Chapter 27: Espresso Moments
"Nathan!" Veronica yelled, letting go of Sam's hand to run towards the fallen pair. Sam started to follow when arms enveloped her, preventing her from moving.
"Sam, no," said Ms. Hans, trying to turn her around so she couldn't see what was happening.
"Let me go!" Sam protested, struggling. Adults already surrounded the two fallen as Sam continued to resist futilely against Ms. Hans restraining hold. "Please!" she begged. Unbidden, a tear slipped down her cheek, and Sam brushed it away impatiently.
"Oh Sam," Ms. Hans said, wrapping her in her arms more tightly.
"Mommy!" Sam heard a child crying, recognizing the voice as Nathan's, and she bit her lip.
"Give them some space," she heard an adult say. In vain, Sam tried to see what was going on, but there were too many larger bodies blocking the view.
Then she heard an unmistakable groan, and her hands wound into unconscious fists in Ms. Hans sweater.
"Aggh. I hate trees."
Without realizing it, Sam started to shake. Ms. Hans started to rock her, murmuring into her ear, and Sam pressed her face against the woman's chest, surprised at the wetness on her face. She hated being so helpless. Frustration at her situation battled with her worry. At least he was conscious, but in what state?
Finally, the woman's words sank in. "He's ok," she was saying.
"He is?" Sam asked in surprise, pulling back. Jack had fallen pretty far, and she had been prepared for the worst.
"Yes, you want to go see him?" Ms. Hans asked.
Sam nodded, hastily drying her face on the sleeve of her jacket as the woman stood up. Sam took the automatically proffered hand, and let the teacher lead the way through the group of adults surrounding Jack. She found the Colonel sitting up, looking none the worse for wear aside from some dirt and leaves and a small scratch on his cheek. He studied her for a moment, and Sam swallowed, looking down, unconsciously tightening her hold on Ms. Hans' hand. The woman squeezed back.
"Hey," the Colonel said, reaching out and lifting her chin. "It's ok. I'm ok," he said.
"You sure?" she asked quietly.
"Sure I'm sure." He gave her another look, and then without saying another word, reached out and gathered her close. Sam's surprise quickly melted, and she relaxed into her commanding officer's arms, reveling in his solidity. Closing her eyes, she inhaled, getting a whiff of soap, aftershave, and the strong smell of outdoors, namely, hay, grass, leaves, and horse. Finally, she let go, pulling back, and giving him another closer look.
"Are you really ok?" she asked, wanting to be sure.
"Fit as a fiddle," he replied. "And I'm positive I don't need to get checked out," he said to the hovering cluster. "Now, someone help me up," he asked, holding up his hand. There was no shortage of volunteers, and he was soon on his feet. He groaned, and rubbed at his back. "Should be some interesting bruises," he said to many sympathetic looks.
"Thank you Mr. Lewis," said a subdued Nathan.
"And how are you tiger?" Jack asked the little boy.
"I'm ok. I won't never climb any trees no more," he said in perfect seriousness. He looked at his mother. "Can we go on a hayride now?"
Jack laughed, and tousled the little boy's hair.
There were no further mishaps the rest of the day. Nathan did stay glued to Jack with something akin to hero worship in his eyes. But Jack didn't really mind, Nathan was a cute kid, even if his nose did run.
The attention of his mother was something else entirely though. And while Veronica had been interesting and polite earlier, she became, well, annoying after the tree mishap as Jack called it in his head. And maybe that was because his back was beginning to ache from his hip to his knee, in time with a throbbing in his head, or maybe because she became somewhat clingy, hanging onto his every word.
But most of all it was the way she looked at him. Like someone who has just made a remarkable discovery. Only Jack got the feeling he was the discovery. Usually he'd be flattered. What man wouldn't? But for some reason, when Veronica looked his way, he wanted to run.
Screaming.
Sam was no help. She'd apparently figured things out and would probably tell Daniel, Teal'c, and most definitely Janet. Anytime he looked in her direction hoping for sympathy, she looked entirely too amused. This is what he got for the daycare center. Payback was a bitch.
With a sigh, he got up from the hay bale he'd been sitting on as he saw the woman heading his way. The day couldn't end fast enough. Somehow, he had mostly managed to avoid being alone with Veronica as soon as he realized the woman's intentions. Locating Sam, he pulled her away from the group she was in, where she was pretending interest while a farm worker gave a demonstration on how milk was extracted from cows. The other children were fascinated. Judging by the expression on Sam's face, coupled with the level of probable fatigue and boredom, he didn't think Carter would take much convincing to go along with his budding plan.
"So, Sam," he said softly, "any objection to us bowing out of here early, my back is a little sore…" he trailed off leadingly. Sam's eyes widened in concern, and she took in his words, and quickly compared them with the lines on his face and the stoop of his posture and a knowing look crossed her face. His gut sank, and to top it off, out of the corner of his eye he caught Veronica edging around the outskirts of the group towards him and breathed a soft sigh when Nathan grabbed her hand to ask her something. Belatedly, he realized that Sam had seen what had caught his eye.
Busted.
"Sir," returned Sam, equally quietly, "bad enough to see Janet?" she asked, calling his bluff.
He groaned, and then sighed, staring at the barn wall. He tucked his hands into his pockets and jiggled his keys. "Noooo. But we could go to base. Maybe. For a little while," he suggested, throwing out a bone. He'd rather go home, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
"Well…" Sam said, considering, pretending to watch the demonstration.
Sensing her wavering, he pounced. "My idea, or the cows Carter," he said.
She thought hard, but only for a moment. "Your idea," she decided.
Inwardly, he rejoiced, but managed to restrain his reaction to a slight bouncing movement, happily jiggling the keys and change in his pocket. "And not a word to Fraiser, or I'm leaving without you," he told her warningly.
Her eyes widened. "You wouldn't," she protested in disbelief, tearing her eyes from the demo to look at him.
"Oh, wouldn't I?" He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.
Sam gave him a hard look, before conceding defeat. "Ok. You win," she said grudgingly, turning away again.
"Always do," he replied with a smirk.
"That's what you think," Sam muttered quietly.
Jack shot her a look, but decided not to press the issue as he affected an exaggerated limp. Somehow, he managed to maneuver a group of excited children between himself and Veronica when she noticed him leaving and made his way to where the teachers were supposed to be, to let them know their plans. He didn't really expect a problem with his ducking out a tad early, the trip was all but over anyway, with less than an hour to go, and there were more than enough adults to cover for his absence, especially since he was taking Sam with him. Besides, if they protested, he planned to play the injured hero card.
It worked like a charm. Mrs. Guilford clucked sympathetically, and Ms. Hans told Sam she'd see her the next day. He had to work to suppress a grin as he moved with somewhat fabricated care. If he were honest, he was a bit stiff, but he'd been worse. Still, he couldn't help shooting a triumphant look at Sam in the back seat. She returned the smile, and frowned slightly.
"Are you sure you're all right, sir?" she asked, unable to mask her concern.
"A little stiff, but nothing I can't handle. I'm still holding you to our deal," he threatened as he pulled out of the lot. To his relief, Sam glanced out the window as the farm disappeared, and nodded.
It had been almost too easy.
They arrived at base, and Sam bid him a farewell as soon as they'd cleared security, heading to her lab with an eager stride. Jack took himself to his office, for once feeling willing to do some paperwork for a change.
Several hours later, paperwork had lost its appeal, and Jack stood with a groan, the time he'd spent seated having served to stiffen bruised and sore muscles. Rooting quickly through the top drawer, he grabbed the bottle of pain reliever he kept for his knee, and dry-swallowed several tablets with an ease of long practice. Knowing that the stiffness would best be worked out with activity, he wandered out intending to check on Carter, doing his best not to limp for real this time. It was past dinnertime at any rate, and it was even odds if she'd thought to eat or not. He harbored a small hope of convincing her to leave the base with him as well. If she were as tired as he was, he might be able to pry her away from whatever project she'd managed to engross herself in.
Turning the corner to his resident scientist's lab though, Jack's hopes were instantly dashed. Sam was wide-awake, perky even.
"Hello sir," she greeted him cheerfully as he stopped in the doorway. She looked back down at her laptop and frowned slightly, and then hopped… yes hopped, down from her stool before moving across the room and gazing up at a shelf. Before he could process it, she'd swarmed up the shelf like a monkey, grabbed some object and was back down on the ground, regaining her seat at the worktable with little regard for the free-turning seat. "Can I help you with something?" she asked distractedly when he stayed rooted in the doorway, surprised by the energy level his deceptively young officer exhibited.
He frowned. "I just thought I'd see if you wanted to come grab dinner with me. We could find Teal'c maybe…" he trailed off as Sam jumped down from the table again, and bounded onto a wheeled chair in front of a bank of incomprehensible machines with such enthusiasm that she went into an unintentional spin, which she stopped by grabbing the table. She muttered at the machine for a moment, before climbing to her knees to reach some controls. Having accomplished what she'd set out to do, she plopped back down and twirled the chair to face him.
Waving back toward the table, she shook her head. "No thanks, I already ate," she said, and pushed off from the table, the chair gliding effortlessly across the floor towards a bank of file cabinets. With a jaded eye, Jack looked in the direction she'd indicated, and it all became clear as he took in the plastic cup and paper carton of donuts. He took several steps into the room and lifted the lid off the carton to find only two donuts remaining in the package that had likely held a dozen.
"Carter, how many of these did you eat?" he asked, trying to remain calm.
"Hm?" came the distracted reply. He rolled his eyes.
"And coffee too?" he added, lifting and rattling the nearly empty cup, a small amount of coffee colored beverage and ice all that were left in the clear plastic cup.
She shrugged, seemingly unconcerned as she climbed back up to the lab table. "Dr. Harvey brought me the latte, he knew it was my favorite, and I figured it's mostly milk so it should be ok…" she explained, trailing off while doing something to the guts of some artifact or another. Clearly, she was not focused on the conversation.
"And a shot of espresso!" he fired back, starting to lose patience.
At his sharp tone, she looked up, and frowned. "What?" she asked, still patently clueless.
"Carter, do you know how much caffeine…and sugar are in those things? Not to mention how much sugar was in the donuts you ate," he explained.
She paused, and seemed to focus on him for the first time. "I only had two," she said, pausing. "Or three maybe," she said uncertainly. She flushed as comprehension dawned. "Is that why…"
"Uh huh. Feeling a little energetic are we?" he said with only slightly suppressed sarcasm.
"Oh," she replied, seeming to deflate somewhat.
"Yes, oh," he shot back.
Sam shook her head in denial. "I feel fine though, great even."
He rolled his eyes again. "For now. Just remember, what goes up must come down," he told her ominously.
"It can't be all that bad," she muttered, poking at the object in front of her, but he could see her heart was no longer in it.
"Well, I'll tell you that Sara hated those half days before the holidays where they threw parties and stuffed the kids full of cupcakes before sending them home," he told her, wincing in remembrance.
"Isn't there something we can do, maybe Janet could…" she said, "Ah, no," he interrupted. "The doc hates those days just as much as Sara did. Nothing to do but wait it out until it wears off. We should probably head home where you can wind down in peace."
She frowned; looking over the various projects arrayed on the table and about the lab, and sighed at the news of the lack of an easy cure. She seemed to be weighing her choices. "I don't know, I really feel fine now, sir. I doubt I could relax, and I have a lot to catch up on. I should probably take advantage of this. " She sent him a little smile, and then hopped down from the stool to swarm the bookshelf again. Jack stared after her for a few minutes, but she was already absorbed in her project and the things she needed.
Shaking his head slightly and unable to see the advantage of the situation, he echoed her sigh. He could order her to come home with him, but somehow, he doubted that he wanted to be alone with the Major when the sugar and caffeine high wore off, especially if she accompanied him unwillingly. "Suit yourself," he said as he turned and left. It was going to be a late night if he were any judge. "Don't forget it's a school night," he called over his shoulder as a parting shot.
"I won't," she said, but she had already turned away. She'd have to find out the limitations of her changed body the hard way.
Looking up, Sam blinked at the view of the doorway she had around the table legs. "Daniel," she greeted, a smile blooming across her face.
Daniel squinted back at her, absently adjusting his glasses as he tried to locate her. Giving up, he turned toward her voice. "Sam, hey, I was on my way out but saw the light on. What are you still doing here?" he asked. "It's ten thirty."
Pausing in the act of rifling through a low file cabinet drawer, Sam straightened, startled. Then she rose on tiptoes to peer over the top of the table for an unobstructed view of her teammate, framed in the doorway. Daniel blinked owlishly at her. She frowned slightly, running a hand through her hair and rumpling it before stooping back to her task. "Wow," she exclaimed, the words slightly muffled by the furniture. "I didn't know it was that late. I'm not tired at all. Ah, there it is!" she crowed triumphantly, extracting the object and easily climbing up to kneel on the stool, even with her prize clutched in one hand.
Joining her on the other side of the table, Daniel peered at her closely as she bent to her task, attaching thin colored wires from some small shiny black rectangular object to various bits of something that might have been circuitry about the size of a keyboard, only it looked like nothing found on Earth. "Sam?" he asked, "You seem… different… somehow."
"Hm?" she mumbled, attaching another bit of wire, and then looked up, meeting her friend's concerned gaze. "Oh, I forgot about how much caffeine is in a latte. I mean, it's mostly milk right? I might have had some donuts too." She shrugged it off, bending to poke about with another wire.
"Shouldn't you be, I don't know, sleeping?" he asked, obviously remembering how often she'd fallen asleep much earlier in the recent weeks since her transformation.
Sam paused, and looked up, but a beep from her laptop distracted her. She dropped the wire she was holding and spun the chair towards the screen, quickly tapping a few keys. "Oh, hey! My program is done. This is great!" she enthused. "Daniel, you would not believe what I've managed to get done tonight."
"Yes, but don't you have to be up early in the morning?" he pointed out patiently.
She shrugged again, only paying partial attention, the rest focused on the computer. "Yeah, I guess. It's just I seem to be a little more sensitive to stuff like caffeine and sugar now, I just didn't realize how sensitive. But the way I see it, there's no way I could sleep, so I might as well be useful. There. I need to go to the control room, and install this program into the dialing computer. I've been meaning to do this fix for ages now," she explained, as she closed the laptop, and hopped down, sending the seat spinning. She stopped halfway to door, aware Daniel hadn't moved. Turning, the big laptop cradled carefully in her small arms, she looked quizzically up at the man. "Wanna come with?" she asked, overly cheerful.
Immediately, Daniel smothered a yawn, shaking his head ruefully. "You may feel like you can go all night, but I sure don't. I'm heading out."
A smile tugged at her lips. "Well, I sure hope I'm not pulling an all-nighter, but it's not like I haven't done it before. And on a school night too!" she said with uncharacteristic flippantness.
Daniel just shook his head. "Good night Sam," he said pointedly. "And take it easy, hey?"
Sam just grinned. "I will. Night Daniel," she bid, and scampered off down the hall.
Stifling a yawn, Jack turned into the control room. He'd caught up with Teal'c earlier, but even the stalwart warrior had conceded fatigue several hours ago, leaving him alone. It was almost eleven, and with Carter's lab empty, it was the second most likely place to find his errant Major. Sure enough, a slightly high-pitched voice came to his ears as he entered the room overlooking the stargate, and he quickly picked out the small blond head. She was kneeling on a chair, pointing to a screen. Harriman and another technician leaned in from either side, following what she said with rapt attention. Jack wasn't sure since the lights were dim, but he thought the men looked slightly awed.
At her words, one of them men practically leapt up, going to a nearby terminal to enter a series of commands, as if he were worried what would happen if moved too slowly. The other engaged her attention with questions, and Sam replied, hands waving vigorously to illustrate some point. Covertly, the other technicians and airmen in the room watched the scene with sideways glances, some looking amused, others seemingly daunted by the display.
"The Major seems rather energetic tonight, doesn't she," came a mild voice from behind him and to his left. Jack spun, spotting General Hammond leaning casually against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched the activity in the control room.
Jack ran a hand through his short hair and sighed. "Yes, sir, that she is."
The older man speared him with a searching look, and Jack met his gaze coolly. "Isn't it a school night?" Hammond asked, pointedly looking at his watch.
Sighing again, Jack broke the gaze, and looked at the Major. She didn't seem the least bit tired. "When I see Dr. Harvey again, he'd better be surrounded by the rest of SG-14." He shook his head. Sensing the General's curious look, he explained, not taking his eyes off Carter. She was typing furiously, chattering away all the time. "He brought her an iced latte and donuts," he explained ruefully.
"Ah," said Hammond, the sound somehow conveying volumes. He watched the scene silently for several moments. "A shame we can't bottle this somehow."
One corner of Jack's mouth turned up as he too watched. "Yeah," he agreed. "She's gonna crash though."
"Hard, if I'm any judge of things," speculated the General. Jack could only nod. He began to sidle towards the door.
"Well, I should get back to…" he started, gesturing vaguely in the direction of his office.
"Not so fast Colonel," said Hammond, and he pointed toward an empty chair, his meaning clear.
Jack didn't move. "But sir," he protested.
Hammond shook his head. "You broke it, you can stay and watch the fallout," he said.
At that, Jack frowned. "Sir, I didn't give her the latte or the donuts."
Glancing sideways at the younger man, Hammond froze any further complaints. "She was your responsibility son."
"Uh, well, when you put it that way sir," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose, and desperately trying to think of a way out of it. He'd actually planned on being as far away as possible before Carter finally hit the irritable stage.
"Sit," ordered the General, gesturing again at the chair. Jack sat.
It took about another hour. The clues were subtle first. She fidgeted constantly. She grumbled at the program, complained about the speed of the computer. Nonexistent things irritated her. Eventually, nothing seemed to satisfy her. Her voice went up a notch in pitch as she delivered a monolog of complaint about some minor hitch in the proceedings to her captive audience, occasionally punctuated by enormous yawns. Jack thought fleetingly of suggesting they leave, but a shred of self-preservation held him back. She was teetering on the edge, and they could all sense it, coiled like a spring. The least provocation could make her snap.
And then suddenly, it was like a light was switched off. She had been typing at the computer, using slightly more force than necessary, when it seemed like she could suddenly no longer hold her head up, her voice trailing off into an intelligible mumble before falling silent. Hands still splayed across the keys, she slumped in the chair, small body leaning against the armrest. A surprised hush fell over the room; every eye trained on the Major, as if they felt some ill-advised sound might wake her.
"Gentlemen, I believe that is our cue," spoke Hammond softly, coming to life. He waved to an airman standing by the door. "Airman Jeffries, if you'd be so kind as to assist Major Carter out?"
Jeffries swallowed before visibly steeling himself and snapping off a crisp affirmative. Jack had to bite back a sympathetic grimace. He recognized the young man from a recent multi-team op SG-1 had gone on not long ago, and had been impressed enough with the man to recommend his assignment to an SG team as soon as a position opened up. Face down raging Jaffa under heavy fire, not a problem. Risk waking a small Major-turned five year old only just fallen asleep after the irritable phase of a sugar high, and even the most hardened marine would have second thoughts.
Airman Jeffries moved with all the skill of someone trained in stealth. Still, the young Major sighed and stirred as he settled her against his chest, making everyone in the room freeze and hold their collective breath. But she only relaxed deeper into sleep, snuggling down in his arms, and they all released the unconscious breath.
Wasting little time, Jack gestured for Jeffries to follow. "General," he said, tipping his head toward Hammond. The older man's lips twisted slightly in an amused look, and he returned Jack's farewell in a nod of dismissal.
As he headed topside, Jack glanced at the tiny sleeping figure in Jeffries' arms and suppressed a mighty yawn. Somehow he doubted that a certain small someone would be awake in time for school in a few hours.
A/N: Hope that was enjoyable (and not all that long of a wait!). Just a note about the next chapter, it contains a warning for violence, abuse/torture, and the attempted sexual abuse of a child. Please heed the warnings, which have been updated on the story description.