviously been looking forward to by the expression on his face.
"Yeah," He replied, pushing his glass onto a beer mat, "Didn't I mention that?" Jack paused, "I'm sure I mentioned that..."
"You didn't" Sam replied decisively; she would have remembered it. Definitely. Mainly because she knew if he'd told her that when they first met, she wouldn't have been able to keep her mind off the idea of him in a uniform, "Trust me." She took a sip of the gin, "Are you retired?"
He seemed slightly taken aback by that question, and she guessed it had obviously been the wrong thing to ask, "Uh, no, actually," He smiled, "Do I look that old to you?"
She shook her head, "No, not at all," Sam shrugged her shoulders through lack of any other response, "I guess I just wondered what Colonel would be down in Colorado Springs....unless he was retired."
Her companion frowned, "You haven't heard about the base?" He asked as Sam froze mentally, "It seems to be the gossip of this place most of the time, trying to guess whatever it is we do underneath that mountain."
Sam leaned foward, "You work there?" She hadn't thought he was Air Force. Most of the airmen she'd met were either a complete waste of time, or were like her father. Jack, it seemed, was neither. Despite the small fact that he had a wife. That nugget of information was pushing him into the former category of being an all round ass.
"Yeah," Jack replied, noticing the small change in Sam's stance, "Do you know it?"
She coughed awkwardly, "Well, actually..." She took her glass into her hands, rolling the liquid around, "I'm starting a new job there in a few days. I'm Doctor Samantha Carter. Head of Science and Technology..." She lowered her voice at her last words, not completely understanding why. It wasn't that part that was classified, she mused, it was the part about the gateway to other worlds that the government wasn't so keen on the public knowing, "Nice to meet O'Neill."
"You too Doctor Carter," He said, his eyes slightly twinkling at the formality, "So, uh, you must be pretty intelligent huh?"
Sam grinned, but for what reason, she wasn't sure, "Yeah. I guess so."
x x x x x x x x x
"Am I going to have to push you two out of here again?" Bill asked as he ushered the last remaining customers out of the door into the cold night air, "As much as I want to take your money, I need my sleep."
Jack leaned in towards Sam, "He's looking after the grandkids tomorrow apparently. Old Bill here doesn't think he's going to be able to keep up..." Sam smothered a laugh as she turned to look at Bill who wore a face of mock hurt.
"Well that's the last time I let you have any free drinks on me," He joked as the pair rose from their bar stools and made their way to the door, "It was nice to meet you Ms Carter!"
"You too," She smiled back as Jack went to shake the man's hand and they bid their goodbyes to each other. She followed her companion out of the door, and her mind flashed back to a week ago, when they were in almost exactly the same situation. Her brain also reminded her of what she had come home to, and then she surprised herself, knowing that she hadn't thought about the mess that her personal life was the whole night that she was with Jack.
"You alright Sam?" He asked, touching her shoulder gently as if to wake her out of a dream.
"Mm," She murmured a reply, "Just daydreaming that's all," She looked into his eyes with a smile, "I had a good night." She said simpy, unsure of how to express herself any further.
"Me too," He replied, his hands reaching into his pocket to pull out his keys to what Sam guessed was a Jeep, "But this time I can give you a lift home..." A car lit up in the distance and they both made a start towards it.
"Thanks." She said after a moment of silence.
"What for?"
"Helping me have a good night," She looked steadily at the ground beneath her feet, "Helping me forget the turmoil that consitutes my life at the moment."
He moved subtly closer to her, nudging her shoulder slightly in a friendly gesture, "You got problems too?" Jack queried before pausing, "I have to admit I spent the night with you for rather selfish reasons..."
"Oh?"
"My personal life isn't all too great at the moment," As he spoke, his whole demeanour sunk and darkened; Sam could sense a real pain behind what he said, as if the words he had spoken were too small to encompass what he felt, "Last week, I forgot all about it, and I did tonight too."
Sam smiled shyly, "I'm glad I could help you," She said before both falling into contemplative silences that lasted the whole drive.
x x x x x x x x x
He'd feigned ignorance over her location in Colorado Springs, aware that driving straight to her house would cause him to appear like a deranged stalker, and as they stopped outside her house, he turned off the engine as Sam gathered together her bag and winter coat that sat in front of her in the foot well, "Thanks for driving me home."
"No problem Sam," He smiled, his eyes dancing over her form, "We co-workers got to look out for each other..."
That little thought send thousands of tiny "happy chemicals" into his body as he realised he'd be seeing her every day at work, watching her with the blush that started when he complimented her or that smile that seemed to Jack as though she had blocked out everything else in the world but him.
Similar feelings were rushing through Sam's veins as she was caught in a daze for a few seconds, looking out of the window with her bag and coat in hand, "Do you want to come in for a coffee?" She asked on impulse, surprising both of them as she spoke into the silence, "I mean, you don't have to if you don't feel like it-"
Jack, sensibly sensing an onslaught of rambling cut her short with, "Yes, I'd like to."
She seemed slightly surprised by the answer, "You would?"
"Yeah..." Jack replied, frowning since she was the one who had offered, "If you don't mind..."
"I just didn't want to keep you from your wife that's all..." Sam said quietly, regretting that she had to bring that topic up. Mentally she shook herself; it just proved that she wasn't worth anything, wasn't worth any real love like Jonas had said after she chucked him from her house if she'd knowingly flirt with someone who was married. What kind of woman was she?
"Wife?" Jack questioned, "Uh, which wife would that be?"
Sam regarded her new found friend for a moment, gauging that he looked to be genuinely confused, "Your wife." She stated again, bringing his hand up and signalling the small, paler band of skin around his wedding finger, "This wife."
Jack smiled gently; something which unnverved Sam as she sat patiently and waited for a response, "We divorced. Three years ago."
"Then what's that doing there then?" She pressed, still holding his hand despite not needing to.
"Its a long story..." He began, but looking at the expression on her face, he amended his words, "But I guess we have time. My friend Kawalsky forced me to go on this "Singles Day" last weekend with him because he thinks I'm going to forget how to do it..." He shook his head as he realised that probably wasn't the best thing to say with his present company, "Anyway, I wore this to fend off some of the less inhibited women, and pretended I was just there as moral support for Kawalsky."
It seemed like a perfectly reasonable explanation to Sam, and she smiled; he hadn't appeared to be the kind of man that would cheat on his wife for kicks, which was one of the reasons she'd been so fervent in repressing the fact, "I'm sorry..." She apologised, "I shouldn't have acted so cynical..."
Jack shrugged, "I don't blame you," He said with a sigh, "There's a lot of married men giving us good guys a bad name."
"You're a good guy then?" Sam remarked with a shy grin that Jack almost couldn't make out in the moonlight as they sat in his Jeep which was rapidly warming.
"Yeah, at least I'd like to think so," He paused as if in contemplation, "Why?"
Sam shrugged playfully, "There are some things a girl wants to know."
x x x x x x x x
She'd always liked mornings, the sun streaming into her bedroom, slowly rousing her from dreams and birds singing in a natural chorus as she dressed and showered in preparation for the day. She'd never loved the mornings so much as she did in Colorado, which in contrast to the bustling metropolitan of Washington, allowed several trees in its vicinity. More than several in fact.
That particular morning though, was a different story. She woke up with a start from her slumber, hitting her alarm clock with a fisted hand and dragged herself to the bathroom where she came face to face with her hair doing a fantastic impression of a hedgehog after a rough night. If there was one thing that she appreciated about mornings in Washington was that, everyone had a hangover from the night before which meant that the volume of the day decreased until midday by which time most had recovered.
Shying away from a close examination of her face, she shuffled towards the living room, freezing as she saw a leather jacket lying on the back of her couch. For a split second, she considered dashing towards the telephone and dialling 911, fearing that Jonas had broken in last night, but then as rationality kicked in, she remembered that the jacket belonged to Jack O'Neill. Despite the fact it should have concerned her that a relative stranger spent all night on her couch, in her house, she had a hazy memory of telling him that he should bed down there, through worrying that he would have an accident on the way home. In hindsight, her over-concern was probably a tactic to keep him in her company for as long as possible, especially since learning that he was divorced.
She edged closer to the sofa, fiddling awkwardly with her fingers, "Um..." She mumbled, "Jack?" She peered over the top of the couch, her expression softening as she saw him lightly dozing, "Jack?"
"Huh?" He stirred more this time, rousing himself from sleep and his eyes fluttered open to stare straight into hers, "Ah!" He said, jumping slightly, initially worried about who the heck that madwoman looking at him was before he relaxed and realised it was Samantha Carter, or at least a smirking Samantha Carter, "Uh, morning..." He rubbed his face, wincing slightly at the sunlight, "What time is it?"
Sam looked towards the digital clock on the VCR, "7:47," She told Jack, causing him to immediately hop from his position and gather his coat, "What's the hurry?"
"The base," He replied, arranging his clothes to be slightly more presentable, "I'm due at about....oh," He paused, "Yeah, well, about now actually."
"Now?" She asked, slightly disappointed but aiming to hide it as she walked towards the kitchen as he followed her "Do you want anything to eat?" She rifled through a few drawers and the refrigerator, "I have some orange juice and toast, how about that?"
"Perfect" Jack replied. And indeed it seemed to be as he wolfed it down, and then asked for another glass of orange juice. But unfortunately Sam couldn't provide the "something stronger" that Jack had requested to "get him through the day after such a rough night's sleep".
x x x x x x x x x x x
It had been after a few hours of intense cleaning, and more than a few daydreams about Jack O'Neill that Sam had even realised that her stomach was demanding food. And decent food at that. Evidently it would not be sated with a frozen dinner and some french fries. She had just picked Number 37 from the local pizza delivery service when the phone rang.
"Doctor Samantha Carter speaking," She answered, presuming it was the Air Force; neither her father nor Mark were aware of her telephone number. Sometimes she wondered if they would notice she'd left Washington until they'd be forced to talk to her.
"Doctor Carter, this is General Hammond from Stargate Command," Sam's back instictually straightened as if he could see what she was doing, a remainder from her military upbringing, "I'm aware that you were arranged to be inducted on Monday, but to be honest, we'd appreciate your services now as there are a more than a few teething problems," Sam wondered if he was sighing, "Anyway, this call is to ask you whether you would be able to come in this afternoon and get started earlier..."
"Of course!" Sam replied instantly, "What time would you like me to come?"
"What?" Hammond answered, evidently not quite believing that she was willing to give up her free time, "You mean you don't mind?"
"Of course not..." Sam smiled, "I've been waiting years to get my hands on this technology,"
"That's settled then," George sounded relieved, which caused Sam to worry about what the other science geeks at the SGC had done, "I trust we'll see you at two o'clock this afternoon?"
"I'll be there Sir." Sam replied, all but ready to put the phone down before Hammond spoke again.
"Sam?"
"Yes?"
"It'll be good to work with you. You're a credit to your father."
"Thankyou Sir." Sam replied before hanging up the phone, resting her elbows on the sideboard as she collected her thoughts. From George's tone it was obvious that he was aware of her troubles with her father, and even her brother and she wondered how with General Hammond around, she would be able to maintain a facade of indifference.
x x x x x x x x
It hadn't been an easy transition through to the SGC, and she'd been caught up in an hour of form signing and identification verifying before she'd even got inside the mountain. But it had all been worth it when she saw the 'Gate as it had been nicknamed, her eyes tracing the device with an awe struck expression.
"Makes quite an impression doesn't it?" Hammond's voice came from behind her and she turned sharply to face him.
"Yes sir," She replied, her face softening, "It's...well, its just amazing." It seemed she'd been saying that a lot recently.
"Well I'm afraid you might have to wait a few more minutes before getting your hands on her because I've arranged a little meeting with some of the SG teams that you'll be working closely with," Hammond began before stopping as the door opened to reveal two men walking through the door; a tall and muscular African American with a strange emblem on his head and a smaller man with what could only be described as floppy hair and round glasses emphasising his adolescent looks. She presumed that they were both Teal'c and Daniel Jackson respectively.
The introductions with both had gone well as Daniel praised her for some "excellent work" of hers that he'd read, and Teal'c had bowed his head. Daniel quietly insisted that it was a successful meeting as his friend was less than talkative, but Sam was unsure but let the matter slide. People filtered through the doors, filling the seats that faced the screen where Sam was preparing a short briefing on her Stargate related research. It had been mostly members of academia and the science world that had sat down, and it was obvious to hear the arrival of the military section of the base, their voices causing all people inside the briefing room to turn towards the door.
At least ten burly men entered, taking their assigned seats and Sam turned towards General Hammond, waiting for her cue, "I'm just waiting for my second in command actually...." He looked towards a man sat on the front row of seats, "Charlie? Have you seen him?"
Charlie shook his head, "Jack was pretty rough this morning, swore he had a splitting headache..." His words were said with mild amusement, and some of the other assembled officers chuckled quietly.
Sam's mind seemed to stop working upon those words, her brain stuttering to ask the question but reality had already answered it for her as Jack O'Neill strolled into the room, unaware of her presence.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late..." He took a seat next to Kawalsky, and opened the mission briefing with a groan, failing to see Sam's name at the top of the file, "I overslept, and then..."He was about to take his explanation further before General Hammond interrupted him.
"Colonel, lets just get this over and done with, shall we?"
He replied promptly, "Yessir."
"Now Doctor Carter wants to take us through a quick explanation of...." Jack's head shot up at the mention of Sam's name and looked straight into her blue eyes, which were slightly less shocked than his.
"Didn't expect to see you again so soon," He said, the other men in the room becoming less and less important in his mind.
"I could say the same about you..." She finally replied after grinning at the floor, trying not to clue the rest of the room into her feelings. Clearing her throat, she turned her attention away from the distracting man in the front row and turned it towards the rest of the group assembled to hear her presentation, "Since my post in Washington I've been researching the theory of wormhole physics and...."
Kawalsky leant back in his chair, perfecting a facade of interest as he nudged his friend who was surprisingly captivated with the techno babble that was spewing from the new scientist's mouth, "How the hell do you know her?"
Jack shrugged, "I met her a couple of nights ago in town."
Kawalsky shrugged with an impressed smile, "I really gotta come with you one of these nights..."
x x x x x x x x x
Six months later, and Sam had wondered how she'd ever survived without two "brothers" like Daniel and Teal'c to protect her, and help her realise the appeal of sci-fi films. And they'd even encouraged her to heal her fractured relationship wth her blood related sibling. And as much as she enjoyed her work, and however much of a thrill it gave her to deconstruct alien technology, it was sometimes nice to crawl into bed and sleep for as long as possible. She'd always been a workaholic in Washington, almost desperate to spend time away from home, and Jonas, but now she'd go home on time or near enough, and generally spend her weekends with either SG-1 and Doc Fraiser or a nice long bath, catch up on reading and light gardening.
"Hey..." The gravelly voice next to her whispered, wrapping her body up after she'd shed her clothes and pulled up the duvet over themselves, "You're back earlier than I expected..."
"Mmm," She murmured, "Hammond wanted me to be fired up for next week when SG-12 come back from their tech mission to P4X-935. He suggested I get some sleep," She said before resting her head on his chest, her eyes closing, "You and the boys have a good night?"
He laughed, "Teal'c well and truly fleeced Kawalsky," He said, and she just knew that he was grinning from ear to ear, "I'm thinking you might have had something to do with that little win."
"Me? Do something like that?" She joked as he kissed her forehead and then began recounting the nights events.
She'd always been a workaholic, but nothing beat having Jack O'Neill to come home to. And they spent every day getting to know each other, and falling more and more in love, but every nugget of information she was given seemed already to be inscribed onto her soul.
Continued (in a way) with "...I'm Gonna Get You..."