Make belief

Set after somewhere between 'Chimera' and 'Death Knell'.

The inquisition isn't over. His fingers move towards her stomach and circle around the tiny scar that sits right above her hip bone. Sam has never paid much attention to the marks on her body. They are part of her, tell her story—a story she never really thought about sharing with anyone.

"How did this happen?" Pete asks and leaves a kiss on this spot. It's meant to be loving, but Sam flinches when his lips touch her skin. This scar holds the memory of another man, and Pete's lips on it feel like stealing a moment from her.

"Someone stabbed me," she says and rolls onto her stomach.

"Someone stabbed you?" Pete laughs, unbelieving. "On a different planet?"

"Actually on base," she tries to keep her sentences short, in the hope he's just gonna stop asking questions.

"What? Why? Who?"

"Just an airman. An alien virus infected the base."

"Cool."

"Not really. I got stabbed."

"What virus?"

Sam sighs. "It turned some of us into neanderthals."

"No way. Did you go all cave lady too?" There's a glint in his eyes, which is meant to teasing but is just annoying.

"Kind of. I attacked someone."

"Who?"

The memories flutter through her brain in a flashback and rush over her body with a hotness she hasn't allowed in a long time. Her lips on his, her body pressed to his, the sharp breath he pulled when she pushed her knee in his groin. She remembers so vividly it causes her stomach to cramp—even though it's years in the past and she had been under alien influence. With her head in a cloud of thoughts, her usually sharp brain doesn't react when Pete asks, "Who."

So she mumbles, "Colonel O'Neill."

Pete's full laughter pulls her out of her submission.

"You attacked your boss?"

Sam rolls over, sits up, and pulls a shirt over her head.

"Kind of."

"That must have hurt his male ego."

Pete's naivety makes her smile. The Colonel has no 'male ego,' and even if he had, that incident probably only boosted it.

„My Sam. Fighting the alpha male," he continues, clearly amused by the idea of Sam undermining that Colonel of hers. The tone in his voice rubs her the wrong way. There's something in her that wants him to know that she didn't fight the alpha male but tried to seduce him. Instead, she gets up and starts dressing.

„Come back," Pete says and tugs on her sleeve oblivious to her mood.

„I gotta go."

„It's 11:30 at night."

„I have an early day tomorrow and need to finish something before."

„Sam," he looks as disappointed as he sounds. But right now, the big goofy eyes are just annoying.

„I'm sorry. I'll call you when I come back from my mission," she answers and forces herself to lean in and kiss him goodbye.

„Carter," Colonel O'Neill says and checks his watch. When he looks back up, his eyebrows are raised in disapproval. "At this time, you should be leaving, not coming to base."

She's too tired to come up with a lie that's going to convince him, so she decides for honesty instead. "I'm gonna stay in for the night."

Usually, he would ask questions, send her home, tell her to get a life, but he doesn't, and weirdly enough, it bugs her.

"What are you still here, Sir?"

"Oh well, reports catch up with you eventually. In my case, that date fell on this wonderful night."

"Fun."

"Yep. Well, I better get started," Colonel O'Neill says and is about to move past her when she says, "How about a coffee before. I'm pretty sure I spotted cake too."

She smiles at him brightly, the smile that makes him smile too. But not tonight—for a matter of fact, she now notices it hasn't worked in a while. Pretty much since he found out about Pete. Something inside her contracts at this thought. He musters her face before he turns his eyes away and says, "I'm good on cake for today. Nite, Carter."

And gone, he is.

Sam's face flashes hot and cold. Her mind won't work. Something is trying to get at her, from a long way away. And then she sees it: he's trying to move on. Trying to get back to the safe, professional space they quite honestly never had been in, to begin with. Her face still hot, she turns around and hits the up button for the elevator. She's going back. Back to that small motel room with the guy who's heart is wide open. She's going to kiss him and snuggle into his arms and ask him to come back next weekend, and no, it has absolutely nothing to do with how the Colonel just reacted, no, no, she is so over that.

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