Author's Notes: Okay, so I totally forgot what the original title for this short story was, so I'm resorting to the typical Jane Austen-y way of titling things...I'll change it as soon as I remember.
This isn't really JerryxSam, but it is a short WAFFy (Warm And Fuzzy Feelings) fic based on the idea concept that Sam is "Jerry's favorite."
It's nothing special, it's more a result of peer pressure. ; I hope you enjoy! I'm way out of practice, writing-wise. .
Added: Oh yeah--this entire thing was inspired by a paper-cut I got last night. ; I wrote it all in one day!
"But I don't wanna go, Mom!" An eight-year old Samantha protested in the middle of the kitchen. "Roller-skating! Ugh! So embarrassing!" She folded her arms in a pout, and crossed her legs.
"Your father and I both agree that you need to get out of the house more often." Gabby didn't look up from her current kitchen project: blanching green beans from their garden outside. "You spend way too much time beneath lamps with your nose stuck in books. It's not healthy. You'll get a hunched-over back and inhale too much lead from pencils and you'll strain your eyes and…"
"…blah, blah, blah…" Sam droned, rolling her eyes. "So you want me to go outside more, so what!" Sam argued back. "Too much sun and I could get premature aging, skin cancer, and who knows what else from all the harmful rays! You know what they're saying about the ozone layer and global warming, y'know!"
Gabby sighed, smiling, and walked over to her daughter. "All that hype on the news…what are they teaching you at school?" she toyed with her daughter's braid. "It's too late to argue now, Mister Lewis will be here any minute, and we can't just send him away now, can we?"
Sam glowered at her mother. "You invited him, not me. Why don't you go roller-skating?"
Gabby laughed, "You know, for an eight-year-old, you're acting awfully big for your britches!"
As if on cue, the doorbell rang, and Gabby set her spoon down. "That must be him. Wipe that scowl off your face, young lady. I want to see your pearly whites as soon as I get back here."
Sam heaved a huge sigh as her mother went to answer the door. Stupid, stupid Jerry. This was all his idea. She lifted her head as a man arrived with her mother; a man around their age, but sometimes appeared to be more interested in the things she cared about.
Sam was always curious how to take Jerry's attention. He was a friend from where her father received his Ph. D.. He'd always come to visit, but often when her Daddy wasn't around. Why did he care so much about what she thought or what she did?
He was one of Mommy and Daddy's friends…so why did it feel more like he came over to see her?
Sam pushed her inquisitive thoughts to the back of her mind as she met Jerry's bright smile with her own. Her analytical nature always went out the window whenever he showed up. She had convinced herself that no matter what, roller-skating could in no way be fun. But Jerry always managed to find a way to prove her wrong.
"You ready to head out, Samantha, dear?" Jerry's soft British accent cooed over the humming of the air-conditioning. He squatted down to the young lady's eye-level, and offered one of his hands.
Sam rested her delicate, tiny hand in Jerry's large, roughened palm. She looked into his warm hazel-gray eyes. Faint traces of crow's feet lined the outsides of his eyes as he smiled at her and pulled her up.
"Now you'll make sure she's wearing the proper protection, won't you Jerry?" Gabby nagged Jerry as they headed towards the door.
"Honestly, Gabrielle, would I ever intentionally put your daughter in harm's way?" Jerry gave her a 'look.'
Sam tugged at Jerry's arm, using all of her weight to pull him away from her mother. "C'mon Jerry!"
"Oof!" Jerry nearly tripped over the doorstep as the feisty red-head dragged him to his black Mercedes-Benz. He chuckled as Sam made herself at home in the passenger's side, and as he sat behind the steering wheel, he reached over and buckled her in. "You'll want to pull your hair up, love." Jerry lightly tossed a few strands of her red hair over her shoulder. "It'll get hot and sticky if you don't."
Sam held up her right wrist, which had a scrunchie on it. "I'm way ahead of you, Jerry."
Jerry's lips curled to a smile, and he arched his eyebrows as he pulled onto the street to head towards the boardwalk. "The child prodigy that you are, Samantha…you never cease to amaze me."
Sam leaned forward and began to punch at all of the weird buttons on Jerry's console. She never could quite figure out why Jerry needed all those buttons. "…Mommy's car doesn't have all these buttons…" she noticed a bright blue button with a large "W" on it, and reached over to check it out—
Jerry lightly swatted Sam's hands away. "Now stop that."
Sam fell back in her seat, and folded her arms over her chest, reverting back to her pout. "This whole thing was your idea."
"And if it was?" Jerry queried.
"…." Sam looked out the window. "I don't like roller-skating."
"You've never tried." Jerry shot back a witty retort.
Sam remained silent until they reached the boardwalk. The sunshine bounced off of the freshly-painted white planks of wood bordering the coastline. Sam squinted, her eyes adjusting to the blinding sun. She shaded her eyes as she got out of the car. Jerry slipped on some sunglasses, and took out a tiny pair of roller skates from the back seat.
Sam spun on her rear in the seat, and dangled her feet out of the car. She kicked off her sneakers onto the asphalt as Jerry made his way over to her. She extended her arms, reaching out for the skates.
Jerry paused, and handed Sam the skates. "…for someone who was so reluctant on the drive here, you've made a drastic turn-around."
Sam shrugged, "Well, we're here, there's no point in carrying on, is there?"
Jerry chuckled again, and pushed his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose. "Better that you came to that conclusion on your own, young lady."
Sam frowned, and glared up at Jerry. She stuck out her bottom lip, and tied both of her skates tightly. "I'm not…" she gave her laces a final tug, "…that young."
Jerry arched an eyebrow, and said in a tone that made it obvious that he was humoring her. "Beg your pardon, dear." He offered his hand to help her to her feet.
Sam scoffed, picking up on his patronizing manner. "I can do it on my own, thank you." She wobbled to her feet, and began to foot across the asphalt like a newborn filly. She outstretched her arms to keep her balance, her knees shaking with insecurity as she groped at the empty air for stability.
Jerry's arms quickly met with Sam's as she began to roll down the slope, and she let out a weary whimper as she flapped her arms in a vain attempt to slow her decent. Her tiny fingers dug into his sleeves as her skates steadied to a halt, and she looked up to Jerry, who had an expectant smile on his face.
Sam pouted out her lip more, and furrowed her brow in determination. I'll show you, Jerry. She pushed off of him, and propelled herself down the asphalt and onto the glowing white boardwalk. I'll show you that I can do anything I want!
Jerry's eyes widened and he called out after her. "Samantha! Wait! Your kneepads and--!" He sighed, and put his hands on his hips, "…your mother is going to kill me." He couldn't help but smile at the girl's ambition.
Had I known…it's as though I had known that you had designs on recruiting me into WOOHP even way back then…
Sam grinned with pride. "Ha! I told you so!" She called over her shoulder, strands from her ponytail coming loose and whipping her in the face. "See, Jerry! I can do anything by myself!"
Jerry had his arms folded, and he simply watched her with a satisfied smile.
Sam felt her chest inflate with pride. She gained such satisfaction and validation when she could show Jerry just all she could do. She always received praise and acknowledgement from her parents and teachers. She knew she was "gifted," and "ahead of her peers." But she never heard that from Jerry. Jerry was different. Didn't he think she was special? He probably just didn't see it yet. He wasn't around nearly as much as her teachers and parents were. He hadn't had the opportunity to see her shine.
She'd show him. She was the best! Her teachers saw it, her parents saw it…it was just a matter of time before he saw it, too! Could he honestly say he knew a little girl as brilliant as she was!
Sam's sense of accomplishment was cut short when the wheels of her skates met with the edge of the boardwalk stairs.
Jerry's jaw went slack, and he quickly made a dash in an honest attempt to rescue the child from a rough tumble.
Sam's fingers unsuccessfully attempted to suspend her fall down the steps, but it was to no avail. She squeezed her eyes shut and she remembered to go completely limp in order to break the fall the best she possibly could. Her landing didn't arrive without several bumps along the way, though.
Jerry reached the top of the stairwell, and didn't pause before hurrying down the steps to rush to Sam's aid.
Sam rolled onto her rear end, and lifted her palms from the cement sidewalk at the bottom of the stairs. They stung bitterly, and her left knee throbbed miserably. She fought back tears, but they weren't tears of pain. Her pride took a greater beating than her tiny frame, and she was embarrassed that everyone around her saw her take that humiliating fall.
Jerry knelt by Sam's side, and rested an elbow on his propped knee. He knew that Sam's vanity suffered a pretty nasty blow, and so he held back from offering any apparent assistance. Instead, he came to her side to offer moral support. "You meant to do that." He teased.
Sam's bottom lip trembled, and her green eyes looked up to Jerry's with tears clinging to her long lashes. "D-don't…patronize me." She annunciated the word as her voice shook. Obviously it was one of her new vocabulary words that she was incorporating into her everyday speech.
Jerry gave Sam a sympathetic smile, and he got down on both knees. "Come now, come now." He offered both of his hands palms-up to her, "Let's clean up that knee, or it'll get infected."
Sam didn't hesitate before taking Jerry's hands, and he lifted her up. Her feet rolled in the skates, and she let out a frightened yelp as she threw her arms frightfully around Jerry's waist, burying her face into his shirt. She could feel his chest vibrate as he lightly laughed some more. She closed her eyes, and didn't lift her face from his shirt. She felt his arms lightly wrap over her back, and his voice vibrated against her cheek again as he spoke: "Would you like to take off the skates?"
Sam simply nodded, not willing to vocally admit to the world to hear that she was giving up.
"Well, another day then." Jerry acknowledged, leading her to the bottom step of the boardwalk stairs.
Sam watched Jerry in silence as he untied her skates, and gingerly pulled them off. She wiggled her toes, feeling a smile break through her tears. Jerry seemed so attentive to her feelings, like he was a mind-reader.
Jerry pulled out a handkerchief from his back pocket, and gingerly cradled Sam's left calf in his hand as he lightly blew on the open wound. Sam watched him, rubbing her eyes with the back of one of her hands. She sniffled as Jerry took the kerchief and rested it over her knee. "This will have to do until we get you home…" His eyes trailed up her leg to meet with hers again. He smiled, and put a finger to his lips. "…now this has to be our little secret, okay, Sammie?"
It was all your fault, you know…it was all your idea…
"Oh. My. GAWD!" Clover groaned beneath the sweltering sun of the Beverly Hills training facility of WOOHP. Her hair was pinned back and tied into a stubby ponytail, but it didn't do much to prevent the rain of sweat from permeating her training clothes. "Isn't there some sort of health ordinance or something against subjecting us to this kind of torture!"
Jerry was sitting by a water cooler behind a portable high-powered WOOHP turbo fan, decked in shades and appropriate attire. "Once you start making the inventions, Clover, you can reap their benefits."
Alex glared over at Jerry, pausing from her sets of roundhouse kicks. "…you know, I'm having a hard time believing that slacker is the big man behind this organization."
"Yeaaah!" Clover added, "I swear,
there's got to be something about child labor laws or something
that covers this, right, Sammie!"
Clover's question was met
with heavy panting as the red-headed young woman sped by the three on
the field's track.
"Wuh--?" Alex's mouth gaped open as she caught sight of their fellow spy fly through the obstacle course with fortitude and a focused resolve. Both she and Clover watched with blank stares, and Jerry sat up, lowering his sunglasses a bit.
"…talk about pushing it." Clover muttered.
This is what you wanted for me. You did think I was something special…why don't you ever come out and say it, then?
Sam turned around, and didn't even stop to catch her breath before passing through the obstacle course a second time. What do I have to do to hear it? I've heard it from so many others, what makes him any different?
"Uh? Hel-lo?" Clover put a finger to her temple, and flatly stared at Sam on the other side of the track. "Can you say 'gung-ho much?'"
"No kidding." Alex turned to Jerry, "Hey, Jer, what was put in Sammie's Cheerios this morning?"
Jerry walked into the blazing sun and stood beside the two teenagers. "You know how Sam gets when facing a new task."
"Yeah. She gets, like, totally freaked out over showing everyone up." Clover folded her arms. "What's she trying to prove, anyway?"
Sam approached the final hurdle, that sense of accomplishment washing over her again. A smirk played on her lips, and she set her sights on the three waiting for her at the end of the course. I'll show you, Jerry. I'll show you I can get anything I want!
Jerry returned Sam's smirk. Sam used that incentive to boost herself into the air, launching herself over the hurdle with both hands, and making an impressive flip mid-air, and landing square on her feet…
…or, that's how it was supposed to go…instead, it came off more like a sloppy slide onto her heels, her right ankle caving inwards towards her other foot, and sliding across the dirt track like a baseball player stealing home. She winced as she let her body absorb the shock from the tumble, and she felt a sharp sting shoot up her shoulder as her uniform sleeve caught on the rubble and ripped through her shirt into her skin. She clenched her teeth as the rest of her arm dragged along the dirt, scraping her skin as she skidded to a stop.
The girls gasped. "Sammie!" Alex brought her hands to her mouth. Clover covered her face as Sam took the fall, and Jerry instinctively hurried to Sam's side.
Sam pushed herself up, lightly laughing at herself in embarrassment. "Ow…wow, that smarts…" She rolled back on the other side of her hip to even out the weight, and lifted her wounded arm. Patches of dirt clung onto the scrapes, and she winced again.
Jerry didn't say a word as he knelt down and took her wrist, pulling her arm out gently, but surely. "You meant to do that, right?" He said with his usual teasing tone, though this time, his face was more serious.
Sam felt the blood creep up her neck and gather at the apples of her cheeks. "…o…of course not." She meekly replied.
Clover and Alex arrived at Jerry's side, and Alex knelt beside their boss with a bottle of water. "You okay, Sammie? You took a pretty nasty spill there."
"Dummy. Stop pushing yourself so much, will ya?" Clover scolded as Jerry took the bottle of water and rinsed it over her arm. "Sheesh. What're trying to prove, Sammie? That you're some freaky over-acheiver?"
Sam lowered her eyes, and watched Jerry tend to her injury. He smiled slightly at Clover's bluntness, to which she smiled in return, lightly chuckling.
Clover folded her arms and turned her nose up. "Sure, you laugh now! But don't come crying to me when you decide to be all dare-devil on some mission and we have to bail you out!"
Sam winced as the water met with her freshly raw skin. Jerry had his eyes lowered as he lightly blew on her scrape. "And how often is that actually the case, Clover?" He said with an amused tone as he placed his ever-familiar handkerchief around her wound and tied it lightly.
Sam's pale skin flushed a more embarrassed hue as Jerry came to her rescue.
"…." Clover flatly stared at Jerry, "Hey, no fair. You're supposed to join in, Jer."
Alex came from behind Sam, and helped her up by her arms. "Up you go, Sammie!" she chirped, tugging at Sam's arms.
"Owowowow!" Sam yelped, stumbling up. "I'm up! I'm up!" Both she and Jerry stood, and Sam dusted off her legs.
The four spies headed towards the water cooler. Clover lead the team, per usual. Her hands were placed behind her head where her neck met her shoulders, her elbows protruding into the air. "Honestly, Sam…what're you trying to prove?" She posed the question again.
Sam looked to Jerry, and stuck out her tongue. I know I'm your favorite. I'll show you, Jer…one of these days I'll make you admit it.
Jerry glanced back at her. His eyes diverted to his handkerchief tied around her arm, and then back up to her eyes. His crooked smile was crossed by one index finger over his lips, which he quickly lowered.
"Now this has to be our little secret, okay Sammie?"