Trust
Chapter Eight
Disclaimer: Not my show, not my characters.
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The president paused for a second, before speaking once again, "Did I call at a bad time, O'Neill? You sound tired." Or in other words, like he had just woken up from an afternoon nap.
Or a very good dream. Jack scowled, but nodded all the same, "I didn't get too much sleep last night, Sir. But, I'm fine."
"What was it you wanted to talk about then?" he questioned. "It can't be anything too horrible, otherwise you would have had my secretary pull me out of my meeting-- which you didn't do."
"Actually, Sir, it's something that I would rather discuss in person." he said, wincing in anticipation. The president was going to laugh at him, he just knew it. Yep... any second now... laughter.
"I could arrange a flight for you, O'Neill, if it's really that important."
For a moment, Jack was taken aback. No laughter? Hmm. This could be a good thing. No, this had to be a good thing. "Really?" he asked, a bit astonished. "I mean... you're not drowning in work to be done?" He knew he was, and he was only a brigadier general. This was The President, he had to have at least twenty boring meetings scheduled.
"To be honest with you, O'Neill, I am. A distraction from my negotiations with Iraq and Pakistan and being able to hide from the UN hippies running around itching to get a piece of me would be welcomed at the moment." Jack shrugged, sounded plausible to him. "This way, I have a work-related reason and not many people can know if it wasn't serious, with the classified nature of the program."
No wonder he was the president. "So you are going to just drop everything for a few hours to have a chat with me?" he questioned. "...Sir."
"Why not? You're a very important man."
"Yeah... but you're The Man. Sir. I'm sure there are a lot of other things that are more important than--"
"A lot of other, boring things, yes. They can wait for two or so hours. When can you be down? Tomorrow? I can send a plane for you."
This was too easy. "Are you sure, sir?"
"I'm positive. And getting a little frustrated at all of the second-guessing of my decision, frankly."
That was enough to straighten Jack out, the last person he wanted to be frustrated was the president. Especially with what he was going to ask him. "Uh, yes sir. I can be there tomorrow morning. Colonel Carter will be with me as well, sir."
No way in hell he would ask for the frat regs to be suspended otherwise.
"That's fine, O'Neill. I'll send a plane tonight and have my secretary fax you any information that you may need. I expect to see you and Colonel Carter bright and early in the morning, General. I have a press conference at noon that I can't get out of."
"Yes, sir." Jack barked in his military trained way. "And, thank you, sir."
"I wouldn't say that so soon, O'Neill. I haven't said yes yet."
Before Jack could reply, the phone clicked and a dial tone was all he could hear. Well... that was certainly odd. But, a lot better than he had expected, to say the least. He glanced around his office with a sigh, pushing back his chair and getting up from his desk. He had to find Sam.
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The first place that he looked was her lab on level 21. True, she used the one on sub-level 19 more frequently than the one on 21, and he knew this, but he also knew that whenever she wanted to get away level 21 was the first place she headed. She had gone there after Daniel's funeral when he ascended and after Janet's as well. It was like her sanctuary.
Not surprisingly, he found her there, staring off into space looking very deep in thought. He cleared his throat and stepped further into the room, reaching behind him to knock slightly on the wall, seeing as the door was made of metal. She glanced up at him, surprised, then smiled faintly. "Hello, sir." she greeted, standing up. "Is there something that you need?"
"Sit down," he ordered, though there was no tone of superiority in his voice and it was more of a request than an actual order. "We've got to talk."
The look on her face plainly said that she did not like that statement and if he didn't rephrase it soon he could forget about her sitting down, insubordination or no. Crossing her arms over her chest she waited for him to fix whatever it was she didn't like.
"I talked to the president."
Oh, that said everything. "And?" she questioned, still standing.
"It's not bad, Sam, really. You can sit down." She gave him an incredulous look, but did sit down as he had asked. "Ok," he continued, taking a seat as well. "He's agreed to an impromptu meeting, although he doesn't know what it is about. All he knows for certain is that it's nothing too serious, but he was willing to see us anyway. They're sending a plane down tonight so we can leave first thing in the morning, due to his busy schedule. I'm not sure when, but sometime later I'll have all the information on when we leave and when we're coming back."
"Really?" she questioned, "so soon?"
"Yeah... that's what I thought."
"Are you sure he doesn't think it's serious, sir?" Sam wanted to know, as she shifted in her seat and brought her legs up into the chair, hugging them with her arms. "That could be why he was willing to get us down there so quickly."
"Nope," he replied, shaking his head. "I made sure that he knew it wasn't anything life-threatening."
"Hmm," she shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I should get started on my work then, sir. If I'm not going to be here tomorrow."
He nodded, "Alright, Carter. Scurry off and do... whatever it is that you do."
She nodded and took off out the door, sighing in relief, and feeling as if a weight was starting to be slowly lifted from her shoulders.
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It wasn't until after 1600 hours when Walter brought him the fax, which contained the information he needed on where to be and what time to arrive when he left in the morning for DC. He was a bit surprised when he saw that the plane would be leaving at 0500 the next morning, but then he had to figure in the time change, and in the end, they would be arriving around 7, eastern standard time.
He had left his office a few minutes after that, headed for level 19, where he was sure she would be. She had, of course, stated that she was going to get some work finished, and 19 had nearly all of the equipment she needed to do whatever her scientific heart desired.
Much like earlier that day, he hadn't been surprised when he walked into the room to find her leaning over her desk, tinkering with some sort of battery. She didn't look up when he entered, but he could tell she had noticed him doing so. Her posture had changed, straightened, slightly, and she had begun to put the finishing touches on whatever it was in front of her.
"You don't have to stop on account of me," he assured her, stepping into the office. "I'm only here to tell you to be at Peterson AFB at 5 in the morning and pack something warm and dry, because it's supposed to rain."
"Great," she mumbled, doing something which caused the doohickey to spark. She jumped slightly, obviously not expecting the reaction, but continued on with what she was doing. "I'm almost finished with this anyway, sir. What time is it?"
"Almost 1700," he informed her. "Why?"
"I haven't eaten since this morning, I was wondering if you'd like to get something to eat," she informed him, connecting a wire from one end of the object to the other, whereupon the thing starting to glow. She sat back, triumphant, and smiled at her victory. "There, see? I'm finished."
"What is it?"
She gave him an incredulous look, "Do you really want to know?"
He made a face, "Uh... how about in lamen's terms?"
"A battery."
"Just a battery?"
"A very complicated battery which would take a lot of big words and terminology to describe, sir."
"I see... a battery it is."
Sam grinned and took off the gloves she was wearing, running her hands through her short hair with a sigh. "Well... how about dinner then?"
"It sounds great," he replied, then motioned towards the door, "after you."
She looked at him for a second, trying to figure out if he was just being a gentlemen or if he wanted to watch her backside as she walked down the hallway. Deciding that either choice wasn't particularly horrible she smiled slightly and headed out of her office, unplugging the battery before she left. The last thing they needed was her office to go up in flames because she was in a rush to get the last blue jell-o.
They headed to the commissary in silence, rode the elevator down to level 22 in silence, and things continued as such. Only after they had gotten their food did either one of them talk, and the one who did speak first was Sam. "So... five o'clock?"
"Yup."
"There goes that good night's sleep I had planned on," she sighed. "I almost fell asleep in my office this morning."
Jack grinned, "I actually did."
A smile tugged at the corners of her lips and she shook her head with silent laughter, "You're impossible, sir."
"Well," he said with a shrug, "I try."
"What if he says no?" she questioned, suddenly shifting the conversation from innocent flirting and teasing banter to a serious discussion full of consequences and broken rules. "What happens then?"
"We'll figure something out," he promised, trying not to look as if he and his 2IC were deciding what to do if the president told them they couldn't be together, or, at least as if it wasn't against the rules. "I'm not waiting anymore. I can't."
Sam sighed and fought the urge to reach her hand out over the table to take his, "Neither can I."
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It was early, very early, and the light from her living room window was the only one burning onto the quite neighborhood sidewalk. Before either had left from work the night before they had decided that taking one car would be simpler, so he had volunteered to drive his truck. The base wasn't too far away, but it still took a good twenty minutes to get there, so he had left his house at ten after four, arriving at hers fifteen minutes later.
He didn't bother knocking, figuring the noise might wake up her next-door-neighbors, and instead used the spare key that he, Cassie, Daniel, and Teal'c all owned. She was standing in the middle of the hallway, wearing a pair of blue jeans and a plain white t-shirt, but even that showed off more of her curves than the frumpy fatigues at work did. He, himself, wore something relatively similar. Jeans and a plain black shirt, his faded bomber jacket sitting on his seat in his truck.
"I figured I'd wear something comfortable until we got there," she explained, although from the way he was dressed she figured he had as well. "I've got my BDU's in my room."
"Go get them then," he said, "we'll stop somewhere for breakfast along the way."
She nodded and headed back down her hallway and into her bedroom, emerging a moment later with a dress bag and pair of high-healed shoes in her hands. Together they left the house, pausing slightly so she could lock the door behind her, and then he opened the door to the truck for her, waiting for her to climb inside. Again, she wasn't sure if he was trying to prove that chivalry wasn't dead or check out her behind, and again neither choice was a bad thing.
He shut the door behind her when she was safe in her seat and walked around to the other side of the truck, getting in with a sigh and a wince at the stiffness of his knees in the early morning chill. Sam acted as if she hadn't seen it, knowing he was partially ashamed of his minor flaws in stamina due to his aging body. To her it didn't matter, to her he was perfect. As he started the truck he looked over at her with a smile, "Are you ready?"
Sam shook her head, suddenly feeling like a small child about to ride a bike for the first time without training wheels, "Oh God no..." she confessed, her eyes wide with nervousness. "I'm scared out of my mind."
Since there was no one around to witness any fraternization he leaned over the seat and brushed his lips against hers for the briefest of moments, "So am I."
Doing her best to catch her breath, she stared into his chocolate brown eyes, which were dark with emotions, emotions for her. Never in her life would she have imagined to be on the receiving end of those eyes. Her heart fluttered in her chest and she could feel her pulse racing as she smiled tightly, wondering how he couldn't hear the intense beating of her heart. "We're gonna be ok, right?"
Jack nodded, reaching out and cupping the side of her face with his hand, "We're going to be great, Sam."
Bringing her hand up to cover his, her blue eyes shined with her worry, "How can you be so sure?"
A small smile came to his lips and Sam suddenly wished that he would get the impulse to kiss her once again, even if it was just as short as the first had been. "Do you trust me?" he questioned, and she was immediately brought back to the planet where everything that had gone on in the past few days had begun. She had trusted him then. She trusted him now.
With a nod she replied, "With my life."
Then, as if he had heard her earlier thoughts, he leaned forward once more and caught her lips with his, holding on tighter and longer than before. When he broke away the same smile was back on his face, "That's how I know," he told her. "I love you, Samantha," he said, causing her to shiver at both the confession and the use of her first name. "And now that I've finally got you, I'll never let go."
"You'd better not," she whispered, her throat dry with the fear and the excitement and uncertainty that was rising in her stomach, "because I love you, too."
"See?" he asked, running a hand through her short hair, causing her to shiver once more. "We're going to be just fine."
Sam smiled, feeling for the first time like that was the truth and she would finally be happy. Like all the others that had come before him were simply detours on the road that led her to exactly where she was supposed to be, with him. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, there would be bumps in the road, now that she was finally traveling it; but she trusted him with her heart and knew that they would be able to get through any twist and bend along the way.
They were going to be just fine; and for once, fine didn't sound like such a bad thing.
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A/N:
Now, that could possibly be the end, but I didn't put anything up
there because I'm waiting to see you guys' reaction to it. If you
want a few more chapters, then let me know, but if you think that
this ending is good enough, then let me know, as well. I'm looking
forward to your comments. And I got to be honset with you, I have a
really good idea for the next chapter... so I'm hoping that you want
more. And I might just write more anyway...
