Turning The Tables #2
"Ah, c'mon, Sam!" the man whined. Yep; he whined. She'd never realized his low baritone voice could even get that high.
"A-ah!" she said quickly. "No welching, Jack!"
"Fine," he grumbled and looked at the list, pinching the bridge of his nose with a pained expression. "What d'you want to hear first?"
"Fun," Sam said promptly. Much of what she found fun tended to glaze Jack's eyes over. He'd even once asked her not to suck the fun out of something. "I know I'm your favorite geek, but I'm not that much fun at times."
"You're not a geek, Sam. Felger's a geek," Jack said. "You … you're an egghead. There's a difference."
He gave her an angelic smile, but she wasn't about to touch that one with a staff weapon. "You think I'm fun."
"You can be," Jack said. "Fixing up your Indian on the base?" He smirked at her. "And for a cautious scientist, you sure had fun on that Loop of Kon Garat." He gave a melodramatic sigh. "I was stuck in diplomatic meetings and you were out there getting your kicks. No justice!"
She gave him her own smirk. "Well, that's what they paid you the big Colonel bucks for," she said, choosing not to comment on the fact that he'd actually recalled an alien name correctly. Since they'd gotten together, he'd become less shy about showing off his intelligence. Though she still didn't know his IQ.
"Joyful." Another thing she wasn't sure about. Sure, since meeting this man she'd learned to take pleasure in the simple things, but the joy had been rare in her life.
"The way your eyes shine when you're on the verge of some break-through or when you find an element I can barely pronounce. D'you know how much I loved to watch you spout babble at me simply for how big those eyes of yours could get?"
"Oh, please." She gave an inelegant snort and took another spoon of ice cream. "Your eyes glazed over within ten seconds of me speaking."
"Well, I never claimed to understand what you were saying. But …" — here, Jack went a little pink and toyed with his fork … — "your enthusiasm and passion were inspiring. It was such a breath of fresh air for this cynical old soldier."
Sam felt a stupid tear spring to her eye. Jack O'Neill was never the greatest with words, but occasionally he could come out with something so wonderful that all she wanted to do was grab him and kiss him senseless. "Wow," she gulped.
Before she gave in to the tears, she decided to move on. "Kissable."
"What?" He shrugged innocently. "You're gorgeous and sexy. Of course I'd find you kissable."
"But … we only kissed that one time!" Sam said, blushing at the memory. "And you didn't exactly enjoy it." Then she recalled. "Oh … you kissed the other me. Doctor Carter."
He shifted and seemed inordinately interested in his empty plate. "Right," he muttered.
"Jack …?"
"Sam?"
"You're hiding something," she accused.
"Am not."
"Jack; I'm not Daniel."
"Duh; I think I know that much, Sam."
"I'm not doing the monosyllabic debate with you." She leaned over the table and cupped his chin, bringing his eyes up to meet hers. "Come on. Fess up."
"Ah. Hmmmm." He cleared his throat, grumbled and wriggled. "Fine. Fine. Remember that whole thing with the loops?"
"Yes …," Sam said cautiously. "Did you do something? You were staring at me across the briefing table with this … sorta dreamy … expression. Cat and the canary."
"Hmmm!" More grumbling and wriggling. "Well … it's Daniel's fault. He said if we knew the loop was going to reset itself, then we could … do anything we wanted. With no consequences."
"Ah." She decided to turn the screws a little more. "So; what did you do?"
He grinned. "Played golf through the 'gate," he said. "Hit one all the way to Alaris — a new record."
"And …?"
"Taught T how to juggle; the man's a natural. Threw pots. Rode a bike through the corridors." He gave yet another cough — he was starting to sound like Schrodinger with a hairball! "And I resigned."
"Resigned? What for?"
"Stand up."
"Jack?"
"Humor me, Sam. Stand up."
Eyeing him warily, Sam got to her feet. "Okay; I'm listening."
"Well … I changed into civvies, went to the control room and handed Hammond my resignation. And you asked me why." Suddenly he took her face in his hands and covered her lips with his. He turned and dipped her, and she found she was forced to wrap her arms round his neck to keep her balance. The kiss ended and he set her upright. "So I could do that," he added roughly.
"Wow," she squeaked. "And … did I respond?"
Now his grin was a full-on Jack O'Neill little boy grin. "You sure did. That's one sweet memory." He eyed her a little anxiously. "You're not pissed, are you?"
Lips tingling from the man's kiss, Sam shook her head. "No," she said. "I'm kinda pissed I don't remember it, but I'm flattered." He raised his eyebrows. "Really!" she said. "I mean … all the things you could've done and you chose to kiss me."
Sam braced herself for the last thing on his list. "Tormented."
"Sam; what you went through with Jolinar … then on Netu. And with that bastard Fifth." Jack took her hands in his and stroked his thumbs over the backs. "You think I don't know you still have nightmares about that son of a bitch?"
Tears sprang to her eyes again. God, she was so emotional lately! "Jack …," she muttered.
"Then there's the crap you torture yourself for — the stuff you blame yourself for. Like those Eurondans who died against the iris. Or when the Replicator version of you managed to get that cipher-thing."
Sam closed her eyes at that. "Because of me; she destroyed so much. Because of me."
"Hey! I approved the mission, remember? I made a bad call — I should have seen that you were too close to the situation."
She opened her eyes and regarded the man she loved. The man bore so much guilt, yet he had the joie de vivre of someone much younger, much more innocent. "How d'you do it, Jack?" she said. "How do you deal with the guilt?"
He didn't even pretend to not know what she was talking about. "It's a cliché, but one day at a time. Each day, it's a little easier. I can sometimes forget, but I can never forgive myself. Especially for … Charlie."
She linked her fingers with his and drew each hand up to her lips, bestowing a soft tender kiss on each one. "Thank you," she said.
She got up from the table and pulled him up. "Jack …," she said uneasily, pulling her top lip in between her teeth.
"What is it?" he said.
She closed her eyes, not knowing how to tell him. Oh, hell! Just do it, Sam! He has the right to know! "Jack … I'm pregnant."
His eyes went wide and his mouth opened and closed several times. Then he let go of her hands and stormed out of the living room. "Oh, God …," she whispered. You should have waited! He's just mentioned Charlie and you spring this on him? Nice timing, idiot!
She went to the bedroom hesitantly, then paused as she heard drawers slamming. "Damn! Damn, damn, damn!" she heard him mutter.
She closed her eyes, feeling the tears drip down her cheeks. He didn't want this child. For all he was so good with kids — they'd always been other people's kids. Maybe he thought he didn't deserve it; that he was too old.
The door opened, and she hastily wiped a hand over her face. "Jack? Are you … okay?" she asked.
His face was flushed and his hair stuck up madly. "What? Oh, yeah!" he said. He took her chin and kissed away a stray tear. "Sam … you kinda stole my thunder," he added, then took her hand and led her into the bedroom. "Sit down and … humor an old guy, huh?"
Now thoroughly confused, Sam did so, and he sat down next to her. "Samantha Jean Carter; ass-kicking egghead and mother of my child." He gave her a huge shit-eating grin. "I'm not one for speeches, but I love you. And I want to marry you."
She gaped at him.
"So … will you?"
She continued gaping.
"Carter!"
The familiar CO bark snapped her out of her fugue and she stared into Jack's handsome face. He dug in his pocket and produced a small black velvet box. "Saw this a couple months ago, and it just said 'Sam'," he said. He flicked open the box to reveal a platinum ring with a simple square-cut sapphire flanked by two diamonds. "Sam; say something, for cryin' out loud!" he added. "Even if it's only a call to the nearest psych ward."
The ring was gorgeous, and just what she would have picked for herself if given the choice. How did he know her so well? "Oh, God …," she gulped, tears sliding down her cheeks. "God, Jack! I love you!" she said. "And, yes!"
He heaved a huge sigh. "Thank God; you were killing me there!" He took her left hand and slid the ring onto her fourth finger. "Fits perfectly," he said proudly. He tilted her chin upward and gave her the sweetest, most gentle kiss ever. "Thank you, Sam," he added seriously.
She slid her arms around him, then ducked her head into his neck, giving the soft skin a kiss. "For what?" she mumbled, now incredibly sleepy. Damn pregnancy hormones!
"For loving me."
"Always," she muttered, closing her eyes and allowing herself to drift away in Jack's strong arms.
Incredibly sappy, but it had to be done! On re-reading this fic, I'm a bit squicky about this last part, but I couldn't see how else to do it. So I apologize if this is out of character.
Anyway, like all you shippers I'm sure, I want Jack and Sam to have babies. Lots of little Sams with big blue eyes, and little Jacks with his mad hair. Can you imagine their kid — with Sam's curiosity and Jack's attitude? As Jack would say: "For cryin' out loud!"