A few paces from the 'gate room, Jack asked the question which had been on his mind since first seeing her. Gesturing towards her injured limb, he asked, "So… the arm…?"
She shrugged, dismissing it. "Nothing…. No big deal."
He wasn't fooled. "Yet, the sling," he observed.
Carter paused for a moment before answering. When she did, her voice was casual. Maybe a little too casual. "Well, one of the super soldiers managed to get onto the ship with us and knock me down before we could take him out."
"And by knock you down you mean…?" He knew the size of those things, and he was trying his best not to imagine what might have happened.
She grinned a bit sheepishly. "Out like a light, yes, sir."
"Carter…."
"I'm fine, sir. Really. It was just for a minute."
"Uh-huh." The woman's brains had been scrambled enough to knock her out and no one thought it important enough to even mention it? His mind made up, at the next corridor junction, Jack turned left.
Carter paused in the process of turning right. "Sir?"
"Infirmary first, Carter. Then lunch."
"Sir… I don't…"
He gave her his best 'don't-argue-with-me-I'm-your-superior-officer' look. Amazingly, for once, it worked.
With a defeated sigh, she turned and followed him down the hall.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-
As Janet Fraiser retreated back across the infirmary to see to another patient, Carter slipped off the exam table and turned to Jack. "See?"
He couldn't hide his smile. "Yup."
"Feel better, sir?" She wasn't trying to hide hers, either.
"Yes, thank you."
"Good… And now, if I remember correctly, you still owe me…?"
"Lunch…. Yup." Not like he could have forgotten the promise of lunch with Carter even without the empty space in his stomach a constant reminder. He glanced down at his watch. "However," he observed, "We've got exactly five minutes before your debriefing with General Hammond. How 'bout we go grab a burger somewhere afterwards?"
"Well… I…." Her surprise at the invitation was obvious; they rarely got together off-duty. Not anymore. He couldn't just invite her over for beer and hockey like he could one of the guys. He didn't even think Carter liked hockey. And he knew she didn't like fishing.
But hamburgers… Everyone ate burgers. "C'mon, Carter, you gotta eat…." When she still hesitated, he added, cocking one eyebrow, "I'm buying…?"
It worked; the momentary awkwardness vanished. Laughing, she played along. "Really, sir?"
"Sure. Why not? It is a special occasion after all." He grew suddenly serious. "You did good out there, Carter.
Her smile grew still brighter at his praise. He would have bought her filet mignon. "Thank you, sir."
"My pleasure, Carter."
And it really was.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"Sir… You gonna eat that?" Carter asked, pointing towards his plate.
He glanced down at the abandoned fry she was indicating. "No."
"May I?"
"Be my guest," he replied. She reached forward across the table and snatched the fry off his plate.
"Thanks." She took a bite. "Mhm…"
"You know," he observed, "You could have ordered some yourself."
She finished her mouthful before answering, "I didn't want that many." Then, pointing at another fry, "Can I?"
Laughing, he picked his plate up and handed it across to her, "Here, Carter…."
"I don't want…" He arched an eyebrow, and she gave in, reaching to take the plate from him. "If you're sure…"
"Take it."
She did, and set it down in front of her. He watched as she dipped one of his fries into the pile of ketchup he'd left on the plate and popped it into her mouth. After she'd chewed and swallowed, she observed, "This was a good idea. Much better than lemon-chicken at the commissary."
Sitting across from her, watching as she dipped and chewed yet another fry, he couldn't have agreed more. "Yup."
He thought he'd kept his tone neutral. Professional. But she glanced up sharply at him, searching his face for a moment before ducking her head back down, catching the beginnings of a grin between her teeth. "Then again," she observed after a minute, a smile still lingering at the corner of her mouth as she looked back up at him. "What isn't?"
-o-o-o-o-o-o-
He watched her cross the parking lot and, with a final wave back at him, get into her car. It felt wrong, somehow, watching her leave like that. Watching her drive away without him. If it had been anyone else…
But it wasn't anyone else.
It was Carter.
He was her commander… her mentor. Her friend. And he couldn't imagine his life any other way, without her at his side watching his six….
Without the chance to watch hers.
Smiling to himself at the thought, Jack unlocked the door of his truck and climbed into the cab. He might be going home alone tonight, but she'd be there when he got to work the next morning. And all the mornings after that.
It might not be everything, but at least it was something.
And that was a hell of a lot better than nothing at all.