Alternatives

Chapter XVI: Sweet Home

Based upon Stargate: SG-1

Rating: PG

- JOR - Based upon the Stargate: Atlantis episode "Enemy at the Gates" and the Stargate: Universe pilot; taking place shortly thereafter -

This is the last original chapter that I wrote for this story, however there are definitely more to come, so stay tuned.

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It was more than a little obvious to everyone on duty that the Colonel was angry. No one was really sure how long she had been awake, but it must have been a while. Plus, they had just returned to Earth orbit that morning and she had been in meetings at the Pentagon all day.

Then, some genius decided that the water recycling system had to be replaced right then; at 2330. She was recalled to the ship right before she was supposed to go home.

If she had simply been "unhappy" before, now she was livid. She let the Chief Engineer have it, which was completely within her rights as both CO and co-designer of the George Hammond.

So, here it was, 0246, and Master Sergeant Benjamin was doing her best to get the Colonel off the Hammond before the turn of the hour. She was assembling a list of things for Colonel Carter and the XO to deal with in the morning -- later in the morning.

She shouted in triumph at about 0255. She was caught up. She was getting the Colonel out of there before she killed someone.

Nearly running, Benjamin made her way to Engineering, where she found the Colonel and the Chief Engineer wedged between two panels, and the Colonel was shouting.

"Excuse me, Ma'am," Benjamin said, getting the officers' attention.

Both Colonel Carter and the CHENG squeezed out of the tight space, bumping into one another, causing Carter to glare at the CHENG.

"What is it, Sergeant?" Carter barked.

"Ma'am, everything is taken care of for the day, you can go home if you'd like."

"But -" the CHENG started, but shut up when Benjamin shot him a look. He held up his hands for a second. "The Sergeant is right, Ma'am. We can handle things from here. Good evening."

The Colonel dropped the tool she had been holding and adjusted her flight suit, which had been pushed askew by the tight quarters. "Thank you, Sergeant," she said, still irritated beyond all comparison, but trying to soften up a little.

"Seal that up and finish it in the morning when you can get a crew up here." She walked towards the door, but paused and turned back to the CHENG. "And I hope, Major, that you learned to let some things just wait."

"Yes, Ma'am," the CHENG replied. "Have a good evening, Ma'am."

She glared at him once more before storming out of Engineering, heading towards the beaming platform. She programmed new coordinates into the system.

"Someone, please, get me out of here," she said with breathy anger.

"Excuse me, Ma'am, these coordinates have not been authorized for beamdown. They appear to be a private residence," the Airman on duty said.

"Yes, they are, Airman," she emphasized his rank, but didn't offer any explanation, knowing that she didn't really have to.

"Aye, Ma'am. Have a good evening," the Airman said before activating the Asgard beam and sending her down. He looked at Benjamin once the Colonel fully disappeared.

"Ma'am, it's okay for me to just beam her to where ever she wanted to go, right?"

Benjamin smiled. "Yes, Airman. The Colonel is allowed to go where ever she wants, and you did a good job in waiting to ask after she was gone. She was not in the mood to explain that to you."

The Airman nodded. "Yes, Ma'am. I did notice that."

"Good night, Airman," Benjamin said and walked away, heading back to her office. She had to make sure everything was set for the Colonel when she got there later that morning. She also thought about having a discussion with he CHENG, but from the look Colonel Carter gave him, it was pretty obvious that the CHENG had learned his lesson -- and learned it well.

- . - . -

Sam was exhausted. She wanted to eat something. She really wanted to take a shower. But, mostly, she wanted to sleep.

From the living room -- where she materialized -- Sam made her way up the stairs of the loft Jack occupied full time, and she occupied whenever the Hammond was in orbit. She reached into the nearest dresser and pulled out some sleeping clothes; which happened to be a pair of Jack's boxers and a skivvy shirt.

After brushing her teeth and running through the absolute bare minimum of her nightly routine, she crawled into bed next to her Space-Heater General.

He rolled over, feeling the shift of the bed. Throwing his arm over her, he burrowed his face into her shoulder.

She heard him inhale deeply.

"Mmmm, Carter," he mumbled, more asleep than awake.

Smiling to herself, she gripped his arm and settled in to sleep.

Home, sweet home.

- . - . -

Jack woke up to an empty bed.

He had gone to sleep alone that night, but was pretty sure that Sam had joined him some time during the night. He sat up and thought for a minute. He could have imagined it. She was supposed to come home last night, but there were a thousand and one reasons that she wouldn't have.

He swung his legs around the side of the bed and messaged the feeling back into his knee. He looked at the clock. 8:30. He was getting old if he was waking up after 0800.

He found the bathroom uncharacteristically warm and wet. He checked Sam's towel, it was wet as well. She had come home last night and taken a shower this morning. He hoped she was still there.

He padded down the stairs and to the kitchen, where he found her standing in front of the counter with the newspaper in one hand, pouring coffee into a mug with the other.

She wore a black skivvy shirt and a pair of sweatpants. From how tight she had the draw string pulled and how low they rested on her hips, it was pretty obvious that she had stolen his pants.

Jack walked over to her, leaned deliberately in front of her to grab a mug. He poured himself some coffee, grabbed the sports section off the counter, and placed a gentle kiss behind her ear.

She turned to him for a second and returned the kiss. "Morning."

"Morning," he replied, taking his seat at the table. Sam joined him after a moment or two, and after a few more minutes of morning calm, he spoke up. "What time did you get in last night?"

"Oh, about zero-three."

Jack winced.

She shrugged. "Well, CHENG just had to start on the water recycling upgrade last night. And it turns out that several of the filters had some kind of fault in them and it turned into a mess, instantly. Sergeant Benjamin really fought to get me out of there when she did."

Jack smiled. "Remind me to send her a fruit basket." Sam chuckled at his joke. "What time do you need to be back?"

"Not until ten."

He set down his mug and smiled. "Really, an hour and a half? I wonder what we can do to fill the time?"

"Don't you have to go to work, General?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I knew you'd be in, so I had Roeper push my first meeting back to 1130."

She got up, circled the table, and found a place in his lap. "How about we get some breakfast and I make sure I'm home a decent hour tonight. I'm giving most of the crew off tomorrow anyway."

"Decent hour?" he repeated.

"Oh, six, maybe seven."

"Seven?" he repeated again. "Home?" He shifted her in his lap, pulling her close to his chest. "Sweet."

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