Author's Note: So... here we go with chapter 2. Reviews are encouraged, even if they are negative... Helps me get better, don't y'know.
Later that day, after Dr. Langford and a dark-haired General named West had gone through some preliminary information regarding the work that I was about to start, and after I'd endured a lunch that made even U of O's dorm food taste like it had been prepared by a gourmet chef, I received word that my supervisor, one Captain Samantha Carter, had arrived and wanted to meet me. After asking an airman where Captain Carter's office was located, I made my way to a lab on level 19 of the facility. When I arrived, I heard a female voice speaking. I peered into the room and gave the occupant a questioning look. Without breaking off the conversation she was having on the phone, she waved me in and motioned for me to close the door. Doing so, I sat in the chair she motioned that I should sit in. Once I had settled myself, I took the opportunity to get a closer look at the Air Force captain I'd be working with for the next undetermined length of time.
Captain Samantha Carter was fairly tall, I eyeballed her at about five-nine, maybe five-ten. Her current expression was that of someone who really didn't want to be having the conversation she was currently in the middle of. I decided to tune into it. "-It's over, Jonas. I can't take any more of your need to control me. I don't want to see you again. Goodbye." Carter slammed the phone down and sighed. She buried her face in her hands for a moment, then looked up and gave me a rather sad-looking smile. "I'm sorry you had to hear that. I'm Captain Samantha Carter." She held out her hand.
"Tim McFadden," I replied, accepting the offered handshake. "I'm looking forward to working with you, Captain Carter." I looked at her sympathetically, taking in her rather care-worn appearance and the bruise on her right cheek. I decided that this woman probably needed a friend more than she needed an assistant right now. "If you'd like to talk about this Jonas person..." I offered tentatively.
Carter looked at my sympathetic expression and, somewhat surprisingly, decided to accept. "I've got a couch over here that's been getting a lot of use lately," she starts, pointing over to a dark-green couch next to the door. "Why don't we go sit down over there?" She suggested.
Captain Samantha Carter's viewpoint
I'd recommended that Catherine attempt to hire Tim after looking through a list of candidates for a civilian physicist to come in and help me try to figure out the capabilities of the big stone circle we had on level 28. The records didn't really do justice to him personally, though. The man sitting across from me in my lab had much more of a presence about him than could really be conveyed in a picture. He couldn't have been much taller than five feet tall, though he carried himself in such a way that he seemed to be much more average in height. Catherine had told me about his attempt to find out if my fight with Jonas last night was going to be a recurring problem. He had gracefully accepted her refusal to tell him anything about it. Catherine had also told me that she felt that it might not be a bad idea for me to open up to him during this initial meeting. Her words were something to the effect of "you need a friend, Samantha. I think he may want to be that friend. Let him."
Now, with Mr. McFadden - no, I think I'd better get used to calling him Tim - sitting in front of me with a sympathetic look on his face that made me think that he might just be more mature than his age, I decided that I really did need a friend right now. To hell with work. Catherine will understand.
So we go sit down on the couch that I point out, and I just start pouring out everything. Jonas, my father, my mother's death, all of it comes out. By the time I'm finished, I'm in tears. Tim doesn't even hesitate. He just wraps me in a very gentle hug, and the gesture just increases the flood coming from my eyes.
Tim McFadden's viewpoint
After hearing Captain Car- ah, hell, Sam, finish giving me her life story and break into tears, I immediately put my arms around her and guide her head to my shoulder. I don't even care that she's getting my shirt damp with her tears, which seem to be falling even faster after putting her in this hug. "Sam, it okay, just let it out. I'm not going anywhere," I whisper into her hair. At that point, I decide that after all the stress I've gone through the past several years, with all of the expectations of being as smart as I am, I could use a friend, too. Sam seems to sense this, as she sniffles and pulls away slightly. "Thanks," she says, giving me a watery smile. "I didn't really mean to give you my whole life story there, but I guess I needed it."
I smile back. "It's all right, Sam. I really don't mind." My smile fades slightly as her story brings up some of my own memories.
End Notes: Next chapter, Tim unburdens himself and a friendship begins. I think maybe the chapters might come once a day or once every other day.