5
He was sent immediately to Afghanistan, to the hill tribes and caves where the CIA trained Al-Qaeda forces were in residence. His field report observed that rather than still hating the Russians, whom they were trained to fight, a growing resentment was building for the US. Jack's report was dismissed as was usual when one branch criticised another.
The local CIA man did not even speak Pashto as Jack did, and Jack asked to be reassed out of disgust.
He was next sent to South America, where he was told to keep an eye on someone suspected of working for Castro by flooding the US with drugs. The subject had died soon after Jacks arrival, as did the man who took over his business, a fire at the warehouse they owned put the whole operation out of action
His assignment after that, at his own request was a training office at Peterson, he was leading a class in their flight training, recruiting on the side anyone he thought was fit for the SO.
He stated several times that his reason for wanting a US based posting was so Sarah and he could have more children. It never happened and eventually he was posted overseas once more.
Sarah, meanwhile, had been seeking counselling on her own, it seemed that Jacks plan for more children involved artificial insemination, though there was no mention of why. The counselling was part of the preparation for the procedure and a sub note was attached to his file as the councillor was an AF officer at the academy hospital. Sarah had not been as willing as Jack to undergo the procedure, though his notes did not say why.
His file after that was basically a list of ops, no injuries worth a mention, and nothing went too wrong.
Until that is, a note was attached to his file recommending that he be immediately committed to a mental institute and put under suicide watch! A recommendation that was ignored, he was called immediately to active duty and sent through the Stargate.
Sam had heard, of course, about Charlie. She had even seen a copy of him back when she met Sarah, but she had not realised that it had affected him so much.
She could not imaging losing a child, it had been bad enough losing her mother, but she had not for one second thought that her boss was the type to think of taking his own life.
She re-read the mission reports from the first Abydos mission as they were in the file. She started to understand that the only reason he took the mission to start with was because he hoped not to come back.
She looked at her watch, it was 19:00 on Sunday, she had been reading the files for 2 whole days! She felt emotionally drained, and rose to make herself a coffee. She had her mug in her hand and was heading back to her living room when the doorbell rang. She detoured and found Daniel on her step.
She invited him in and offered him a coffee, she slipped into the kitchen to pour him one, as he went into the living room. It was not until she entered and saw him looking at her screen that she remembered she still had the Colonels file on display!
She quickly closed the laptop but it was too late. Daniel looked at her and she blushed.
"I… I" she said, not having the first idea what she should say.
Daniel sank onto the sofa. "Sam, he is not the same person as that file suggests" he said, she pondered for a moment what he meant by that and he clarified "Jack was in a dark place when Charlie died, but don't for one minute think that he still feels that way"
She realised that the note about having him committed was on screen, Daniel was trying to convince her of something she already knew.
"I know Daniel, I just had to know…"
"What?" he asked
"Everything" she blurted out. "I wanted to know why he sleeps as he does, where he gets his strength, how he always manages to inspire me to be better than I am…" she ran out of reasons, though she knew there were a million more, she could not articulate them.
Daniel smiled at her. "How long?" he asked
She looked at him, trying to work out what he meant and could not figure it out
"How long have you known you love him?"
"I… Daniel… We… I" she shook her head and took a deep breath, "He is my CO Daniel, I am not allowed to have feelings like that for him, I would have to report them and be transferred off the team" she saw a flash of panic in his eyes.
"So I have to say, I don't know what you are talking about" he nodded his head.
"It's a shame, I think the two of you would be good together" he said and erotic images of the two of them together flashed through her mind! She blushed. "You know he feels the same way about you, don't you?" she shook her head in denial, what the hell could he see in HER? He was a true hero, and she was a geek!
"Jack was released this afternoon, he's invited us to his house for the evening, I came around to offer you a lift, T is already there" She considered it, they were not due back on base until Tuesday, and she had not had anything to eat at all since the lunch she had thrown together the day before.
She flashed Daniel a quick smile and told him she needed to change, though he disagreed, she was in a pair of baggy sweatpants and a 10 year old AF shirt.
She changed into her jeans and a top, grabbed her bag, phone and keys and headed back to the living room. Daniel was looking at her machine again, at the pictures of Jack when he was rescued from prison, she saw tears in his eyes and knew she had matching ones in her own.
She pressed the delete key and wiped the flash drive. He nodded in agreement and the pair of them left to see how badly he burnt the meat this time.
She studied him as he stood by the grill, she knew he knew she was watching him, he wouldn't have lived as long as he had doing the job he had for so many years if he couldn't tell when he was being watched.
He turned a couple of times and raised an eyebrow at her as if asking what was wrong, but she could not hold his gaze and dropped her eyes until he turned back to the food, at which point she could not help herself, she raised her eyes once more and watched his every move.
She had had a sort of hero worship type crush on him to start with, she knew that, but having read his files, seen the suffering he had endured and come through she had raised him from hero to super hero. Added to the fact that he had been there to offer comfort when she needed it most, with her dad, she knew she was in serious trouble.
It didn't hurt matters that he was drop dead gorgeous with the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. Her gaze travelled up and down his body, he was lean, but not too thin. He had muscles but not the hard body type Teal'c had, his was a more subtle strength, built up through use, not exercise.
He was taller than she was, enough so she had to look up, which was unusual for her, though all 3 of her team members were taller than her, she was almost average height for a man. Something that had caused no end of embarrassment during her years at college and the academy.
She dragged her eyes away from him to see Daniel watching her with a smile on his face, she pulled her tongue out at him childishly to which he gave her a huge grin.
Jack turned at that moment, the steaks all piled onto a platter. "Whatcha doin' kids?" he asked
"Nothing Jack" Daniel said, still smiling at her, she blushed… GOD! She wished she could stop doing that! However he seemed to think it was nothing to do with him and he placed the meat in the table centre and reached through the open doors and brought out a salad bowl. Teal'c was still inside and brought out the baked potatoes.
"I have been considering your DVD collection O'Neill" the big man said "I find you have several significant gaps in it"
"Oh?" he asked "Like what?"
"I will remedy the situation in time" he said but no matter what they asked he would not tell them what he meant.
"This is Carters fault you know" her boss said, pointing at her with his fork
"How so?" she asked
"You rigged his TV in his quarters to get him free films and channels" he said "You ought to see the rubbish he watches"
She had not thought of influence TV would have on him when she had rigged him a connection, she had just done it when she realised that he was stuck watching the news or community channels. However she was delighted that he was starting to develop a taste for something Earth bound, he was entirely too focussed on his past in her opinion and needed something to stimulate him.
She smiled at the thought of Teal'c watching Oprah, remembering his question as they had walked away from the Shavadai that time.
"So Jack… recovered from hitting the 'gate room floor have you?" Daniel asked
"Yeah, bit of swelling still on the knee, but Fraiser says we should be good to go by the back end of the week" he replied "I've been looking at the data the MALP sent back from P3C-599 and I've pegged it for us… I had to fight off Makepeace and the Jarheads for it"
Sam looked up at him at the mention of him looking at the MALP information, but it was Daniel who said what she was thinking
"YOU were looking over the MALP data?" he said his tone incredulous "What for?"
"I DO know how to do my job Daniel" he said a hurt tone in his voice, Sam saw the twinkle in his eye as he bated the younger man "What makes you think I wouldn't look?"
"Well… I didn't expect… you don't usually" he started to blush and his glasses were falling down his nose over and over, Sam ducked her face so he wouldn't see her smile.
"O'Neill always reviews every location before we go to determine what equipment to take and if there is any danger to be seen at the site" Teal'c chimed in
"I… wasn't suggesting that you… it's just that at the briefings you don't look interested"
"That's because you are telling me things I already know Daniel" he said with that 'patience… you are explaining to a child' tone in his voice, Sam couldn't help it, she giggled at the antics, she raised her eyes to see her CO grinning at her… god he was sexy! She lowered her gaze again to the table. Daniel decided he had had enough and dropped the subject.
Daniel left early with Teal'c and she offered to help with the washing up. She carried the plates in doors and scraped them, she enjoyed doing the simple things around a house, she found housework relaxing and she hummed as she washed the dishes in the sink, she jumped suddenly when he came up behind her and said "humming?" in her ear.
"I… housework…" she paused again "I always hum when I'm happy or relaxed" she told him, he smiled at her softly
"I'm glad you are feeling relaxed, it's been hard on you lately" he looked straight into her eyes and she felt herself melt "if you ever need someone to talk to, my door is always open, you know that don't you?" she nodded. He turned and picked up a tea towel and started drying the plates, she just stared at him… did he have any idea how special he was? …did he know how much she wanted him?
He turned again to look at her "Carter" he said and she shifted her focus to his lips thinking of what they would taste like, "Carter!" he said louder, she shook her head she really shouldn't think like that about him.
"Sorry sir" she mumbled blushing once more, he lifted her face with a finger under her chin.
"Sorry for what?" he asked
"I…" she shook her head again and turned away quickly, her breathing had sped up and she thought if she did not get away from him she would pass out. She went into the living room and picked her things up, it was only then that she realised Daniel had given her a lift, she had no way home.