"THE HERE AND NOW"
CHAPTER 24
"ABYSMAL DECISION"
He was nice and she liked him from the get go. A charming, funny and a nice man. She had fun with him. She liked having someone to wake up to, the sex wasn't great, but it did satisfy her needs. She smiled and took a deep breath; glancing at the clock on her counter top, she knew that today was going to be another long day.
"Hey honey you ok?"
"Yeah, just tired I guess."
"Tired?"
"Its nothing I should get ready for work."
"I think O'Neill is working you to hard."
She smiled and ignored the warm feelings that came over her when his name was mentioned. A small kiss on the lips and she left her soon to be husband in her house as she drives off towards him, the man who made her think and feel more than any other man had ever before.
"Good morning ma'am."
"Hello Walter. Is General O'Neill in yet?"
"No ma'am."
She nodded and walked off to find Daniel. Her report needed to be handed in and she had to ask him about their next mission. Walking towards the all too familiar lab, she saw O'Neill smile and shake his head as he walked off in the other direction not even glancing at her. She could have called out to him, but that smile and that spring in his step was odd.
Walking inside Daniel's lab, she was surprised to find her friend chuckling and looking at a picture in his hand. He smiled up at her and waved her to sit down. She looked at the door as if to ask who was here. He as always did not notice and just looked up at her with a questioning look.
"Ah yeah, so how you been."
"Good… just finished my report." Daniel said.
"Oh you want me to hand it to the General?"
"Nah, its okay, I'll do it later. Jack is busy. Apparently he has another meeting with Kerry"
She didn't like the tone of his voice, nor did she like the way his eyes sparkled and his lips twitched at the mentions of the name. She was sure he was fighting the urge to use air quotations; she however did notice his somewhat amused expression and she chuckled. Of course a fake one. She wanted to appear nonchalant and come off as just asking a friendly question.
"So what does that smile mean?"
"What smile?"
Daniel this time did chuckle and she mentally cursed, yet she smiled and gave him the old Carter look, the 'I know you know what I'm talking about now spill' look.
"Come on Daniel!"
"Yeah it was nothing. A guy thing."
"Daniel!"
"Ah fine! Meeting, Sam, you know? Meeting."
He stretched out the word and much to her surprise and horror she saw him do those damn air quotation marks, her body froze and she felt a cold shiver run down her spine. For a brief second her mind wondered if this was what Jack had felt when that ancient machine had frozen him.
"Ah you ok?"
"I'm fine Daniel… just surprised you know it's not like the General to… well go to meetings…"
"Well what did you expect? They've been seeing each other for weeks now."
Daniel was a laidback guy and did not always realize what he had done until it was too late. In this case his brain could not catch up to what he had said. Sam told him that she needed to hand in her report and left. He returned to his books. He didn't realize until that very point what he had done and mentally cringed.
"Daniel Jackson?"
"Teal'c. Oh yes! Tell me, does Sam know about Kerry?"
"I believe she does not."
"Ah crap!"
Teal'c raised an eyebrow. Then he knew why Samantha Carter had looked so ill when she had bumped into him on his way to see Daniel. He frowned and glanced at the man.
"Daniel Jackson what has happened?"
"I told Sam!"
"I do not see the harm in it."
"You don't see the harm in it? Teal'c, come on!"
"She has Pete Shanahan, does she not?"
"Well yes, but still… I mean its Jack we're talking about."
Still he did not see the point. Samantha was with another; surely O'Neill was able to now be with another since the promise had been broken. He glanced at Daniel who still seem worried and wondered just how the Tau'ri dealt with this situations; Daniel glanced at Teal'c and saw his thoughtful expression and froze.
"Oh no Teal'c you're not…"
"I shall offer my assistance to Colonel Carter."
"To do what exactly?"
"Dismember Kerry Johnson."
"Oh no no no… Teal'c, you aren't serious are you?"
"I am not. However I do not see why this is of such concern to you Daniel Jackson. Surely Colonel Carter has moved on has she not?"
"Teal'c, Sam is a great friend, one of the best soldiers I have known, and one of the greatest minds on Earth, but when it comes to her heart she is anything but all those things "
Teal'c looked at him and nodded, yes Samantha was an exceptional female. Yet what Daniel had said was true and a small smile came to his lips, to which Daniel raised an eyebrow in question.
"I agree, yet if there is one who rivals her in such matter of the heart it is none other than O'Neill."
"Oh don't get me started on him!"
Daniel smiled and closed his eyes; yeah, Teal'c was right. Jack was worse than Sam was when it came to feelings and matters of the heart. How fitting was it that Sam and Jack would be perfect for each other when it came to not being able to deal with their feelings?
Samantha Carter looked at the figure of Jack O'Neill and tried hard not to glare. She was, after all, here to ask him about her mission. Yeah that's right, nothing more nothing less and beside she was wearing her ring, yeah that would show him… show him what? She did not know. All she knew was that she had to wear it here with him and had to keep glancing at it. Why, she didn't know and she frowned at it. Why couldn't her mind figure this out?
"Something wrong Carter?"
"No sir."
"You sure? You've been staring at that ring with a murderous look."
"It fits a little tight."
"Really? I know a friend who could…"
"Its all right I'll just tell Pete."
Yeah she would and he nodded. Did he not care? Why was he acting like that? He was keeping his distance and she did not like it, not one bit. She knew it was because of Kerry. She cleared her throat and decided to deal with the problem directly; he raised an eyebrow, took a deep breath. It was clear that she wanted to talk.
"Ah… Daniel told me about Kerry."
"He did? Oh he did… ah, yeah for a couple of weeks now."
"Oh… ah, not that is any of my business Sir, but I thought we were friends… I know it's…"
"Oh no, no it's not that Carter. I mean don't get me wrong, it was awkward telling Daniel, I mean I'm not exactly the dating type, you know…"
"Sir?"
He was surprised to see that she was genuinely confused at his comment. Which made him freeze in his tracks, how to tell the woman that he had feelings for that he had dated Kerry to make himself feel better? Or for that matter prove to himself that he still had it. Closing his eyes he took a deep breath; then looked at his desk. Sam knew he was uncomfortable and took a deep breath. She should stop this, but she wanted to know why he had said what he said.
I mean who was he kidding? He had women throwing themselves at his feet so why lie to her? It didn't make any sense. She knew how attractive and funny he was, so why wouldn't other women see that and why couldn't he see that for himself? Was he doing this to spare her? She frowned and he finally answered her.
"You know what I mean Carter. I'm not exactly a young buck any more and more or less I've never been good with women in the whole dating game and all."
"I see… so Kerry?"
"Well we had a meeting discussing the whole Trust thing and then we talked and one thing lead to another, next thing you know were a couple…"
"Oh… will she becoming to the wedding then?"
He was surprised, but if there was anything Samantha had learned from
Jack O'Neill, it was how to turn in an instant from defensive to offensive and that was her second strike. His face told her that much, yet she wondered just why was she acting like this was a battlefield.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Carter."
Five minutes later she was slamming the door to her lab. Throwing her file towards the wall, she glanced at the security camera and shook her head. Nice job Sam, you just got yourself caught having a temper tantrum. Walking towards the file spread out on the floor she began to pick it up, yet as her hand reached for it she saw the ring in her finger and glared at it. Anger rushed through her whole body; walking the blind area of the camera she slumped down on the floor and threw away the ring.
She was angry with herself for showing him the ring, for having the guts to go to his office and try to provoke a reaction from him. She had hurt him twice in his office and why? Because she was angry that he was fucking some woman. He wasn't supposed to be doing that; he was supposed to be her safe bet, he was supposed to be there for her he had told her so in that dream ship.
"Nice Sam! Hurt the one man who has done nothing but helped you in the past."
She chuckled sadly and took a deep breath. She needed to get back to work, to forget about everything; she was going to get married. She was going to be fine and she was going to say yes to Pete; as soon as she saw him again she was going to say yes, what else was there to say or do if Jack was with another? She had to say yes, right?
Continued