"This feels like a weird role reversal right now, considering…" Jack complains as Sam fluffs a pillow and pulls him gently to lean forward before she props it behind his shoulders. He winces as he leans back, the bullet wound in his right arm still sore. "I mean, I was rescuing you, Carter, and now we're doing this."
"You got shot, Sir."
"Yeah but you got kidnapped and, like, almost fuckin' murdered?"
"And you saved me," she says, smiling and patting his good shoulder. "And got shot doing it."
"That rat bastard."
"Sir, we're really not sure it was him."
"Anyone who shot me is someone I'm gonna call a rat bastard."
"Fair enough, Sir."
Sam busies herself with any real tasks she can find in Jack's home and then any imagined task she can find. She has left him with a hockey game on TV and reachable snacks. It's not until the phone rings and he can't reach it that she comes back to bring him the handset. He chats back briefly at Daniel, who has decided he and Teal'c should come over and help entertain him later in the day. Jack agrees, if only because he wants the junk food he knows they'll feed him that Sam probably won't.
"The boys are coming over in a couple hours for dinner and a movie, he says, setting the phone down on his coffee table."
"That'll be fun," she says.
"Yeah." He frowns.
"What's wrong, Sir?"
"You were missing for two days and I didn't know."
"It's not your fault."
"Yeah I know I didn't kidnap you, Carter, but two fucking days is a long time to be missing and I didn't even know and you're my best friend and my-" he coughs and winces, clutching his shoulder. "You know, just like, I should know, uh, when you're kidnapped."
"I was hoping not to get kidnapped again, Sir."
"Carter."
"Okay, okay," she says. She sits on the edge of the couch against his side and fusses with the ice pack over his shoulder. "I know what you mean." She finishes adjusting the ice pack but leaves her left hand resting on his chest, fingers tracing the collar of his t-shirt. "Wanna work on a system?"
"A system?"
"Maybe we chat more over downtime, Sir. Regular check in calls like in the field." Her voice breaks a little as she suggests it because it feels so far against regulations and her own independence, but also it feels good.
Jack smiles at her and lifts his left hand to cover hers on his chest. "I would really like that, Carter. This scared me. It scared me a lot."
"Me too."
They're content in silence for a while, casually permitting the hand holding until he has a cramp and needs her to adjust the pillow again.
"Hey, Carter?"
"Yes, Sir?"
"Promise not to let them put Star Wars on again?"
"You got it, Sir," she says, smiling brightly as she replaces his pillow and leans down to press a chaste kiss against his temple.
