AN: Jack shows Sam his telescope. After Fire and Water.
It had been a tough week for all of them. The last time Teal'c and Carter had visited O'Neill's home it had been for Daniel's wake. This time Daniel was with them sitting in his living room, and it was more of a re-birthday party than a wake. SG-1 needed the togetherness tonight after the week they had, and he was happy to facilitate it in his home.
Carter started bustling around picking up dishes and helped herself to his kitchen sink like she owned the place. Who put her on KP? Jack wondered. Heaving himself out of his chair he followed her into the kitchen and snatched the stack of dishes from her hand. "Give me that," he said dismissively, "I'll do them later."
"I don't mind," she answered.
"Fine, just... let me help, at least." He washed and she dried in silence. Once or twice her finger brushed his hand in the transfer and he couldn't help but think about holding her after her hypnosis. It wasn't really appropriate. But in that moment, anything less would have been inappropriate. She needed him. They all needed each other to get through the past week, he told himself. Maybe she didn't exactly need his fingers brushing through her hair though or his hand wrapped around her slim neck, pinning her face close enough that he could feel her panicked breath behind his ear. He didn't have a thing for her, but it had felt good to pull her close. If he was honest with himself, he would admit that the good feeling had very little do with comfort. But sometimes honesty was overrated.
The job was quickly done, and he turned to her while drying his hands.
"Listen, about that whole hypnosis thing when Daniel was missing, thanks. I should have done it myself, but I'm," he paused while searching for the right descriptor. He continued in a halting ramble, "I'm not great at that whole being out of control, transparency, forthcomingness... thing. Something to do with years of not being allowed to talk about things. Maybe."
"That's my job isn't it?" she brushed away the compliment. "I'm supposed to pick up your slack. I have to handle the things you can't."
"And you do it admirably," Jack wasn't going to mince words anymore. It was time she knew where she stood with him. She had better than taken a bullet for him this week, and he was going to make sure she knew it.
"Well, I don't know about-" she countered.
"You do it admirably, Captain. I know we didn't exactly start things off on the right foot, and I may not be a sheer joy to work with every day, nevertheless, I'm proud to have you on my team."
"Yes, Sir," she accepted. "Me too, Sir."
"Come on. I wanna show you something." It was a sudden change of attitude, for which she was grateful. The Colonel wasn't much for these heart-to-heart moments, and frankly, it was a little unnerving. "Daniel, Teal'c, we're going upstairs for a few minutes," he bellowed over his shoulder on his way out the front door.
Sam followed him out the door and around the front of his house wondering where exactly 'upstairs' was. She also wondered if he hired a gardener, and if he would let her take a cutting of a few of these varieties for her new place. Then he was climbing a ladder, and she was about to follow, but suddenly grew embarrassed by where her eyes had naturally landed. Right there on the Colonel's backside. She quickly redirected her eyes, and before she could gather her senses he was calling for her to join him at the top. Up she went.
"So... welcome to the O'Neill Observatory," he offered with a sweep of his arm toward his baby.
"Cool clubhouse, Sir. You let girls up here?" she teased.
"Carter, please," he teased her right back. "You're not a girl, you're a scientist." She couldn't help letting her amusement show as he recalled their first meeting with a slight variation. She was glad they could joke about that tense encounter now. It was the epitome of we're going to laugh about this someday. And today was finally someday.
"So you just can't get enough of the real thing? You come home from a mission and plot your next adventure?"
"I like feeling small," he explained. "It's weird having a kid, ya know. You never really know if you like the things they like or if they like the things you like. Charlie was really into rockets and space. We used to look through this thing for hours together."
"Either way, it's a nice hobby to share," she offered. She was a little stunned that he was talking so openly about his son, but she didn't want to draw attention to it.
"It is," he grinned. "Did you wanna..." he offered her the bench. She didn't answer, just took her seat and immediately began directing it toward a few of her favorites.
"You really don't get a lot of light pollution out here. It's nice. I probably should have tried to get further out of the city, but I was too focused on the commute, I guess."
"See, if you can't be the first one there for an emergency, you won't be the first one they call," he shared with a tap to his temple. She smiled for a second time since they made their way up here. He wasn't mad about that.
"Excellent advice, Sir. Though a couple of months too late for me."
"Come on, I need another beer," he said starting down the ladder. She followed slowly, reflecting on the odd interactions tonight. It wasn't like they didn't talk at work, but something was different about tonight. Maybe because Daniel and Teal'c weren't with them now? No, she and the Colonel had plenty of one on one time. He seemed different, but definitely not in a bad way. And he was happy with the job she was doing on SG-1. Hearing that would make up for any awkwardness. Even if it was part of the awkwardness.