Back on Old Territory
Back on Old Territory
by Katmellie
Summary: Jack returns back to work, but can he patch things up with Sam, after what happen at his cabin?
Category: Future Story
Season: future Season
Pairing: Jack/Sam
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
Archived on: 05/28/03
Pulling up outside his new apartment, he looked up at it from inside his truck; traffic carrying on as usual while he took sometime to reflect. It was relatively close to Daniel's apartment, his only being a few blocks down the road, Daniel had a very nice loft type apartment while he had a second floor apartment with a small balcony, over looking the city. If he could of, he would have moved back into his house but he couldn't really kick the tenants out, and he'd only be back on the odd occasion. This was a new start for him in life, a...third chance to get things right and not piss off the very attractive scientist. Sighing as he pulled the door handle, quickly getting out when there wasn't any traffic. Walking round onto the sidewalk, he looked up at the white building, his hands on his hips with his sunglasses on.
He was lucky that he had managed to get the apartment on short notice, finding the one that suited him in such short time, now all he had to do was unpacked his things into his fully furbished apartment, and get ready for tomorrow. The only problem being with tomorrow was the only people, who knew that he was coming back, was everyone except for Sam or Carter as she was now a subordinate to him. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he turned round to face his mountain of stuff, piled onto the back of his truck, being keep safe and dry by a tarpaulin, tied down by a piece of rope. Pulling at his slipknot, the rope became unfastened and he pulled the tarpaulin from over the back, folding it up to put on the back seat.
Grabbing an odd box off the back of his truck, he jumped up the steps into the apartment buildings foyer, wedging the box firmly underneath his arm. Without even thinking about it, he ran up the stairs, two at a time with a new spurt of energy that had come from somewhere. By the time he reached the second floor, his new spurt of energy had been used up; the lesson learnt from the experience was to always take the elevator, knees didn't agree with the treatment. Searching his key ring, he picked the new shiny key out from all the other dull keys, sliding it into the lock on door 2B, turning it to find the lock receded with a nice click. Opening the door wide open, he found the placed to be very...white, but the furniture looked nice...in a way.
Dropping the box in the doorway, he stepped over it, dropping his keys into his pocket. Looking round he found it to be similar to the one Daniel had, before the whole ascending thing, he'd always like the feel to Daniel's apartment, even if it was overcrowded with his books and books. Shrugging off his jacket, he dropped it over the back of the couch, heading straight into the kitchen for its inspection. Everything seemed to be in perfect order, just the way he liked it, and things were where they should be. Clapping his hands together, he rubbed them against one another, jogging out his apartment and back down the stairs.
The elevator doors opened up in front of him, people were rushing round like they should have been, talking and laughing about something. Smiling at the change in atmosphere, he button up his dress uniform jacket, repositioning his hat under his arm, into a more comfortable position. The one thing he'd learnt over the years was to always make a good first impression, even if you weren't going to see the guy more than he had Hammond, and being able to mouth off about him, while being 75,000 light years across the galaxy. Nodding his head to a few people he recognised, he turned into the briefing room, finding Daniel and Jonas stood, leaning against the briefing table, making it out to be there usual resting place.
They both stood up when he came through the door, both mock saluting him when he dropped his hat on the table behind them. He smiled at their attempt at humour, unbuttoning his jacket to part it with his hands, placing both of them on his hips. Looking through the window into Hammonds...Penmings office, he saw that Penmings was on the phone, the phone in question being the red phone, so not a good time to interrupt. "Your looking very smart today, Jack" Looking down at himself, he shrugged off the compliment, picking at a thread he'd just notice. Pulling it away from his jacket, he let it fall from between his fingers onto the floor, watching it fall until he couldn't tell it apart from the carpet.
Running a hand through his recently trimmed hair, he looked between the young men, noticing that were both wearing the wrong colours, or one of them was. Jonas was in blue, his shirtsleeves rolled up how he liked them and his t-shirt un-tucked from his pants. Daniel was wearing green; looking as if he'd just gotten up, his shirt creased in so many places, it was amazing it once resembled a shirt. "So, you're really going to take command of the Alpha site then, Colonel?" Jonas sipped at his coffee mug, sliding a pencil in behind his ear, his eyebrows raised ready for his response. "Yes, Jonas. Why else would I be here, in my dress blues?" Jonas's eyebrows dropped into a frowned while he walked away, leaving Daniel and him alone in the briefing room, grumbling about something as he turned the corner.
Daniel shoved his hands into his pockets, rocking back and forth on his feet before shuffling to his left. Scratching at his goatee, he just couldn't bring himself to shave it off this morning, he pulled out one of the chairs from round the briefing table and sat down, making sure he didn't creased his pants. "Jack, what happen at your cabin? Sam came back here and hasn't spoke to anyone, just speaking when she has to" He leant forward onto his knees with his elbows, rubbing his hands over his face, not really sure if he should tell him how he had been such an idiot. Actually thinking that she would keep it away from him, it was silly that he had gotten upset or annoyed about it in the first place. He should have known if she was going to ask him something, she would have just ask him without hesitation. Dropping his hands down in defeat, he looked at Daniel standing next to him, just forming the sentences for his explanation when the office door opened.
He quickly stood to attention, his hand snapped up into a salute, while Penmings came out of his office, straightening his tie. Penmings stood at the head of the table, returning his salute in one fluent movement of his hand, before holding his hand out to him, for him to shake. Shaking his hand, he noted that the man had a really, really tight grip on his hand. "Colonel O'Neill, it's a pleasure to meet you. You're a somewhat legend round here, just like the other members of your old team" Penmings let go of his hand and motioned for him to followed him, returning back to his office, leaving the door opened for him. Flexing his hand a few times, he quickly grabbed his hat off the table and followed after Penmings, looking over his shoulder at Daniel before he entered Penmings office. He had a really bad feeling about this guy, from the looks of him, he must be a by the book kind of guy, so no more stunts like he used to pulled on Hammond. At least Hammond had a sense of humour; he really needed one with the whole armband situation.
Closing the door behind him, he moved to stand to attention in front of his desk, his hat wedged under his arm, with his hands down by his sides. Penmings opened up one of the files he had on his desk, pointing to one of the chairs for him to sit down in. Sitting down in the chair, he placed his hat on knees, sitting up straight in the chair, trying his best not to start fidgeting with his hat or with his fingers. "I presumed Doctor Jackson told you of my offer" `No, I'm here for the entertainment'. The eye rolling would have been about then, but he thought he better save the sarcasm for later. He just simply nodded his head at him, keeping eye contact with him as much as possible. "You understand, you'll be spending at least most of your time at the Alpha site, only coming back for vacations or when there is new recruits to take through the gate" Again he nodded his head, did this guy think he was thick or something? Sure in the past he made out he was, but if the guy had read his file he would know, he was a big faker. He'd been going through the gate while the guy was still in...well that didn't quite work here; the guy was probably older than he was.
Penmings started signing the papers in the file; he closed it up and dropped it into his out tray, pushing the chair out from behind him. He was already on his feet before Penmings was, his hat already wedged under his arm, for some reason he was starting to feel like a Jack in the box, no pun intended. "Well, Colonel. I'm glad we'll have you training our front lines troops. You'll be shipping out with the first batch of recruits at zero nine hundred. Is that enough time for you to get your things together?" Nodding his head again, he was sure it would become detached, if he did it any longer. Penmings moved from behind his desk and opened the door to the briefing room. He quickly saluted and left before saying anything, sighing when the door closed behind him.
Well at least he hadn't got off on the wrong foot like he did with Hammond, lying to the man before he had even be reinstated. Shaking the thought out of his head, he undid his tie while heading out of the room, actually being able to breath properly since he put it on. All there was now to do now, was to go and get his bag from his truck, get changed out of his dress uniform and...try and find the others. He at least owed them all a `hello' and `goodbye' or `see ya later'. And owed someone an apology for being such a stupid S.O.B. That was if she would except it and listen to him.
With his backpack slung over his shoulder, he relished in the feel of his BDU's, relief that he was finally out of the monkey suit. All he had to do was seek out the rest of SG-1, the new and reformed SG-1, and say his goodbyes to them. Didn't want to make the same mistake twice, he didn't know if he'd be able to take the poking so easily this time. Entering the commissary to find it extremely busy, but he still spotted them at the back of the room, all of them sat round a table, seating there talking about something. Swallowing whatever was left of his nerves, he dropped his bag near the doorway and waltzed over their table, his hands firmly embedded into his pockets. Teal'c was the first to noticed him, bowing his head at him to greet him, coming to stand behind Carter and Jonas. Daniel just smiled up at him, having his top up of caffeine, his eyes widening with every gulp of his coffee.
Jonas was too engrossed in one of Daniel's old journals, to noticed that he was in the room, reading the journal like one of those romance novels he'd caught Cassie reading once. Looking round to the table next to theirs, he snatched an empty chair from it, sitting down at the head of the table next to Daniel and Carter. It didn't seemed right anymore for him to be calling her `Carter', he'd rather call her `Sam', it suited her more than `Carter' did even though they were both her name. She didn't even looked up at him, staring down at the table top, but he could tell she knew he was there, her hand had a death type grip on the table, knuckles whiter than white dwarf star. "Hey" He'd said it to everyone but it was directed more at Carter, trying to get her to look at him or to get some reaction out of her.
Daniel subtly coughed at him, trying to draw his attention from Carter to him, which he had successfully done. Looking at Daniel, he noticed that Daniel had gotten changed out of his green BDU's and was wearing his blue set; probably fell asleep at his desk last night. Folding his arms up underneath him, using them to lean onto his knees, he just looked round the table at the other occupants. "So, how long till you ship out?" Looking down at his watch, just another twenty minutes and he would have to leave them, and the way things were going, he would have to save his apology till he got back which could be weeks or even months. "Just twenty minutes, then I've got to go down and join my kids, on their first trip through the gate. All fun and games this morning" The corners of Jonas's lips curved up, showing that he had actually noticed he was there, but he wasn't the one who was supposed to smile. The one, who was supposed to find it funny, was the blonde staring at the tabletop, her face straighter than a ruler.
Jonas finally looked up from the journal, looking into the depths of his mug before getting up from his seat, taking his mug with him. Just as Jonas was passing by Carter, Daniel finished off the dregs of his coffee and held his cup up to Jonas. Carter passed it the short distance between them, avoiding making eye contact with him by turning on an awkward angle to hand it to him. "Colonel, would you like anything?" Looking up at Jonas, he sat back into his seat, shifting slightly when he realised his butt was going numb. He looked round to the serving counter, seeing if anything there stood out to him or tempted his fancy. "Coffee, please Jonas" The younger man nodded his head, going over to joined the cue before it got any bigger. Turning back to the table, she had her hand up covering her face from him or blocking the sight of him from her view.
Leaning back down onto his knees, he was starting to fidget with his watchstrap, twisting and turning his watch, creating a burning sensation to his wrist. Her chair suddenly scraped along the floor, his head instantly shot up, finding her excusing herself from the table. "Daniel, Teal'c, I'll meet you guys in the gate room. I'm going to have my pre-exam now, save Janet some of her time and waist some of mine" She left the table before he could say anything, keeping her back facing to him all the way to the door. Dropping his head down, he pinched the bridge of his nose, wishing that he could go back to last week. It had been so easy the week before, they were back to how they were; no they were more than what they were. He was Jack and she was Sam, there wasn't anymore Colonel O'Neill or Major Carter, just behaving normally to one another without hesitation or thinking if they we're crossing the thin line between them.
He looked up when Jonas put his coffee on the table, giving Daniel his as he took the seat that Carter had been sitting in. Resting his head in his hand, he reached for his coffee, cautiously sipped at it, almost burning his tongue on the hot liquid. Placing the mug back onto the table, he looked down at his boots, cursing at his feet for not going after her. "O'Neill, you do not seem pleased to taking command of the Alpha site?" He didn't bothered to look up at him; it might have been rude to them, but all he could think about was Carter. She was acting like he wasn't there, just as if she didn't know him and he was invisible, it was kind of like Daniel and skull. "I'm thrilled, Teal'c. Ya see, I'm so thrilled about it, I can't find a way to expressed it". Without even looking he could tell Teal'c had rose one of his eyebrows, and done that little bow of his head thing.
Looking at his watch, he couldn't wait any longer, sitting around wasn't doing him any good and there was no point in waiting any longer, she'd gone off to hide in the infirmary and she knew there was no way he was going in there, unless he had no choice and was taken in on a gurney. Standing up from his seat, he put it back at its original table, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Well, I'm gonna head on down there. When you see Carter, tell her I said bye and that I'll see you all when I come back" They all nodded their heads at him, he turned on his heels towards the door and left after grabbing his bag from where he had left it.
Sure enough, all the kids they had line up for this training program, were old enough to be his kids, some of them didn't look a day older than eighteen. He gotten the odd look from a few of them, and a few of them were pointing and talking about him, wondering who he was and why a pensioner was coming along with them. The door opened behind him but he didn't turn round, at that very moment he was giving one of them his death glare, watching the young man squirming under his gaze, trying to find something else to look at. He was forced to break his gaze when someone tapped him on the shoulder; reluctantly he looked over his shoulder at them, finding it to be Major Davis of all people. "Davis" Davis smiled at him moving to stand closure to him, he had a backpack on his own back, files under one arm and a briefcase in the other. Briefly he looked down at the files, making Davis looked down at them as well, curious as to what had drawn his attention. "Oh, yeah. These are the recruits files" He held them up to show him. "I'll be filling in as your temporary second, General Penmings is still drawing up a list for you to choose from" He nodded his head to him, watching the last of the recruits come in on the other side of the gate room. Waving his hand to Sgt Davis, he slung his bag over his shoulder making his way to the ramp, Major Davis following close behind him.
Stepping up onto the ramp, all the recruits turned to face him, everyone's eyes were on him, making him more nervous than he already was. He noticed up in the control room that Penmings was up there, watching down on them with his hands in his pockets. Taking a deep breath, he let his bag dropped onto the ramp, placing his hands on his hips. "A lot of you maybe wondering who I am, most of you may have heard of me and some of you...well ya get the picture. I'm Colonel O'Neill, before you start asking, yes the original leader of SG-1 and one of the very few to first one to step through the gate" Behind him he could hear the gate locking in, so far he was sure there was only four more to go, what in god's name made him want to stand up here and make a speech? "You're a selected few from are best, who will be going through this training. If I don't think you make the cut, you come straight back here and may in the future be able to try again. So that means everyone has to do a lot butt kissing, especially mine" Most of them chuckled, others just stood to attention, looking dead in front of them, not wavering for a second. The gate locked in behind him and engaged, casting the room and everyone in it with a blue glow.
Picking his bag up off the ramp, he swept his arm through the air, letting them all go through first. Davis stood on the other side, clutching the files close to his chest, watching the young recruits go through one by one. Rolling his eyes at him, he looked up into the control room to see Janet. `Oh no'. She had that concerned, angry and threatening look on her face, pointing to him through the window while she was talking with Penmings. The last of the recruits went through the gate, acting as if nothing was a miss; he walked casually with Davis up to the event horizon, not daring to look back. The intercom came on; voices could be heard faintly in the background. "COLONEL O'NEILL" He stopped just staring at the event horizon. "IT HAS BEEN BROUGHT, TO MY ATTENTION THAT YOU HAVEN'T HAD A PHYSICAL" His head dropped down onto his chest, that woman was impossible, couldn't she wait till he got back in a few months.
Sighing he turned to Davis who was stood looking at the control room, holding his backpack out to Davis, he glanced up into the control, glaring at the little Napoleon. Juggling with the items he already had in his hands, he took his bag from him, somehow managing to get it onto one of his shoulders. "Davis, get the kids settled in their living quarters. Put my bag in my room, have them ready for inspection when I come through" Starting down the ramp, he grumbled to himself at how unfair it was until Davis interrupted him. "How long do think you'll be, sir?" Stopping halfway down the ramp, he looked up at Davis and then at Janet in the control, her arms folded and giving him that `You're gonna be sorry for trying to seek off'. Shrugging his shoulders to the Major, he walked backwards down the ramp, giving Davis a sympathetic look. "Maybe a few minutes or, if this involves big honking needles, hours" Davis nodded his head and then stepped through, the gate closing moments after him. With his head hanging low he began the long trip to the principles office...No, the infirmary.
Travelling with Janet in the elevator had been its own hell, the feeling he got when he sense her, staring into the back of his head, cursing at him under her breath that he would even attempt to escape her tortured. At one point during their journey, he tried wiping at the back of his head, trying to get rid of feeling she was creating, making the little hairs on the back of his neck stick up. When the doors had finally opened, he shot out of there, not waiting for his little torturer to catch him up, heading straight down the corridor to the infirmary. Jumping onto the first bed he came into contact with, he watched the dinky doctor come in, pulling the curtain around his bed, his escape to freedom slowly disappeared in front of his eyes.
Pulling his t-shirt back over his head, he watched Janet write down her report on a clipboard, pulling the curtain back for a moment, stepping outside it to close it once more. Grimacing at the thought that woman had just done him; he took a moment to bend down a bit, leaning down onto to the bed, collecting his thoughts together. Whoever had told that woman he was on base and going through the gate was dead meat. The curtain was drawn back again and then drew closed, he closed his eyes trying to think of any other tests that woman could perform on him. Standing up straight he found her stood at the end of his bed, holding his pants in one hand, the other resting on top of her hip. "Carter, can I have my pants please?" She shook her head at him, throwing the pants over her shoulder, folding her arms in front of her chest.
She had that look, the look she had when she had been poking him, shouting at him for not saying goodbye. But this time she couldn't bring that up against him, she was the one who completely ignore him that morning, wouldn't even acknowledge he was there. Placing his hands on his hips, he just looked at her, waiting for her to say something or give him his pants. "We need to talk" Simple yet straight to the point, could always count on that scientist in her. Shifting his weight to his other foot, he held a hand out for his pants but she didn't seemed affected by it. "You don't need your pants on, to talk to me" Either it was him or this felt a little childish, they were supposed to be grown ups, at least grown ups talked with all their clothing on. Sighing he sat down onto the edge of the bed, folding his arms across his chest, looking down at his socks.
It took her a moment to sit down beside him, well with at least two foot of space between them, his pants remaining on the shoulder further away from him. Turning on the bed, she folded one of her legs underneath her, making her slightly taller when she sat down. Rubbing at his left eye, he looked at her through the corner of his right. If she wanted to talk then she would have to start it, not because he didn't want to, mostly because he was too scared to. "I think we both kinda over reacted, you with the news from Daniel and me when you were explaining to me. So, I'm sorry that I overreacted and I didn't mean what I said" He started pulling at a thread on his t-shirt, using it as a way to calmed his nerves, why did he get so nervous round her?
Slapping his own hand away from the thread, all he was doing was making it worse, instead he started fidgeting with his goatee, pulling and tugging at tuffs of hair. "Well...I'm sorry as well. I should have known better than to think...what I thought, and you don't need to apologise to me. It was all my fault and I take full responsibility". Hesitantly he looked up at her, seeing her features had relaxed somewhat, the `death' glare gone to a neutral look.
Standing up from the bed, she held his pants out to him, allowing him to take them from him. Warily he took his pants from her, thanking her with a nod of his head, quickly pulling them on before she could take them away from him. Fastening his pants up, he tucked his t-shirt in, watching her back away from him, reaching behind her to pull the curtain away. "Did you mean taking back everything you said?" She looked confused at him, stepping away from the curtain while he picked up his jacket from the bed. Shrugging on his jacket, he stepped closure to her, closing most of the space between them but giving her enough to feel comfortable with the closeness. "The part about being in love with a stranger?" Her cheeks suddenly went rosy, her gaze falling down to somewhere on the floor in front of him. Timidly he licked at his lips, following her gaze down to floor to look up to find her looking at him again. She had that look she had the week before, relax and happy, a kind of goofy grin to her lips.
The smile wouldn't come off his face, he felt like that doctor bloke off of Star Trek, on pre Kirk series, when something happen to him or something, and he was smiling very freakily. Her hands came to be clasped in front of her, looking down at them as if they held all the answers. But somehow she found the courage to look him straight in the eye, not hiding or holding anything back from him. "Yeah, I did and still do". If his heart had wings, it would certainly not be in his chest right now and he would be running round, trying to put it back in before he bled everywhere or died. It was like a whole weight had been lifted from his shoulders. This would probably be the time in those girlie flicks, when the bloke told the gal that he was head over heels in love with her. Just as he was about to open his mouth to tell her, Janet pulled the curtain back and walked straight in, oblivious to their little moment, flicking through her chart.
He shot away from her, putting himself into a less intimate space, putting himself almost up against the wall, attacking most of Janet's instruments of pain. They both looked at him and then each other, Carter raised her eyebrows at her, quickly looking away when her cheeks went a deep red. Could they even do that? Janet shook her head at her, dropping her clipboard onto the foot of the bed, her hands fidgeting with pens in her breast pocket. "Well, Colonel. I've told the General you're clear for duty, so...welcome back" She smiled to both of them, picking up her clipboard from the end of bed, turning quickly on her heels. Rolling his eyes down at the floor, he wiped at his mouth with his left hand, pulling at the corner of his jacket. Following her out of her door, he noted the smile she sent him over her shoulder, leading the way out of the infirmary, his piper of freedom. "Oh, Sam! Thanks for the heads up on him escaping! Remind me to buy you a tub of Benny's as thanks!" His eyes went wide with shock, watching her stop dead in tracks, slowly looking over her shoulder at him, shrugging her shoulders at him before briskly disappearing down the corridor.
Smiling down at the floor, he watched his feet lead him to the elevator, not really caring if he walked into someone. The sneaky little...love of his life, chuckling to himself, he scratched at his forehead, pressed the call button for the elevator. He could feel that silly smile coming back, maybe he could ask Doc to freeze his face before it had time to completely form. Well it'd be a great why of scaring the recruits when he went through. Getting into the elevator, he pulled at his jacket unconsciously, pressing the gate level button at the same time.
Watching the gate spin in front of him again, he waited at the base of the ramp, one foot on the ramp while he leant against the railing. Hopefully this time he'll actually make it all the way up the ramp and step through, being greeted by Davis and the recruits on the other side. Scratching the back of his neck, he began to paced back and forth in front of the ramp, watching the inner ring spin round to locked the forth symbol in. He stopped his pacing when the door opened behind him, looking over his shoulder; they came into the room, each of them with a smile while Teal'c made an attempted. The intercom buzzed before Penmings voice came over it again. "COLONEL O'NEILL, SG -1 WILL COMING WITH YOU TO THE ALPHA SITE. MAJOR CARTER BELIEVES SHE HAS FORGOTTEN TO DO SOMETHING ON THE ALPHA SITES MAINFRAME" His eyebrows just shot up, looking to Carter and then at Penmings, up in the control room. "SHE'LL EXPLAINED IT TO YOU. YOU HAVE A GO FOR DEPARTURE" Just as he finished his sentence, the gate opened behind him while he just stood there, watching each of them pass him to go up the ramp.
Coming out of his daze, he swiftly followed them up the ramp and through, coming out on the other side to be greeted by sunshine. The gate closed behind him as he descended down the steps, noticing a Hummer waiting for him, the driver quickly jogging over to join them. He was a fair distance away, turning to see the others take their packs off, carrying them by bags handled. "Okay, what's going on?" Daniel just shrugged his shoulders, starting off towards the Hummer, pushing his glasses further up his nose. Teal'c bowed his head and followed Daniel; Jonas was already stuck into a journal and nibbling on an energy bar, going off in some odd direction. Carter just smiled at him, grabbing hold of Jonas's vest, directing him towards the parked Hummer.
Frowning at them, he fell in behind them, bring up the rear while the airman, who been jogging over to greet them, fell in beside him. "Colonel, Major Davis told me to come pick you up. I didn't know SG-1 would be joining us as well, sir". Glancing at the man beside him, `Were they getting younger or was I getting older?' Pushing the thought out of his head, he directed his gaze down at the ground in front of him, shoving his hands into his pockets of his jacket. Looking up he found them, all in the back of the Humbee, talking and laughing about something while he and the airman got into the front. The airman quickly set them on their way, almost losing the passengers in the back, when he put his foot down.
Turning round in his seat slightly, he watched them for a while or Carter, trying to work out what they were up to. There was no way she would leave a job undone, the perfectionist in her wouldn't allow it, so they must be up to something. But he didn't care, it felt weird to be off world after so long of spending his days, sat on the end of his jetty, drinking beer and holding his fishing rod. "What you smiling at?" He looked up to find Carter looking at him, leaning onto the back of his seat, talking so he could only hear her. Shrugging his shoulders at her, he turned back to face the front, grabbing onto the dashboard when the Humbee went over a big bump. This airman was going to be the death of him.
She had been telling the truth, but it wasn't anything major just an anti-virus program or two, it wasn't as if they were going to be putting anything on the damn thing. It was at least a five to ten minute job, but they had a day to get it done and then had to ship out on their mission from there, in the morning. The new training facility was something; the main building consisted of his and Davies quarters, classrooms and a lecture hall. The other instructors had their own building with their quarters in, the recruits had their own dorms, separated out into ten teams of five, two teams sharing each dorm. There was a gym in one building, an infirmary much nicer than Janet's, but had more equipment of torture, and the commissary had its own little building.
It was getting really late, most of the recruits were either in their dorms or were in the recreation area, everyone getting to know one another, and listening to SG-1 tell them of past missions. He hadn't really cared much to stick around; most of the stories were to humiliate him, so taking his very nice mug of coffee with him, he went in search of somewhere quiet. Walking around the compound, he'd give Kizior one thing; the guy certainly knew how to plan for the future. The whole place had been well thought out, to bad he couldn't think of moral more and not pissed off so many good people.
Leaving the compound's protection, he wandered around for a while until he found a fallen tree, a clear opening looking out onto the two moons that orbited the planet. Moving his head from side to side, he grimaced at the crack he heard from his neck, rubbing the back of it as he took a sip from his coffee. It was so peaceful there; he couldn't hear any animals, only the sound of the breeze, which wasn't much. Just enough to ruffled his hair and his t-shirt; he found it to be a lot warmer there as well.
Behind him he heard a twig snap, alerting him to someone coming up behind him, he kept still, listening for any more signs of movement. Maybe he'd been wrong about the animals, they just didn't make noise while they were creeping up on their prey. Placing his mug down on the ground in front of him, pretending that he hadn't heard anything, he waited for his moment. Something touched him on the shoulder, training kicked in, grabbing hold of whatever it was, he pulled them over the top of tree, grabbing hold of them by the throat. "JACK!" Somewhat shocked to find it to be her, although he should have known, he wrapped his arms round her, supporting her while she brought her feet over the top of the tree, finding her balance again. He couldn't help but chuckled at himself, shifting to make room for her, picking his coffee back up off the ground.
She straightened her clothing out before she sat down, rubbing at the front of her throat, coughing slightly when she tried to speak. Before he even new what he was doing, he was gently rubbing her back, offering her the rest of his coffee. The look she gave him was priceless, taking the mug from him to have a greedy sip from, finishing off the remains of it in one gulp. "Did you have to pulled me over? I could have easily walked round or climbed over, didn't need you to dragged me over the top". He just smiled at her, leaning down onto his knees with his elbows, scratching at his forearm. Looking at her in the two moons light, it just seemed to make her more beautiful, but he also thought that when she had mud on her face as well.
Pulling at some of the long grass, he started playing with it, folding and twisting the thin strand of grass, seeing how many ways he could fold it before it broke apart. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed her sit forward, watching his hands with the grass. "So, what exactly do I called you now?" Letting the piece of grass fall from his hands, he sat up straight, looking to her and then around the small clearing. He hadn't really thought about it until then. When she was here, she was one of his subordinates but when he was on earth, she was...Sam. "Well, how about when I'm on earth you call me Jack, but when were here and there's people round ya call me sir. Of course you can call me Jack when were here and the boys are around, well they're your boys now. Although you couldn..." He couldn't finished what he was saying, all she did was touched his arm and it silent him, this woman had the worse effect on him.
Sighing at being content, he looked up at the stars, wondering which of them he had been to and which was home, although this was now also home. Rubbing the back of his head, he let his gaze fall from the stars down onto her, watching her looking at the stars. She turned to look at him, but he was quicker and diverted his gaze to his boots, turning one to make it look like he was inspecting it. "Back in the infirmary, were you going to say something to me? Before Janet interrupted I mean" Briefly looking up at her, he started playing with his fingers, cracking them in different directions, sure enough if he kept it up the arthritis would catch up with him. "Erm...sort of... maybe... kinda... oh for cryin' out loud" He was up on his feet, pacing back and forth, frustrated with never being able to talk about his feelings. Damn his father, people say you learn from role models, your parents, if only he'd seen his father talk about his feelings more, he probably wouldn't be in this mess right now.
Pinching at the bridge of his nose, he stopped still in tracks when he felt her hand on his shoulder, bringing more comfort to him than he had ever felt. She could be so calming sometimes it was incredible, just a simple touch without words was soothing enough for him. His mother used to be able to do the same thing; just simply resting her hand on him would calm him down. Sara was never able to do it, she would tried but it wouldn't do anything, if it did anything it just made him worse but they did have their good times. Turning round to face her, he squeezed at the back of his neck, letting his hand fall down to his side when their eyes connected. "I... err... well, ya know... feelings and me... I... erm love... Christ" Covering his face up with his hands, he cursed at himself for being so weak.
She pulled his hands away from his face, stooping to look at his face while he had his head bow down, towards the ground. Slowly he looked up and look her straight in the eye, somehow finding strengthen and courage deep in the depths of eyes, for him to have. " I... love... you" She smiled at him, threading her fingers with his fingers, just standing there smiling at him. It was starting to feel like that time again, the girlie flick where they both confess their love and then kiss with the film ending about there.
Pulling slightly on her hands, she took a step forward towards him, her smile being extremely broader with every passing second. He could feel that stupid smile forming on his lips again, slowly leaning forward towards her as she did the same thing. She stopped for a moment, looking around the small clearing for something. "What?" Smiling she look back up at him, giving his fingers a slight squeezed, leaning back towards him again, closing the distance between them. "Just making sure there's no one to interrupt us" Chuckling slightly, he lean forward towards her, stopping only centimetres away from her face, looking from her eyes to her lips and back again. The smile on her face and on his own, his cheeks felt much better now, slowly dropped away, leaving just them. Closing his eyes, he kissed her gently, letting go of her hands to thread through her hair, holding her either side of her head. Her hands moved up his back, stroking and caressing every muscle her hands touched. Deepening their kiss, he allowed her to have access to his mouth, her doing the same in consent, his hands slid down her sides, coming back up her back, loving the feel of her under his hands.
Slowly their kiss came to an end, not moving too far away from each other before they were wrapped in each other's arms. He felt so good to finally have her in his arms, sure this time that he was to relish, at the feel of her in his arms. Burring his face into her shoulder and into her neck, he couldn't get over how good she smelt, the faint smell of vanilla which must have been her soap or whatever she used. The back of his t-shirt was being pulled out of the back of pants, her hands suddenly caressing his skin on his lower back. "What ya doing?" He didn't mind her hands being there, it was just he didn't want to take it the wrong way, mucking things up like he usually did. "My fingers are cold". Nodding his head into the crook of her neck, sighing as he slowly pulled away from her, taking his hand into hers. Picking up his mug, he led them round the tree and back to the compound.
Keeping her as close as he could, not willing to let go of her, encase someone was to steal her (couldn't trust young men on other worlds) or he found it all to be a dream. God knows what he was going to be like in the morning, when they would have to leave on their mission, leaving him here until he came back home for bit, taking some time out. In the distance he could see the lights of the compound, seeing that meant that he would have to let go of her soon, act like he would have done anyway. He noticed some of the recruits' crossing over to their dorm, busy chatting and laughing at whatever they were talking about. As they came under the light from the compound, he slowly let go of her hand, putting a little bit of distance between them but not too far away.
Crossing over the compound, to where they're staying the night, he opened the door for her, letting her walk inside first. Just as he was about to enter, he suddenly stopped, what the hell could happen if he went in there with her? Looking around the compound behind him, no one was in sight, just the right setting for him, to seek into her room for the night, or walk her to her door, and no one would be the wiser. She must have noticed that he was stood in the doorway, mostly outside the door, holding it wide open to the night air. "Jack, its alright. I'm tired anyway, just might hit the hay before I collapsed" Nodding his head at her, he watched her turned back round; closing the door before a thought suddenly struck him. Opening the door again, he leant against it using it for support; his legs were feeling like jello. "Sam, err...when I'm back home and your not...busy. D'ya wanna go out some time or something? I don't mind what it is, we don't have to do anything if you..." Her hand was over his mouth, making the rest of his words muffled.
She just looked him straight in the eye, removing her hand away from his mouth very slowly, just smiling her great smile for him. There she was doing it again, soothing his nerves for him and stopping him from babbling, making a fool out of himself. "It's a date, Jack. Just one thing thou" He nodded his head for her to continued, putting more of his weight onto the door, glad for its support to keep him upright. "No Daniel. No Teal'c. No Janet. No Jonas and No Cassie. Just you and me, okay?" Swallowing what ever was left in his mouth, he pushed him self up straight, tugging at the collar of his t-shirt. It was like he was sixteen again, asking Louise Aldritt out. "Whatever you want" She nodded her head slightly, looking round the compound behind him before kissing him on the cheek.
His cheeks were hurting now, if he did anymore smiling his face was going to break, rip itself apart with all the tension. Painstakingly she backed away from him, disappearing round a corner towards her room. Turning round he shoved his hand in his pocket, swinging his mug back and forth as he made his way over to the main building. If he smiled any longer, he was going to make himself sick; too much smiling was really paying its toll on his cheek muscles, why did it have to take so many muscles to smile anyway? Entering the main building, he couldn't help but start whistling, heading up the stairs to his room. He didn't feel like sleep, but he knew he had an early start in the morning, seeing them off and then putting the recruits through their paces. But he could always just tell Davis to sort it out, while he...sat in his office thinking about her.
It was early he was sure of it, the sun had started peeping through his curtains at about 0654hrs, earth time. He didn't sleep much that night, the only thing he could think about, was the person on the other side of the compound, just about getting up about this time. Scratching aimlessly at his chest, he looked up at his ceiling, watching the sunlight slowly move across the ceiling. It was silly really, he had all this pent up energy and there was no way he could let it out, because of it his stomach had been doing back flips all night. Throwing the blanket aside, he rolled out of bed, ready for action and to...whop those recruits into shape. But first he was in need of his bathroom facilities, untwisting his boxer shorts; he entered the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.
His shower had been all right, he was sure someone kept turning on a tap, making the shower spurt out a dose of cold water every time. It was probably Davis down the hallway, both connected onto the same hot water supply. Getting dressed he did it as quick as he could, wearing his old BDU's pants, the odd hole here and there, but still good enough to muck around in. Pulling his t-shirt down over his head, he left his room, jumping down most the stairs, not being able to wait to see her this morning. Although he stopped for at moment at the bottom of the stairs, rubbing at his kneecap and the surrounding area. Why did it have to choose that moment to start protesting? Damn never had a sense of timing, just like Jonas and Daniel didn't, always walking in when you didn't want them to. It had cost him over the years for their fault, Jonas was the worst when he had walked in and found him reading a science book, the idiot thought he was a comedian, he wanted to rush him down to the infirmary and get him check out.
Racing over to the commissary, he saluted the odd person on his way, not really paying attention to their face. Entering the commissary he found it to be mostly to be the kids, no sign of them or of her, his smile slowly dropped from his face as he headed to join the cue. Picking up a tray he selected his breakfast, something that looked like coffee, although it resembled the gravy he once made by mistake, and a bowl of whatever cereal was on the side. Ignoring most of the offers he got, to join someone's table, he sat at the table near the back in the corner, dropping into the cheap plastic chair. Looking round one last time, his eyes were drawn to the door, watching it opened and let in two young women and a young man.
Sighing he sat forward, leaning onto the table, scooping up whatever it was in the bowl, onto his spoon before shovelling it into his mouth. His good mood was slowly seeping away with time, she couldn't have gone already, they were supposed to leave about 1000hrs and surely she wouldn't leave without saying goodbye to him. The table was suddenly invaded, all of them dropping into the seats, while Jonas grab a seat from the table next to them, fitting onto the end with his tray.
There she was, sitting right next to him, sipping at her coffee and smiling at him with those eyes of hers. If they weren't where they were, he would have kissed her on the cheek but that could wait till later, when they were shipping out. His smile from the night before was back, not hurting as much as the last night, just a little tune down than last nights. Scooping up a spoon full of cereal, he looked down at his thigh when he felt her give it a slight squeeze. Nodding his head at whatever Daniel was saying, he let his right hand travelled under the table, taking her hand into his, drawing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. "Jack, what's with the goofy grin?" He looked up at Daniel then, shrugging his shoulders as he put another spoonful of cereal into his mouth, waggling his eyebrows at him. Daniel rolled his eyes at him, turning his attention to Jonas, who look like he was about to fall asleep on the table given the chance.
Finishing up the rest of his cereal, he pushed his tray away slightly, sitting back into his seat, drinking his coffee while looking down at their joined hands. She was busy listening to Jonas and Daniel babble, which was fine with him, if she wanted to hear about them talked about food. Teal'c was watching over the commissary, briefly looking to Daniel and Jonas when they raised their voices, becoming a little bit too enthusiastic. But all the way through it, she held his hand and he held her hand. It's funny to think; yesterday she was so upset with him that she wouldn't talk to him and now they're sat having breakfast together, hands held underneath the table.
He jumped when someone touched his shoulder, turning so whoever it was couldn't see their hands, he looked up to see Davis, saying his hello to all of them round the table. Clearing his throat, he looked round at everyone round the table, extending a few more seconds to Carter. "Sir, the recruits have all began their morning lessons. There's some things for you to sign, and some things that I have to go over with you, if you can spare the time that is, sir" Nodding his head at him, he gave her hand a gently squeezed, releasing his hold on her hand as he stood up, taking his tray with him. "I'll meet ya's at the gate, don't leave till I've come and said goodbye" They all nodded to him, Carter just smiled at him, moving from his seat, he smiled at her over his shoulder, following Davis out of the commissary.
Dumping his tray on the side, he pulled his t-shirt down a bit, sparing a second to look at them before he went through the door. They were laughing again and smiling, she was smiling at them, sipping at her coffee. Running a hand through his hair, he let go of the door and followed Davis, back over to the main building to his office.
They were supposed to be gating out anytime soon, which was why he was driving like a suicidal maniac, trying to get there in the shortest of time. He could see the gate with them sat on the steps, their things lying scattered around them. Driving straight down the hill, at a 45-degree angle, he zoomed across the clearing, skidding to a halt near the DHD. Getting out of the Hummer, he smiled at them all but mostly at Sam; she was Sam now that she was going on her mission, no longer having to report back to him. She said something to Jonas and he quickly jogged over to the DHD, dialling up the address they were going. Slipping his hands into the back pockets of his pants, he stepped up closure to her, shyly smiling at her before he slipped his hand into hers.
They stood like that in silence, watching the gate dialled up in front of them, the others hadn't noticed they were holding hands, to busy watching the gate for themselves. As the gate engaged in front of them, he leant into her and kissed her on the cheek, rubbing the back of her hand with his left hand. Daniel turned round just when she wrapped her arms round his neck, pulling him down for a very intoxicating and almost erotic kiss, playing with the hair on the back of his neck between her fingers. "Do I get a goodbye kiss like that?" They broke apart and both glaring at him, Daniel held up his hands to them before grabbing his backpack, retreating to the other side of the gate. Kissing her again, he savoured and committed to memory the taste of her lips, trailing his hands down her arms before shoving his hands firmly into his pockets, stopping himself from pulling her back. "I'll see you soon, Sam" She nodded her head, taking her pack from Teal'c as she headed up the steps, glancing over her shoulder at him.
Jonas and Teal'c walked through, talking about something; Sam waved to him briefly and then disappeared through the gate. Turning on his heels, the gate deactivated behind him while he walked over to the Humbee, jumping back into the driver's seat, to sit and stare at the inactive gate. Somewhere out there she was leading them, walking off into the distance, on some planet and he couldn't touch her any longer. It was strange, the way he was feeling; he hadn't felt it since Charlie was born, the excitement of something new was overwhelming. His heart was beating to the dozen against his ribs, threatening to go through the gate after her, while his brain was telling him to turn the engine on and get back to the compound. The promise of something special, of her waiting for him to come home for a short time, but she would be waiting for him.
He shivered slightly, turning the key in the ignition, shoving the Hummer into gear; he reversed back, quickly changing gear to speed off back in the direction of the compound. Looking in the rear view mirror, he watched the gate get further and further away, putting more distance between him and Sam. Changing gear, he pulled his eyes from the reflection in the mirror and concentrated on the dirt road in front of him, pushing the memory of last night out of his head. The memory of her being in his arms, but it wouldn't be long till she was back there. This time around he was going to do things properly, nothing rush, taking his time to get to know the `Sam' part of her personality.
The End
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to Katmellie
Heliopolis Main Archive
A Stargate: SG-1 Fanfiction Site
Back on Old Territory
by KatmellieSite Navigation
Support Heliopolis