Disclaimer: If I owned any rights to Stargate, Pete would've been a two-episode character whose role would've been to make Jack realize he can't live without Sam...or vice versa. Then I would've had him die tragically in the line of duty.(sigh) I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Kerry will be the catalyst Pete wasn't. It's hard to type with fingers crossed, but it's worth it! lol.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed and extra special thanks to GateSeeker2 who inspired, Sci Fi Fan Gillian & SG1-Fanfic who reviewed both chaps & my other Sam/Jack Ideal Love fic as well and encouraged so awesomely, and Holly Mariano whose read my Harry Potter fic too!
Fraying Threads
Dreams are merely the mind's way of dealing with desires that cannot be fulfilled...
Teal'c's words ran through Carter's mind as she prepared for bed. Rinsing her face, the blonde told her image in the bathroom mirror, "I'm not Daniel. That doesn't apply to me. I will have a decent night's sleep again. I will." Nodding her head determinedly, blue-grey eyes were steely with resolve. She was wearing her favorite nightshirt, tomorrow was Friday, and all reports due had been handed in early. She was so efficient, she even had time for a visit to the SG7 guys, who had called right before she left and said they 'had an interesting plant' for her office desk, and to come by tomorrow and get it. Felger was a decent guy, if a bit...eccentric...and she actually looked forward to visiting the lab. It had been awhile since she'd laughed at him...er...he'd made her laugh. Making her way to the bed, Sam set her alarm clock and settled down after fluffing her pillows and saying her prayers. The plea for a dreamless sleep was particularly fervent. Her eyes grew heavy, and closed.
The park was one of Sam's favorite places. The families and couples enjoying the sunny day and each others' company lifted her spirits. Today was especially nice, because Pete was with her. He made her feel like she was the most beautiful, amazing woman in the world. That was a lovely way to feel. She cared about him so much. Watching the smiling man buy a couple of hotdogs from the vendor playing a Garth Brooks country song about some of God's greatest gifts being unanswered prayers, the Lt. Colonel smiled too. Pete could talk to anyone and make a friend. The next time they came here, he would remember the vendor's name, and the name of his kids. It was a gift. Turning with their lunch, the brown eyes of her boyfriend twinkled as he saw her stare incredulously at his hotdog.
"What's the matter, never seen my 'Shanahan Special' before?"
The leggy blonde thanked him for the normal hotdog he handed over and replied as they headed for an empty park bench, "No, and I can honestly say I hope I never see it again. How can you eat that?" Pete just grinned. They sat on the bench and leaned sideways to talk to each other. The man's hair blew in the wind. Carter could never decide whether it was dirty blonde or sandy brown. Whatever, it was nice hair, really, even if it wasn't as thick or distinguished as...what did Pete just say?
"Sorry, talking while chewing is so rude. I just asked how things were going in the galaxy."
Gently, she reminded her boyfriend that she couldn't talk about her job. He gave her his little boy 'I'm naughty, but love me anyway' apologetic smile. She stared. There was a piece of sauerkraut hanging from one of his teeth. Sam tapped her tooth to let him know. He shook his head,
"No, there's nothing in your teeth, babe...you know, I keep forgetting my girlfriend's a superhero. I wonder if Lois Lane ever mentioned anything to Clark Kent at work, or Mary Jane Watson said anything she shouldn't to Peter Parker out in public...I've still got every comic book I ever read, so maybe I'll go through them and see. The next time you want to watch a boring chick flick, I'll break out the comics. What? Oh, my tooth, thanks, gorgeous." Pete casually picked the bit of kraut out and flicked it over the back of the bench. The expression on Sam's face made him laugh. Taking another large bite, the man chewed a couple of times, swallowed, and said,
"Yeah, I loaded this down with chili and cheese, didn't I...oops!" A long strand of melted cheese dangled from the bun and then fell on his pants. Pete wiped his leg and offered, "Sure you don't want to try some?"
"No thanks." Leaning away from the 'Shanahan Special', the Colonel who didn't feel hungry anymore turned the conversation to their relationship. They both smiled as they talked. There was one tense moment, when Pete laughed off what he called the 'stalker incident', but his girlfriend rationalized that he was just using humor to apologize and focused on the fact that otherwise, they were both happy. Suddenly, her keen senses detected that they were being observed. Glancing quickly behind her, she saw the culprit. Sam drew in a sharp breath. Every muscle tensed. It wasn't an armed Goa'uld; it was something worse- a mime! The manically grinning menace, encouraged by her horrified gaze, pulled himself over to their bench using an 'invisible rope'. He proceeded to 'walk downstairs' behind their bench and then 'ride the escalator' back up only to find that he was 'trapped' in an 'invisible box'. Once Pete stopped clapping and noticed his girlfriend's grimace, he flashed his badge.
"Beat it Bozo, before I run you in for disturbing the peace."
White face set in offended dignity at being called a clown; the mime picked up an imaginary oar and rowed his 'canoe' away to another couple on another bench.
"You couldn't really bust that guy, could you?"
The detective's smug grin widened as he told Sam,
"Sure I could. I just transferred to the Colorado Springs Police Department."
The words were heard, but it took the woman hearing them a moment to actually believe that Pete had made such a life-altering decision without her input. She stammered, "Are you sure?"
He leaned close and stared deeply into her eyes. Gazing into brown, blue-grey started to water. Holy Hanna, was there an entire onion on that hotdog? While she tried to blink the fumes away, her boyfriend said huskily,
"I've never been so sure of anything in my life." Finishing his hotdog in one more enormous, cheek stretching bite, he chewed, swallowed, and reached into his jacket pocket and brought out a small box.
Staring down at the engagement ring, Sam was taken aback. She didn't know what to say- literally. Pete's breath made her cough convulsively. Her watery eyes searched his. He seemed so sincere, wanting her to take her time and think about it, about them, and the life they could have together. Forever. Until death did them part. Nodding her head, she jumped to her feet, needing some water, and some space away from those fumes. Making her way to the nearby fountain, she noticed two teenaged girls standing and staring. They had obviously been eavesdropping. The red head looked at her brunette friend. The gum-chewing brunette shook her head and blew an enormous bubble, popped it, and chewed again. The fiery-haired girl looked pityingly at Sam and with all the bluntness of youth declared,
"Lady...that was the most suck-ass proposal I ever heard. My stupid brother did better than that and he proposed to his girlfriend in a freakin Chuck-E-Cheese with a million brats running around. At least he took off the head to his Chuck-E-Cheese costume and went down on one knee!"
Blowing another bubble, the brunette advised after popping it,
"Yeah. That dude's a loser. No offense. Just sayin'...I'd make him take you out to a nice restaurant, get dressed up, do it right before you say yes. If it was me, I'd make him do it and say hell no, just for giving me a ring with a damn hot dog. But it's your life lady..."
Floored by the statements of strangers- and teenagers at that- Sam silently watched the girls saunter away before moving to get some water...she couldn't think of anything to say.
Lifting her head, she met the gaze of General Jack O'Neill.
"Hey Carter...I was just dreaming about you...why do you have clothes on? Oh. Yeah. Not my dream. Okay, I'm disappointed, but I can work with this, I like parks- why am I here?"
"Would you ever propose over a hotdog?"
A boyish grin creased Jack's lean face and made his brown eyes twinkle,
"Are you kidding me? What kind of jerk does that? Don't tell me...Pete the Policeman...geez, Louise..." He shook his head, offended and amused simultaneously.
Her cheeks were heating and her eyes were just as snappy as her tone, "Okay, maybe it wasn't the most romantic proposal of all time...are you saying you'd do it better?"
The world shifted and spun. Carter became so dizzy she had to close her eyes. When the Colonel opened them, she was on the General's rooftop. The railings were strung with soft white lights. A soprano sang a love song from some opera in the background. Beside the telescope was a small table that held two glasses and a bottle of champagne chilling in a silver bucket. Glancing down, Sam saw that she was wearing a strapless chiffon dress that was fitted to the waist before flaring gently to the tips of her heels. It was the same color as her eyes. Behind her, Jack said with quiet sincerity,
"I think you're beautiful in dirty fatigues, Sam, but tonight...you take my breath away."
He looked so elegant in a modern tuxedo, minus the tie, that she could only stare. His smile was smug and sexy. Taking her hand in his, he led her to the telescope. Inclining his silvery head, Jack indicated she should look through it. While she stared into the night sky, he said softly,
"That's the North Star, Sam. It never changes. I'm not going to change either. I love you, and I always will."
She looked up into his face, touched his cheek, "Oh Jack, I love you too."
Bending down on one knee, he smiled as asked, "Samantha, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
She was nodding yes before he finished and smiling through tears of happiness as she said in a voice filled with emotion, "Yes" He rose and took her into his arms. Sweet, soft kisses turned passionate. Gently capturing the hands that had been undoing the buttons on his shirt, Jack murmured,
"I think one of the neighbor kids got a telescope for his birthday. How about we take the champagne downstairs and celebrate?" Grinning at her disappointed pout, he handed her the glasses, picked up the bottle, and stopped, a stunned look on his rugged face.
"What is it?"
He admitted sheepishly, "I forgot all about the ring. I left it downstairs on the bedside table in my..."
She stared. Was he blushing? Holy Hanna...it made her want to... Smiling promisingly, she said, "Why don't we go find that ring, try it on for size- see how it fits..."
Raising a silvery brow, he asserted, "Oh, I know it'll fit. It was made just for you."
Now she was blushing! Sliding her hand into his, Sam followed the man she loved down the stairs and into his bedroom, where the ring was tried on and the fit was perfect.
The next time the world spun wildly and shifted back, the woman cried, "No!" She had been just about to try that...ring...on for size again! Grabbing onto the water fountain, she startled when two hands slid around her waist.
"Hey, babe, how thirsty were you? You've been standing here forever...I wanted to see you try on your ring."
Wrenching herself out of his grasp, Carter backed up rapidly, shaking her head and saying with wide eyes, "I can't, I have to go...a project I have to finish...a report due...wish I could tell you about it...but I can't...I'll call you..."
He stood staring after her retreating figure with a puppy-dog gaze of adoration. Pete smiled and called, "I love you!"
She tried to smile, but it was a pitiful attempt. She tried to say the words back to him, but she couldn't, so she just waved and blew a kiss before turning around and walking double-time back to her car.
The moment she got home, Sam ran into her bedroom and jumped onto the bed. Pulling a pillow down to cover her face, she yelled, "This is crazy, it can't be real, come on Carter, wake up, wake up, wake up..."
Crossly wondering how she'd set her alarm to an alternative station playing a Pearl Jam tune about a woman lying about being in love because she couldn't find a better man, Sam hit the button to stop the annoying song and return the room to silence. The bed was made with military precision, which was quite a feat since the cover was a duvet. Stomping into the shower, the Lt. Colonel drew upon her scientific mind to once again negate every aspect of a disturbing dream. As for Teal'c's thoughts about dreams...who died and made him Sigmund Freud? The man had asked "What is an Oprah" for Pete's sake!
Drying her short blonde hair, Carter thought about Pete and was consumed with guilt. She'd dreamt such uncomplimentary things about him. Was that how she really felt? No, of course it wasn't. Dreams weren't subconscious psycho-babble. They were merely bits of information the brain used to try and make people three fries short of a happy meal in their sleep. Her face in the mirror paled...now she was sounding like Jack! Adjusting her uniform to inspection caliber regulation, the woman mentally pulled herself up by her bootstraps and marched into the kitchen where she drank a diet coke, denied her urge to eat Fruit Loops out of the box, popped a couple of acetaminophens and headed out the front door.
Walking into Stargate Command, Colonel Carter nodded or saluted to those she passed and walked briskly to her lab. Opening her laptop, she checked her email and finally felt that all was right in the world again.
Hours later, the phone rang and absently she answered. The voice on the other end said,
"When are you coming to get your plant? I've been waiting all morning and it's almost time for me to go have lunch..."
Smiling, Sam said dryly, "If I'd known you were holding your breath...I'd still have made you wait, Felger." The sputtering man sighed happily when she added, "I'm on my way." Logging off, she tidied her desk, put a few items in the out box and left the office.
Felger's assistant Chloe was rushing out of the lab as Carter walked in. Returning the other woman's 'good morning', Sam looked over to where the civilian scientist appeared to be hard at work. She knew he was pretending to pay her back for 'making him wait'. Sometimes the man acted like a high school nerd with a crush on the best looking girl in the science club. Smugly reminding herself that she had been the hottest chick in the science club- and every other academic club in her high school, Sam smiled and said, "If you're busy, I can come back...next week..."
The dark head jerked up faster than a puppet on strings. Brows waggling and dark eyes roving, the scientist protested,
"No, no, I can always find time for you, Colonel."
Glad that the man's blonde assistant that somehow worked side by side with Felger and remained hopelessly in love with the scientist wasn't there, Carter replied dryly, "Gee, thanks."
He smiled at her like she'd asked him out for a drink. Not for the first time, she wondered if the man might not have a bit of a problem distinguishing fantasy from reality. Deciding not to stand to close or smile too much ever again, Sam waited for Felger to show her the plant. He stared at her, smiling. She looked around the lab and asked to distract his attention from her...medals..."What are you working on now?"
Shaking himself out of some glazed-eye private thought, the man began rattling off the schematics to a new project. The Colonel listened intently; she was always interested in the scientist's work. His large dark eyes gleamed with a light that she'd seen once before- on a mission when he'd got a look at her in a clinging tee shirt. Thankfully, Chloe bustled back inbefore he moved into her personal space and she had to toss the man across the room. Felger, reminded of the reason he'd asked his favorite Air Force Officer to stop by in the first place, waved to a table by the door and said distractedly, his mind already on another project,
"A guy I know on Level 18 snuck...uh...brought over a couple of interesting plants that were just found on Pj2-445. I'm giving you the harmless one...that lives on air and loves to be neglected. Take it home, and think about me every time you look at it."
Shaking her head, Sam waved to the man who was the poster boy for incorrigibility and stopped by the table. An interesting, small, fern-looking plant was sitting on the table. Wondering what the dangerous plant looked like, she picked up the pot and carried her ultimate in low maintenance plant back to her office.
At the end of the day, Sam took her plant 'Jay' and smiled as she entered the elevator. Stepping inside, her eyes met the other passenger's, and her smile faltered. General Jack O'Neill looked too much like the man of her dreams...no, in her dreams...for the tall woman's piece of mind. He smiled,
"Hey lady, want a lift?"
Getting a grip on herself, Carter grinned, "Yes, Sir."
The sound of high heels clicking down the corridor and Kerry's soft feminine voice calling, 'Hold the elevator' produced a reflexive response in the blonde. She pressed the button to close the elevator doors. As the compartment rose, grey-blue eyes slanted to her companion. He was silently laughing! Feigning a cough to cover an unprofessional laugh, Sam almost dropped the plant when the elevator halted. The General's face looked as perplexed as she felt. The phone rang, and O'Neill answered it. His gaze flickered up to where the security camera was supposed to be monitoring them and then abruptly, unnervingly, focused on her.Curtly, he uttered,
"Uh huh. You what? That's what we pay you the big bucks for? Okay. No problem, I'll...let her know. Yeah, I can handle the situation. Get to work now, Felger."
Taking off his jacket, the General thought twice about sitting on something so studded with medals and placed it on the floor before sitting down by it. Lips quirking, he said, "Have a seat, Colonel...we won't be going anywhere for awhile."
Deciding that the air was rather stuffy in the enclosed space, Sam took off her jacket and sat facing the other officer, leaning back against the opposite elevator wall. Meeting his eyes, she insisted, "Tell me what happened."
Scrunching his eyes closed, the man admitted,
"Felger had Control stop the elevator. It seems that you took the wrong plant. The one you have has been named Inamorata by the comedians in a lab on level 18. It seems they tried to pull a prank on Felger, put a plant life- not an alien that looks like a plant thankfully- that causes certain people to respond in a certain way after exposure. Unfortunately, conditions, like the one we're in right now, are the exact ones necessary for...er...you know..."
She remained calm. "Why did they stop the elevator?" Carter stared as a slight flush crept over the General's face. He looked at her squarely,
"Because, after exposure, in a few minutes the...uh...symptoms start...if they're going to, they might not, and the lab guys didn't want you to be...embarrassed. I volunteered to handle any effects of the plant."
"Is that why it's called inamorata instead of inamorato, because it only affects women?"
The flush became redder,
"Well, that's true initially, but when the woman kisses a man, it seems the...effects...spread to him and to whomever else he comes in contact with...if you know what I mean."
"Oh...so we wait and see...what happens? Are they watching us? Are we test subjects?"
"Hell no, well yes, I mean, yeah, we wait and see, the symptoms take a fewminutes to...manifest...but no they aren't watching, they turned off the camera for...privacy...and we're nobody's test subjects."
O'Neill's gaze was incredibly compelling, especially when he was leaning forward, and she was leaning forward, and those dark, dreamy eyes were seen up close and personal. Gasping at the turn of her thoughts, the Colonel drew back so sharply she rapped her head against the wall. "Ouch!"
A warm strong hand sifted through her hair, feeling for a bump.
"You okay, Carter?"
She had been until the good General decided to sit beside her and touch her. Her eyes locked with his. She licked her lips. He started to look uneasy. His gaze fell to her mouth, shifted away. He cleared his throat, looked up at the ceiling panels and asked,
"Uh...feeling any symptoms?"
"Did I ever tell you that I like your hair silver?"
He looked at her skeptically. She smiled, "I do. It looks good on you...distinguished...sexy..."
His brown eyes darted around the space nervously before meeting her amused stare.
"Thanks"
She made a stifled sound of amusement. He smiled reluctantly and joked,
"Anything else you like?"
"Yeah, your eyes...they're like dark chocolate and make every other pair of brown look blah."
An arrested expression crossed his face. "Doesn't Shanahan have brown eyes?"
Sam bumped his arm playfully with hers. "Blah, blah, blah, blah blah..."
The sideways glance Jack threw her was assessing and apprehensive at the same time,
"Okay...Your pupils aren't dilated, and you're not unduly flushed or breathing heavy, but the sweet talk is definitely a symptom, Colonel."
The thought that an alien...but not plant boy alien...plant was causing her to feel amorously toward Jack made her giggle. His brows rose so high she thought they might slide up into his hair and hide. She giggled harder. He tried to casually scoot away. She scooted with him. Taking a deep breath, the eyes that made her think of melted chocolate and all the fun things she could do with it looked into hers while he said firmly,
"Carter, you're not yourself. I know you might think you have certain...feelings...for me, but..."
"Since the day I met you?"
His mouth dropped open. She decided not to tell him how much she liked his lips. She confided, "That's pretty much when the feelings started...something about your smart ass, irreverent personality combined with your looks- which are mighty fine, by the way- hit me hard, and I've been denying it ever since."
"Ah, geez, Sam...what am I supposed to say to that...?"
She leaned over and whispered, "Don't say anything- just kiss me." His lips didn't move against hers- at first. He just sat; tense and uncomfortable while she made herself at ease straddling his lap and brushing her mouth against his. She loved the way his lips felt as she rubbed hers back and forth touching them. Soft and firm at the same time, even better than in her dreams... Her hands slid up his chest and into his hair. In her imagination it was always silky, but in reality it was more coarse, but...texturally stimulating. The short hairs at the base of his neck tickled, and made her grin. He groaned,
"C'mon, Carter, give an old man's heart a break, isn't that plant...whatever...fading yet?"
She felt the tension in his body...every part of it, and it gave her a thrill. She pulled his earlobe teasingly with her teeth and breathed in his ear, "C'mon, Jack, you called me Sam before, too late to keep your distance now. Don't you remember what you told me? You've been...infected...may as well enjoy it...and you know very well you're in your prime- I'm waiting for you to prove it." His face became hard, predatory, and reminded her of the way he looked before battle.
"Damn that Felger, I'm going to nail him and every other science geek to the wall for this stunt. But first, I'm going to do what I've been denying I wanted for years."
His mouth met hers. It wasn't a gentle and sweet exploratory kiss. It was a deep, passionate, claiming kiss that skipped over hesitance and uncertainty and went straight for I know what I want and it's you. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a tiny voice was protesting that tongue swirling and thrusting was completely against regulations, but Sam ignored it and concentrated on how his body on top of hers lying back and stretched out felt better than she'd ever thought it would- and some of her dreams had thought it would be incredible. Neither noticed when the elevator began to move again or when the doors opened until a panicked voice said,
"Mighty Aphrodite! Turn your back, Felgar, Teal'c..."
Daniel's words froze the couple and caused Jack to lift his lips from Sam's. His eyes darted to the two men discreetly turned around before pushing himself off the body he'd been so...close...to and rising to his feet. He helped Sam up and the woman saw her friend's blue eyes flicker over their unbuttoned shirts and flushed faces. Quickly redoing buttons, she drew on her jacket and handed Jack his. He smiled at her, a warm, gentle smile that made her want to kiss him again. She leaned forward unconsciously, but was stopped by her friend saying,
"Uh, well, this was...not what we expected to see."
Felgar's snort was clearly heard. So was Teal'c's 'Indeed'. Continuing, after a wasted glare at the other men's backs, Daniel informed the pair,
"There seems to have been a little...mistake... Chloe took the Inamorata plant back up to the lab for more testing, and her bonehead boss didn't hear her, so he thought you had it, Sam, but you didn't and that plant in the elevator...is just an air plant."
O'Neill pushed past them, shoved Felgar around and grabbed the man by his lab coat lapels.
"Do you mean to tell me that you put us through that for nothing?"
Face bitter, the civilian replied,
"What do you mean 'put us through that'? It looked like you were having a good time to me, General. Don't blame me for what you let yourself do- the power of suggestion only goes so far."
Carter started backing away. The men were arguing and she just wanted to escape. She turned and ran. Faintly, she heard Jack yell, 'Sam' but she only ran faster. She nodded politely to the guards, and drove home in a daze. The Colonel was thankful that traffic was light and she could drive home on automatic pilot and not kill herself. Her cell phone rang. She answered, "Yes". After a pause, the General's voice asked,
"Did you make it home okay?"
"Yes"
"Are you okay about what happened?"
Her lips began to tremble. "No"
Silence greeted her response. Finally, he said quietly,
"Good. Think about what Felgar said...Sam...goodnight."
She stayed with the phone to her ear long after the call ended. Three times afterwards, the house and cell phone rang and she let the answering machine pick up the message. Pete was calling, wanting to tell his fiancée goodnight. Huddled in a chair under an old afghan made by her grandmother, Sam sat for hours, thinking about what Felgar had said and wondering what the hell she was going to do about it.
A/N: I bet you thought I'd only put the romance in her dreams, didn't you? Well, if you'd read any of my other fics (hint, hint, go read- lol) you'd know better, cheeky reader! Let me know if you'd like to see another chapter. Ideas are whirling like mad, but they need a little encouragement to- manifest- hehheh. So Review, brilliant reader!