Stupid SOB
Stupid SOB
by Katmellie
Summary: Jack has some visitors, and gets it totally wrong. Will it have cost him his friendship with Sam or not?
Category: Future Story, Series
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: 05/23/03
Stupid SOB
It'd been at least a month since he'd been to visit them, from what he had heard through the military channels that he still had. The mutiny had gone without a hitch, a week after they had took over the base, locking everybody in and out, and the brass in Washington quickly reassigned a new command to the SGC. Kizior had been sent off to Russia to head the research program that they had over there. But whatever happened to the rest of them, he had no idea, as that was still top secret to him. He hadn't even had a phone call off any of them, or even a letter off Cassie, to tell it from their perspective, which would have been a lot better and funnier. From what he heard, they'd locked Kizior in a room with only Teal'c to talk to and if he knew Teal'c right, he would have just stared at him across the room until he gave in.
Shaking the thought out of his head for the umpteenth time that day, and week, he rested his fishing rod against his tackle box, getting up out of his seat. Gaiting back into his cabin, he ran his fingers over the edge of things that he passed, keeping his left hand in his pocket. He stopped looking out the windows onto the front of his cabin, his truck parked just off to the left hand side, giving him a clear view of down the track road. Nothing but him, a lake and an endless track road leading back to the highway. What more could a man want?
Shoving both his hands into his pockets, he went into the kitchen to the fridge, opening it to take himself a beer out. Kicking it closed with his foot, he twisted off the lid to his beer and threw it on the side, taking a greedy swig from his beer. He jumped when he heard something bleeping at him, frowning he walked to the side table by the front door, to see his cell phone screen lit up, saying 'Message Received'. Placing his beer down on the side table, he traded it for his cell phone, unlocking it and then accessed the messages. To say he was surprised was an under statement of the century, she had sent him a message, finally word from the outside world.
Hey there,
Ya couldn't help a young lady
out and her companion.
Carter
Frowning he picked up his beer, moving to sit down on the couch in front of the fireplace. Putting his beer on the table, he leant onto his knees with his elbows, typing a reply to her message. Taking a quick sip from his beer, he sat watching his phone, waiting for her to reply back to him. It was a little weird for to be sending him a text message, he never often used that part of his phone, only on the off chance would he used. He liked it better to actually hear the person's voice, telling a lot from their voice and what was going on in background. His phone bleeped again, almost causing him to have a heart attack.
My companion, and me have been
travelling since about five
o'clock this morning. The problem
is we know we're near are
destination but we're not sure
which turn off it is, there's
so many track roads it's
unbelievable.
Sighing he gave up with the whole text thing, instead decided to just ring her and get straight to the point. It sounded as if she was lost or something, but what did she expect him to do about it. She was in Colorado and he was in Minnesota, two different counties with different zip codes. Sure he knew most of Colorado like the address for home on the DHD, but wouldn't it be better for her to ask someone who was actually there instead of being miles away. After about the forth ring she answered, someone was laughing in the background and he could hear something rustling as well.
"Carter, what's the problem?"
"Err...well, Cassie and I decided to go on a week's vacation. We thought of the great place to go you see, but the problem is neither of us have been there and the person that has, is off world as we speak" "And what can I do for you?"
"Well, you could meet us at this diner I saw. I think it was called Caffeine Addicts Stop Off" "Carter, that's about two miles from my cabin"
The voice in the background suddenly started moaning, probably overhearing their conversation they were having. Getting up off the couch, he walked over to the side table by the door, while on the other end the two ladies' were arguing. Grabbing his keys off the side, he opened and shut his front door, walking across the clearing to his truck.
"Carter, I'll be there in about five. Then you can explain to me, being the man that I am, why the hell you're all the way out here?" "Well, were already there. Sat outside the entrance" "Okay, be there in bit"
"Sure. Bye sir"
Ending the call, he threw his phone through the opened window onto the passenger seat before getting in himself. Shaking his head he put the key in the ignition and started it up, while he was putting on his seatbelt. What were those two up too? Dropping the gear into reverse, he did a 180-degree turn and sped off down the track road, rocking from side to side without a care for the potholes.
Turning out onto the highway, he slipped on his sunglasses, checking in the mirror that they were seated properly. Shaking his head he returned his attention back onto the road, pressing a button to wide down his window, he rested his arm on the edge of the door, drumming his fingers on the outside of the door. He started fidgeting in his seat, for some unknown reason he felt nervous. Shaking the feeling away, he pulled off into the 'Caffeine Addicts Stop Off', sighting her car exactly where she said it would be, both on them leaning up against the side of it. Pulling up into the space next to them, he turned the engine off, getting out to find Cassie waiting for him. He gave her a quick hug, shutting his door shut behind him with his foot while he juggled with his keys.
Shoving his keys into his pocket, he walked round the front of his truck with Cassie in tow, coming face to face with Carter. She stood there leaning up against his truck like one of those women in a car magazine. Shaking the thought out of his head, he folded his arms in front of his chest, raising his eyebrows at her. "Bet your wondering what the hell were doing here?" Rolling his eyes at her behind his sunglasses, he leant onto the hood of his truck, resting his head in his hand, with his elbow. They both looked at each other, Cassie coming to stand next to her, and then looked back at him. He looked between them when it suddenly struck him, shaking his head he backed away from them, waving both his hands at them. "Oh no. No way" Cassie was the first to step forward, pouting her lips at him and fluttered her eyelashes at him. But that didn't work, he just smile at her, pinching her cheek while he shook his head at her. Carter pulled her out of his reach and to the side, stepping forward to just look at him, no pouting of lips, no fluttering her eyelashes at him, just a plane old Carter look. However much he may have wanted to say no, he just couldn't, not to her. "Okay, just for the week though. Jesus, you could have rung and asked me, ya know?" She just smiled at him, patting him on the arm before they both got into her car. Bowing his head in self-remorse, he got back into his truck, shaking his head at himself while he started the truck again.
Pulling up back in front of his cabin, he got out just as they parked up next him, both of them looking very smug with themselves. Taking off his sunglasses, he headed inside his cabin, letting them take their time to come in. Dropping onto the couch, he laid on his front, fully stretch out on couch, looking down at the wooden floor. That woman had the worse affect on him; she could probably get him to do all sorts of things with that look of hers. "Jack, can you come and help us?" Pushing himself off of the couch, he found two bags already sat next to the side table, wasn't that enough?
Walking back outside, he found that between them they were both struggling with a box of something. Quickly jogging over to them, he picked the box up with ease, shaking his head at them while he took it inside for them. He put it down on the dining table, opening it up to find food inside and other stuff. Picking up a parcel that was wrapped up with 'Happy Birthday' written all over, he turned round to face them, motioning to the package in his hand. "Oh, Daniel and everyone else sent you your birthday presents. It's in a few days or had you forgotten?" Frowning for a moment, he closed his eyes realising that they were right, other year in his boring life. Putting the parcel back in the box, he froze when he felt her brush up against him, retrieving something from inside the box. She smelt so good just like she always did, the scent of musk and vanilla.
Swallowing whatever hadn't dried up in his mouth, he moved away from her towards the bedrooms. Unbuttoning his shirt, he wafted it to try and calmed himself down; glad he put a vest on that morning. Opening up the guest bedroom door, he stood to the side and pointing inside. "Err..." He coughed trying to find his voice. "Which one of ya's is taking the guest bedroom, in there. The other one will either have to share with ya, or will have to take my bed and I'll sleep on the couch" They looked at each other for minute, opening the door behind him, he slipped into his bedroom, taking his shirt off and threw it on a chair. Un-tucking his vest from his pants, he came back out to find them both going into the guest bedroom, nodding there heads at one another. "I'll share with Sam, Jack. No biggy, we've had to share before today" Nodding his head to her, he stood there before going in search of his beer, knowing he should really calm himself down before he made an idiot of himself.
He could hear them moving around already, doing something in the kitchen and in their bathroom. Rolling onto his side, he looked at his clock to see it was 0732 in morning. One thing he had gotten used too, in retirement, was having a decent lie in, not getting up till really late in the morning. Closing his eyes to the outside world, pulling the duvet tighter around his shoulder, almost cocooning himself in its warmth. It was heaven just lying there some morning; the cabin would be silent except for the odd bird chirping, and he would have all morning to just lie there. Even though on the other side of that door, was a woman when added to the equation could make it better than heaven.
All thought stopped when he heard a hesitant knock on his door, wasn't it enough that they were up already. Couldn't they go back to bed and leave him in peace, or better still could the blonde headed woman, come into his bedroom and the other one go for a very long walk somewhere. The door creaked when it opened; he snuggled down further into his duvet, only letting the top of his head show to them. Even though she was being stealthy as ever, he could still make out every step, coming closer to his bed until they stopped at his side. It was faint but he still heard her calling his name, or more like his old title she didn't have to call him anymore. "Sir" Opening one of his eyes, he pulled the duvet down out of his face slightly, just enough for him to see her and for her to see him. She smiled at him, sitting down on the edge of the bed next to him, leaning onto her knees so she could still see him. Opening his other eye, he wiped at his face with the edge of the duvet, trying to wash away the need for sleep.
Licking at his lips, he pushed the duvet further down, draping his arm over the top of it. Hearing the floorboard creek in the doorway, they both looked up to see Cassie coming in with a mug of coffee. Taking it as a sign he wouldn't be going back to bed, he sat up against the headboard behind him, making room on the side table for somewhere to put the mug. Quickly putting the mug next to him, she smiled and then left going off somewhere else in the cabin. "Come on, sir. Time to get up and see what a beautiful world it is outside" She patted the bed next to him, standing up while pulling her top down. Either he was one of the luckiest men in the universe, or Major Samantha Carter was stood in his bedroom, wearing a pair of shorts, showing him the legs that he had always known to be underneath her BDU's.
Throwing the duvet a side, he sat up on the edge of the bed, sipping at the coffee that had been brought in for him. For once it actually tasted like coffee in the morning, not like his mistake the other morning of using gravy granules instead of instant coffee stuff. But that was probably due to them being fully awake and he had been walking around in one of his dazes. "Okay, Carter. I'm up, just give me ten and then I'll come and make breakfast" She just chuckled to herself, walking backwards to the door with that smug look of hers. Frowning at her he stood up, untwisting his boxers from the twisting and turning he had done during the night. "No need, sir. Breakfast already and waiting for you" Closing the door behind her to give him some privacy, he shook his head staring at the door; they've invaded his home and have made him breakfast. Could they clean as well?
Rubbing a hand through his hair, he stepped into his en-suite bathroom, turning on the tap to the shower while he grabbed his toothbrush from the cabernet. It actually felt strange to think that on the other side of the wall in front of him, there was breakfast all laid out for him and two people who wanted to spend a week's vacation in his company, even if they were uninvited. Stripping himself of his boxers, he stepped underneath the warm spray, shivering slightly at the sudden changed in temperature. Reaching for the toothpaste off the side, he swiped a small amount of his toothbrush and quickly brushed his teeth, remaining underneath the spray. Rinsing and spitting into the washbasin next to the shower, he dropped the toothbrush into its holder, getting on with the rest of his shower.
Walking into his bedroom with the towel wrapped round his lower half, he took a sip from his lukewarm coffee. Finishing off the rest of it, he placed the mug on top of his chest of drawers, taking himself out a clean pair of shorts and boxers. He smiled when he noticed it was his favourite shorts, the pair that just came to below his knee and had so many pockets on them; he had trouble finding what to put in each one. Quickly getting dress, he drew his curtains to see the usual weather, bright and sunny the best kind of weather for fishing. Picking up his mug on the way out, he opened his door to be bombarded with the smell of cooking and brewing coffee. There was music on somewhere, playing out some old tunes.
Turning the corner into the kitchen, he found them both sitting at the breakfast bar, talking about something to each other. Pouring him self another coffee, he started swaying side-to-side in time with the music and then stopped when he realised it was another song from that damn film again. The one where, Sara had promised, the fight scene, which never really happened except for a split second. It was starting to become annoying, he found himself to be humming along, actually singing the words in his head. If he remembered right, he'd fallen a sleep as soon as the girl had pulled up at the holiday resort.
Taking a sip from his coffee, he turned to find them both looking at him, watching his every move like he was some freak show. Wasn't a man nowadays allowed to hum to himself, or was it against those rules women had? They were both smiling at him while he took a seat next to Cassie; Carter was sat on the other side, picking at her toast like she did when she had nothing to do. Shaking his head at them, he started eating what he presumed was his breakfast, finding that the plate nearly consisted of everything in his fridge. They must have been cooking up a storm while he was asleep, with all the noise they had been creating; they must have been cooking for the five thousand. Which meant that Cassie must have been doing the cooking, otherwise Carter's training would have kicked in, making her cook only what was needed instead of making enough for lunch later.
Another song started up and he found it to be another from that damn film, was there a conspiracy to get him to sing or something? Dropping his fork onto the plate, he looked at both women, trying to see if it was coincidence that these songs were playing or that they were in on it as well. "Okay, what the hell are we listening to?" Cassie's smile widened even more if it could, her smile beaming to new heights, looking at him with that innocent look of hers. Shaking her head down at the worktop, Carter took a bite out of her toast, reaching to pick her coffee up. "Sam brought it for me after I watch the film. You know that...erm...Sam what was it called again?" She looked up at her, shocked that she had brought her into the conversation. "Err...Dirty Dancing, I think" Cassie nodded her head at her, leaning onto the counter with her elbows, pointing to Carter and then at him. "That's it. I like the songs so Sam found the CD on Ebay for me" He simply nodded his head at her, getting up from his stool, taking his coffee with him. All he knew was he had to get away from that music, or they would have to put up with his singing, for the rest of the week.
Sitting back in his chair out on the jetty, his feet resting on top of his tackle box with his fishing rod in his hands. The normal peaceful landscape was interrupted by the two women, after he'd been corrected by Cassie some years ago, were sitting on a blanket together, soaking up as much sun as they could, talking and listening to the radio or whatever they called it. He could relate to them in some ways, trying to improve the tan to his chest and just relaxing but did they need the ghetto blaster. What was so wrong with enjoying the sounds of nature? Being in the city was nothing compared to the countryside, so why weren't enjoying while they could?
They could at least have put some on that he liked, not that poppy stuff that Cassie listened to or that ear deafening music that he found on some channel named Kerrang. He looked round when the ghetto blaster stopped, but Cassie was only changing the CD while Carter went into the cabin for something. His attention was drawn to those legs again until they disappeared behind the couch and the rest of furniture. Shaking himself out of his daze, he looked back over the lake, spotting one of the local fishermen on the other side. He hoped the guy didn't mine them having the ghetto blaster on, scaring away the invisible fish that men like him tried to fish for. But as he tried to explain to people, it was the fishing not the catching that matter, relaxing was the name of the game.
Frowning he sat up in his seat, he'd heard that CD somewhere before, like in his truck when he'd picked Cassie up from school. He'd been wondering where that had gone; the little terror had nabbed it when she changed the CD over. Wiping at his nose as he rested his fishing rod against his tackle box, he got up just when Carter came out of the cabin; whatever she was doing he certainly didn't call that dancing. It looked as if she was having a fit or something, her head bouncing from side to side, mouthing the words to herself, and taking steps backwards and forwards. "Carter" She stopped looking up at him, making an O shaped with her mouth, knowing that she had been caught doing something weird. He was all for expressing yourself, but whatever she had been doing, should be made illegal. "Whatever you call that, I'd advise you never to do it again. Not in my presence that is, or you'll do psychological damage to me" Cassie was grinning to herself, looking down at some CD case, hiding her amusement from Carter. Waggling his eyebrows at her, he passed her into the cabin, doing his own little impression of her, waving his fingers side to side in time with the music.
He could hear them both giggling, smiling to himself he opened the fridge, finding that all his beers, even enough for his night in front of the telly for the big game, were gone. His smile was wiped away in an instant, no more beer for Major Carter, only if she brought her own. There must have been a whole shelf the day before, section off for his beer and it was completely empty. Nudging the door shut with his hip, he looked to the counter for his wallet seeing his keys next to them, but then sighted the other keys, hanging on its hook above the toaster while he took his wallet off the side, shoving it into one of the various pockets on his shorts. Taking the other keys from their hook, he threw them up and caught them, smiling to himself as he made his way outside.
They just both laid there with their backs to him, chatting away to one another like some old biddies, discussing the new warts they had found that morning. Rolling his eyes at them, he walked round to face them, placing his hands on his hips. Shadowing their eyes from the sun, they both looked up at him, cursing at him for blocking part of their sun. "Would one of you like to accompany me to the market? Just got some things to get which shouldn't take long" Looking to one another they nodded their heads, Carter shrugged pushing herself up off the blanket, brushing some of the grass she had collected. He knew he was smiling like an idiot, but if she only knew how and what route he would be taking to get to the market, he was sure she wouldn't have been coming with him. "Which vehicle you wanna take? My car or your truck?" Shaking his head at her, he gestured for her to come with him, with his finger, walking round to the front of the cabin. She looked down at Cassie for a moment, but followed anyway, shoving her hands into the back pockets of her shorts.
Pointing for her to stand somewhere, he jogged round to the side of the cabin, to the little shed that was kept out of sight by the shadows. Unlocking the padlock to the door, he opened both the doors as wide as they would go, dropping the padlock near the bottom of one of the doors. There it was, his little pride and joy that didn't get used very often, leaning up against the side of the shed. Sighing at the sight of it, he took his helmet down from its hook, pulling up his pride and joy from its resting place. Carrying his helmet on his arm, he pushed it out into the sunlight, trying to his best to keep the bike up right instead of it landed on top of him. Coming round to the front of the cabin, he came to a stop in front of Carter, putting his bike onto its standing leg. She was already fiddling with it, awing over the little details in the paintwork and then at the engine itself.
Balancing his helmet on the seat, he went inside the cabin to swap his scandals for a pair of trainers. By the time he came back out, she was sat on it, smiling her head off like a kid in a sweet shop. Shaking his head at her, he rubbed at the back of his head, coming to stand next to her. "Sir, I didn't know you rode. Why didn't you ever tell me?" Motioning for her to get off, picking the helmet off the ground, he handed it to her while he got on, putting the key in the ignition. "Just on the odd occasion, Carter. Everyone's got the rebel in them, mine only comes out now and then" She nodded her head, fastening the helmet into place on her head. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she went to get on the back but stopped, looking around for something. "What?" Looking up at him, he could tell she was frowning underneath the helmet; her eyes could always give her away. "Where's your helmet?" All he did was smile at her, kicking the standing leg back up into place, taking the full weight of the bike between his legs. Turning the key in the ignition, he quickly started it with expert speed, the bike roar into life underneath him. Getting the idea that he wasn't going to wearing one, she climbed onto the back just as Cassie came round the corner, to see what was going on.
Waiting for a minute so she could hold onto something and get comfortable, he walked the bike over to Cassie, revving the bike when it sounded like it was going to stall. She just glared at them like they had betrayed her, he just smile at her, shrugging his shoulders while he put the bike into gear. Looking down to his waist, he found a pair of hands gasped round him, in a lose hug type from behind. Smiling to himself for no apparent reason he kept telling himself, he set the bike into motion, turning round to face the other way and towards the wall like type trees at the other end of the clearing. "Erm...sir, you're not going to..." Her words were cut short as they zoomed across the clearing, straight through the trees onto some type of path. He thought he couldn't breath, the way that her arms had suddenly become very rigid and tight round his waist. "Jack O'Neill! If you ever pull a stunt like that again, god help you I'll so..." Shaking his head at her, he speeded the bike up, jumping up and over mount dirt. She was pressed up against his back, not used to riding off road, which was a shamed because you hadn't live till you jumped a seven foot hill. Now that certainly got the wind in your face.
Breaking through another wall of trees, they came out onto the car park of the market, other cars parked in front and around the building. Parking up onto the sidewalk, out of the way of anyone, they each sorted themselves out. He rubbed down his chest, removing some of the leaves and dirt that had stuck to him, and notice the odd graze and cut on his shoulders. Looking up to see Carter remove her helmet, he could tell from looking at her eyes that she was high on adrenaline, and that she had really enjoyed that, even if she had been protesting all the way there. Telling him what she was going to do him when they stopped, or his favourite, 'If you don't stop right now, Jack O'Neill!' that was all he remember. His favourite part being, 'Jack'. She was giving him that glare, which had traces of goofy grin or 'Wow, can we do it again' look.
Smiling down at the ground, he led the way round to the entrance, shoving his hands into his pockets. It didn't beat pulling out of a suicidal fall in a Tornado, but it was enough to get the blood pumping. He stopped in the doorway of the market, looking round at all the people, milling round with their shopping carts. Frozen in place, he watched her hand come straight up towards his face, retrieving something from his hair. Nodding his thanks for taking the leave out of his hair, he grabbed a basket out of the pile by the door, and began on his hunt for beer and anything that would keep her away from his beer, hopefully they had some wine in this place.
Coming out with a box with their purchase in, they smile at each other rounding the corner to look at his bike. Okay, so when they were going round the market, talking about nothing important, he forgotten about how they were getting back with their stuff. Shrugging his shoulders at his bike, he handed the box over to Carter while he got on the bike, turning it round to face the car park entrance. She just looked at him as if he was crazy, he was used to that look, and she'd given it to him before on the odd occasion when he had been making sense. "Come on, Carter. I'm just gonna have to take it slow and steady, wedging the box between you and me" Frowning at him she handed him the box, climbed onto the back and then took the box from him. He started the bike up before reaching down to pick up his helmet, hanging it onto the handlebar; he set the bike into motion before pulling out onto the highway.
It didn't take them long to get back to the cabin, Cassie was sat waiting on the porch for them. While Carter took the shopping inside, Cassie had voice her opinion on not being told that they were going on a motorbike. Giving in to her for once, or the second time that year, he took her down some footpaths, only jumping over small things, scared that she may fall off the back or something and having to deal with the child's mother, if she was ever to get hurt. More scare of dealing with mother, who had access to anything that could torture him, he took his time and thought things through twice, working out whether she would get hurt from that jump or this jump. But to say she was enjoying herself was an understatement; she was screaming her head off when they went over jumps or even just racing across the clearing in front of the cabin. He'd noticed that Carter had been watching with some bemusement from the porch, watching them race from one end to the other and then almost having a heart attack, when they jumped, over a short distance, of the lake. Sometimes she could be such a mother hen.
Dinner had been nice even if Cassie had cooked it, trying to kill whatever she had put in the pan and in the oven. She got herself so wound up at one point, she just started crying for no apparent reason but luckily, him and Carter had come to the rescue of what he thought was a chicken. He could swear blind that when she put that in the oven it had been a chicken, when they got it out sometime later, it just looked like...well white meat turning to black meat was not a good sign. She gone to bed soon after that, saying she'd see them in the morning and promised she was never going to cook again until the day she died. Leaving Carter and himself to...seat on the couch doing nothing at all, she was reading some book she brought with her and he was...watching her read her book. Even though he knew the game was on, he couldn't find energy or divert enough, to reach for the remote and put the game on, when she was sat there being oblivious to him watching her. Something he hadn't done since he left the SGC, and it being one of the things that he had missed so much.
She could be so entertaining at times, they could be sitting in the briefing room and she would be reading through Daniel's brief. Now and then she would pick her pencil up and make changes to it, or even start doodling on it, masking it behind the folded as if she was doing work. Sometimes he'd wonder why he hadn't thought of that, having been caught about a million times, not paying attention and just doodling over his notepad for everyone to see. Then there were times when she would be in her lab working, she wouldn't know that he was in the doorway watching her, being too engrossed in her work to care, and she would start singing the periodic table to herself. God knows how she got a tune to go with it, but some how she would sing it, doing a little jiggle thing round her lab while she was working.
Quickly looking down at something on his shorts, pretending he wasn't watching her when she looked up at him, probably realising that she had eyes on her. He caught sight of her moving, marking her page in her book while she was getting up out of her seat. Thinking that she was going to bed, he turned to put his feet up on the couch to find her sat at the other end, watching him like he had been doing to her. Instead he put his feet up on the coffee table, folding his arms on his chest while he looked up at the ceiling, avoiding her gaze as much as he could. "Sir..." He was so fed up of hearing that word, didn't she realise after all this time she didn't have to call him that anymore? "Carter, you realise that you shouldn't call me that anymore? It's been what...years since you were under my command and I was your superior officer" All she did was nod her head at him, turning to sit properly on the couch, looking at him from the side. It felt a bit awful that he pointed it out to her, but it was driving him nuts, calling him something that he wasn't anymore after so long.
She got up off the couch, picking up her book from the coffee at the same time, turning to go off towards the bedrooms. Following her with his eyes, he watched her stop by the kitchen counter, looking over her shoulder at him. "Goodnight...Jack" Without saying another word, she went into guest bedroom, shutting the door before he could tell her goodnight as well. Why'd it feel like she was going to say something else to him? It sounding like she was going to say something else to him, there hadn't been any need for her to move to the couch from the chair, just to tell him goodnight.
Cursing at himself for stopping her, he reached forward for the remote and turned the game on. Noticing that the game was coming to an end, Wilds winning against Penguins was the only information he needed. Getting up off the couch, he turned the TV off again, throwing the remote onto the couch behind him.
Turning off the lights, he made his way towards his bedroom, when it suddenly hit him. She had actually said goodnight to him, not to Colonel O'Neill but to Jack O'Neill. Finally using his first name, sure she'd said it before to him but his last name and a lot of cursing, when they'd gone straight through a creek, followed it. Smiling to himself, he turned off the last light and went into his bedroom, leaning up the door when he closed it. The only thing was now, could he actually bring himself to say her name without going all goofy on her.
Waking up with a startle, he opened his eyes to find Cassie stood over him, shaking him by his shoulders. He was having such a nice dream as well, they were all there talking to him and then Carter...Sam had kissed him on the cheek at first, but if it went any further he wouldn't know because someone had woken him up. Looking from her to the clock at his bedside, he flopped back down onto the bed, turning his back to her. Why in god's name was she waking him up at three in the morning? No one in their right mind would be getting up at this time in the morning, unless they had to go to work of course. He felt the bed shift at the side of him, someone was applying pressure onto his shoulder, pushing him down into the bed and rocking him side to side again. "Cassie! For crying out loud! Just go back to bed for a bit!" Suddenly felt he had been deprived of warmth, looking down the bed he noticed his duvet at the end of the bed in a heap. Rolling his eyes at the wall in front of him, he rolled back over to face her, glaring at her his look of 'Don't mess with me'.
She jumped off the bed, pulling at his arms, almost pulling him off the bed onto the floor, if he hadn't manage to put his feet into action. Yawning down at the floor, he let her pull her out of his bedroom, trusting her to lead him into no danger, he wiped at his eyes trying to wake himself up. "Jack! I can't wake Sam. I think she's having a nightmare, but I can't get her to wake up" Opening his eyes, he found himself stood in front of their bed, Sam was thrashing out like she was fighting with someone or something.
Pulling his hand out of Cassie's grip, he jumped onto the bed, grabbing onto the flinging arms when they came at him. Holding them down onto her chest, he looked round for something, not really paying attention to anything that she was saying. Shaking his head when he couldn't see anything to used to wake her up, he shook her as hard as he could, trying not to hurt her at the same time. "Carter! Come on, wake up for me! You're scaring the hell out of Cassie!" She went to turn away from him, it sounded like she was crying now, saying something he couldn't understand. Turning her back to face him, he made the mistake of letting go of one of her arms.
At first he didn't realise she hit him; he was too preoccupied with thinking of ways to wake her up and trying to keep her still. Sighing he looked up to Cassie, something was dripping down onto his chest, looking down at his chest he saw blood. Keeping hold of Sam's arm, he wiped at his nose with his forearm, a trail of blood was left in its wake. Grimacing at the sight of it, he chose to ignore it and deal with something more important. "Sam! Simmons is playing with your doohickeys!" She sat bolt right up, looking around the room for something; beads of sweat ran down her forehead. Letting go of her arms, he wiped at his nose again while he got up, slipping out into the bathroom.
Looking in the mirror, he grimaced at the sight of blood trailing down his neck onto his chest. Turning on the taps to the sink, he opened the cupboard underneath and took a face cloth out, throwing it into the sink to be soak in water. He could hear them talking in the bedroom behind him, their voices seemed awfully close now, almost right behind him. Picking the face cloth out of the sink, he wiped the blood away from his chest and neck, and then held it up to his nose. Taking another face cloth out of the cupboard, he looked in the mirror to see Sam and Cassie come out their bedroom. She looked terrible like she seen a ghost, or had been in that god damn awful machine. "Oh, god. I'm so sorry". Soaking the other face cloth, he rung it out best he could with one hand and then handed it to her. She took it from him, folding it up and placed it on the back of her neck, not taking her eyes off him for a second. "I wouldn't worry about it, Sam. I've had worse before, you know that" Stepping pass them into the hallway, he went back into his own bedroom and then into his own bathroom.
Turning on the taps to his sink, he rinse the face cloth he held to nose out, watching the blood wash down the sink. Touching his nose attentively, he looked at it in the mirror, sensing it would be very sore for a few days. Shaking his head, he rung the face cloth out again, holding it back up against his nose, checking to see if it had stopped bleeding. Seeing there was no more blood, he threw the face cloth in the washing basket behind him, filling the sink with warm water after putting the plug in. Looking in the mirror, he watched Sam come in behind him, wiping her face with the face cloth. "You alright now?" She looked at him through the mirror, leaning up the shower unit behind him; she nodded her head at him, forcing her lips to form into a smile. Carefully he washed his face, arms and chest, making sure he got all the blood off of him and then dried himself with a hand towel, passing her through to his bedroom.
He could hear her footsteps behind him, following him out of the bathroom into his bedroom. Dropping onto the side of the bed, he gently probed at his nose, watching her sit down beside him. She look as white as his bed sheets, probably had some really awful nightmare, which from the looking at her, she wouldn't want to talk about. Rolling his eyes at nothing, he looked at the clock next to him, seeing it was now 0330hrs and he had no need for sleep anymore. Taking one last look at her, he stood up and grabbed a pair of jogging bottoms out of a draw and a t-shirt. Leaving her in his room, he went out to the living room, putting on his jogging bottoms at the same time. Glancing into their bedroom, he noticed that Cassie had gone back to bed, curling up on her side near the edge of the bed.
Pulling his t-shirt over his head, he dropped onto the couch, picking up the remote and turn the TV on. Flicking around the channels while he got comfortable, he finally found something that was educational and entertaining at the same time, re-runs of The Simpson's. Resting his feet onto the coffee table, he balanced the remote on the arm of the couch, watching Homer chasing Bart round the house as usual. When he heard the floorboards creek behind him, he looked over his shoulder to see her go into the kitchen. He didn't like what he saw; she looked like a small child, hunching herself over at the shoulders while she looked through the fridge for something. Closing his eyes to the TV when he turned back to look at it, he turned it off without a second thought, throwing the remote to one of the armchairs.
Pushing himself off of the couch, he dug his hands down into his pockets, joining her in the kitchen, leaning up the counter next to her. Looking at her through the corner of his eye, he scrunched his face up, shaking his head down at the floor. Hesitantly he placed his hand on her back, gently rubbing it slightly to comfort her in some way. She bowed her head for a second before she turned into him, wrapping her arms round his waist, giving him no option but to wrap his arms round her shoulders, resting his chin on top of her head. This was one of those times when he didn't know, whether to relished at her being in his arms or to ignore his feelings of gratitude to whoever put them in this predicament, and remind himself he's suppose to be comforting her.
After a while she started to lean more against him, crushing him into the counter behind him, the draw handle digging into his butt. Moving his head slightly to side, he noticed that both her eyes were shut and she was snoring quietly against his chest. Hooking his arms underneath her own, he held her close as possible, lifting her slightly off the floor and walk her to his room. Putting her back into bed with Cassie could be a bad thing, if she started having nightmares again and started thrashing around again.
Carefully he lay her down onto his bed, pulling the duvet up and over her, tugging her in like he used to do for Charlie. Stroking a piece of hair from her fore head, shaking his head at his actions, he left the room closing the door behind him. The problem now was that he was wide-awake and had nothing to do. He couldn't make too much noise encase he woke one of them up, it was a little silly to be fishing at this time in the morning and he didn't feel like running this morning. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he crossed over to the far corner of the cabin, selecting him self a book from the shelf.
Sitting down in the armchair with the lamp next, he reached up and turned it on, blinking for a minute at the sudden change in light. Looking at his book that lay on his lap, he picked it up and dropped it on the floor next to him, not really up to reading a book at this precise moment in time. Leaning onto the arm of the chair, he suddenly felt his eyes becoming heavy, falling down into place while his dream he had before started over again.
Slowly he started becoming aware of movement around him, people whispering to each other off to his left, creeping round to not wake him up. He could tell someone was standing next to him, watching him while he slept; it was unnerving to think someone was watching you while you asleep. Sighing he slowly opened his eyes, looking up he found whoever had been standing there had gone, finding something else to occupied their time with. He moaned when he sat up straight, the chair doing nothing for him but giving one hell of a backache. Getting to his feet, he looked round to find the place deserted, the only sign that anybody else was there, were the voices that were coming from outside. Rubbing at his face, he made his way back to his bedroom to find it empty, the bed free for him to fall asleep in again. Shaking the thought out of his head, he went into the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. His noise had defiantly seen better days, there was some dried blood just on the end of his nose, and the whole bridge of his nose was kind of a purple colour, like the colour of those aliens when they had took over the base, taking on everyone except for Teal'c and Sam.
Reaching inside the shower next to him, he turned on the taps, giving it chance to warm the water up for him. Rocking his head from side to side, hearing the satisfying sound of it cracking, he stripped himself of his t-shirt, throwing it into the washing basket in the corner. The rest of his clothes soon followed and he stepped under the soothing warmth of the shower, leaning up against the wall with his hands. He certainly felt old today, being woken at three o'clock in the morning and then having to wake her up was paying its toll on him. Never in his life had he felt this old or tired.
Putting on a shirt and a pair of pants, he strolled into the kitchen, feeling a little more human than he did when he woke up. He found a fresh pot of coffee had been brew while he'd been in the shower, a note stuck to the side of it. 'Sorry about last night and your nose'. Pulling the note away from the pot, he poured some of it into a mug, replacing the pot back into its home. Stuffing the note into his pocket, he sipped at his coffee, minding not to bang his nose with the rim of the mug. Following the sound of laughter outside, he stopped in the doorway and picked up his sunglasses off the side. Putting them on, he was careful placing them on his nose and stepped outside, taking a sip from his mug. They were sat outside having their breakfast on the picnic table. Sam had her back to him, Cassie sitting opposite her on the other side of the table.
Placing his mug down on the table, he dropped down on the seat next to Sam, putting a smile on for both of them. They were both smiling like Cheshire cats; nibbling at their breakfasts like a fish he used to have when he was younger. Sipping from his coffee, he looked out onto the lake, watching the sun dance across the ripples. They started chatting away to one another again, but he really wasn't paying attention to what they were saying, caught in a trance by the sun's performance. Sometimes he could just sit there and watch nature's performance, he would never get tired of it like he would never get tired of watching her.
He could remember several times when he had been watching her do something, supposedly when he was doing paper work or watching over everyone, she was like his light and he was the moth, attracted to her even if it meant his death. Shaking the thought out of his head, he watched Cassie cleared up their things, taking them back inside to be cleaned up. Sam was finishing off the remains of her coffee, how could someone find watching someone drink fascinating? "Erm...Jack, I'm sorry about last night. Sometimes when I'm worrying about work before I go to bed, I..." He shook his head at her; turning to straddle the bench they both were sat on, taking his sunglasses off to place them on the table. Gently probing his nose, he looked around avoiding the sympathetic gaze she was giving him, it wasn't her fault or his fault, things just happen and that was that. "Did you sleep alright? After your nightmare I mean" She looked down at the table, turning her mug between her hands like Daniel would one of his rocks, studying every detail of it. After a while she nodded her head, looking up at something off across the lake and then turned to look at him, nodding her head for one more final time.
Placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, he smiled at her getting up from his seat, finishing off the rest of his coffee in one gulped. Just as he was going back inside, Cassie came out almost scaring him half to death, her eyes wide with panic. She grabbed at his shirt with such demand, pulling him to through the living room to the front door, sighting the thing that she was in a panic about. He hadn't been expecting to see his brother, who was supposed to be visiting their father on the other side of the country, but if he was here than it meant something bad. The last time his brother had come to his cabin, was when him and his wife, Carol, had had an argument and had came up there to get away from it all for a while. So it was either a friendly visit, him and his wife had had an argument again or he'd had an argument with their father and had come to fume over it.
Shaking his head at the image of his brother, pulling out his bags out the back of his truck and throwing them onto the ground, he stepped outside to greet him, closing the door behind him. His brother stopped when he heard the door close, gingerly shoving his hands into the back of his jeans, looking up at him like he had been caught doing something. "Okay, Anthony. What's it this time?" Rubbing at the back of his head, something all male O'Neill's tended to do, Anthony leant against the side of his truck, kicking some innocent stone out from underneath his foot. Sighing at the sight of his brother, he folded his arms across his chest, looking over his shoulder to check that everything was okay behind him. "Jack, I just need somewhere to crash for a while. You won't mind, will ya? I mean its only ever you up here..." Anthony looked at the car parked next to Jack's truck, taking a few steps towards him away from his truck.
He looked shyly in the direction his brother was pointing in, quickly looking round for something to look at that wasn't his brother or Sam's car. Anthony was right though, the only company he had up at his cabin lately, was himself and odd appearance of family member who was passing through or was hiding away from something. Another O'Neill trait that they all seemed to have, male or female, they would either run from something or fight it, never being able to make a compromise. "Err...Jack, if I'm mistaken, is that someone else's car or is that something you've brought yourself?" Unfolding his arms from in front of his chest, to place them on his hips, he looked draggers at his brother, wishing the man in front of him would just go back to wherever he'd just come from. Anthony move to stand next to him, both of them with their back to the cabin, putting his arm over Jack's shoulders, pulling him closer to him.
Anthony just stood there smiling at him, he'd done this once before in his life, when they were teenagers and he'd just come back from his date with Barbara Michaels, Anthony had been waiting on the doorstep for him. Always wanting to know all the details, too engrossed in his love life than in his own. Rolling his eyes at Anthony, he shrugged off his arm from his shoulders, bending down to pick up his bags. He could see out the corner of his eye, Anthony had turned round and was making his way to the porch, being joined by the sound of a door closing. "Well, Hello. I'm Anthony, Jack's baby brother". Turning round he found Anthony shaking hands with Sam and then with Cassie, smiling at them like the complete goof ball that he was. All he could do was shake his head at them, passing by them while they made their own introductions, taking Anthony's bags inside for him.
They slowly made their way inside, talking and laughing about what he had no idea, he'd been too busy or bothered to listen to what they were talking about. Sam could have told him all about the Stargate program and he wouldn't have cared, he'd been stood in the kitchen watching them or more he'd been watching her. Her hand gestures and smiles when she was talking, just taking her in like he would have done, if they had been off world or she had been briefing them on something before a mission. Even then the affect she had on him was uncanny, but now it seemed stronger than ever or even worst, in a good way that is.
Shaking his head out of his trance for the second time that morning, he took a mug out and made Anthony a coffee, taking notice of what they were saying as they joined him in the kitchen. Sam and Cassie took a seat on one side of the breakfast counter, listening to Anthony like he was preaching to them about something, the man could always hold the attention of women for hours. Stirring the contents of the mug, he took it over to where they were, throwing the spoon into the sink when he passed it, holding the mug out to Anthony for him to take. "Thanks, Jack. So how are we going to work this, we can't let these lovely women cut their vacation short because of me". Rolling his eyes at Anthony, he leaned down onto the counter, pulling a face at Cassie that just made her laugh. Why the hell did Anthony always have to tried and charm his way through life?
Folding his arms up underneath him, he looked to Sam and then at Anthony over his shoulder, watching him sip at his coffee. Standing up straight next to his brother, he pushed himself up onto the counter behind him, sitting next to the sink and a fruit bowl. Anthony turned to his side, leaning against the counter in front of Sam with his hip, looking to both Sam and Cassie. "Anthony you'll take my room and I'll sleep on the couch" Anthony shook his head at him, placing his mug down on the counter next to him. Frowning at Anthony, he picked out an apple out of the fruit bowl next to him, wiping it down the front of his shirt. "Jack, I can take the couch. People of your age need to get a full night's rest, ya know? Sleeping on that couch won't give you that" Now he remembered why he never spoke to his brother much, the guy thought he was the comedian of the family, always going on about his greying hair or he'll be needing to put his name down for a hearing aid soon. Both Sam and Cassie were smiling, trying their best to hide it and stop themselves from giggling. The guy wasn't even funny, Urgo was funnier than he was but he still wouldn't have the guy in his head.
Pushing himself off the counter, taking a bite from his apple, he nudged Anthony towards his bags with his shoulder, following behind him. Anthony held up his hands to him, taking a few steps backwards before he turned round to face his bags. Taking another bite from his apple, he followed behind Anthony into his bedroom, shoving his left hand into his pocket. "Anthony, I think I can deal with the couch. I just don't want the ladies having to see your ugly mug in the morning, it was enough that we used to share the same bedroom and having to wake up to it" He could hear them giggling in the kitchen, making a smile come to his face as he took another bite of his apple.
Dinner had been fun with him and Anthony trying to cook at the same time, arguing over the littlest things and him ordering him around like he was a rookie airman. Cassie had found it highly amusing while Sam had been reading her book outside, actually something other than a science book, probably one of Janet's romance novels or Daniel's detective books. They ate their meal in complete silence, each one of them content on having a time to themselves and their food, although he kept watching Sam eat her food. He ought to make an appointment with a doctor, he was sure he was becoming addicted to the sight of her or anything that she was involved with.
Anthony had opted to tiding up the kitchen and doing the dishes, setting everything to be run that night while he, Sam and Cassie sat outside on the picnic table, watching the sunset down behind the mountains. Anthony came out and joined them, bringing him and himself another bottle of beer. Cassie was the first to go to bed, wishing them all goodnight and gave both Sam and him a kiss on the cheek, disappearing off into the cabin to bed.
They sat for a good while just watching over the lake until Sam started to fidget, looking between him and Anthony. "So...Anthony, what was Jack like when he was younger?" Anthony seemed to look at him for moment, seeking his approval to go on with the subject; he nodded his head to Anthony and turned to straddled the bench, leaning back against the wall of the cabin. "Well, Jack was very much how he is now. When our parents split, Jack kept our sister, Joanne, and me together while the divorce was going on. Jack was a real troublemaker when he was younger, according to mum. He was just starting kindergarten, he destroyed the classroom in a matter of minutes, paint and toys everywhere mum said" All he could do was grin, pealing the label away from his beer but looked up when he heard her giggled, it was like music to his ears. He didn't paid much attention after that, watching her listen to Anthony as he went on about the other stuff he had gotten up to when he was younger.
She finished off the remains of her wine, getting up from the bench at the same time, shaking her head at what Anthony had said. For some reason he wanted to follow her, but he had a feeling if he did, she would either punch his lights out or there would trouble in the morning. She bided them both a goodnight, leaving them both watching in her wake before she went into the cabin, closing the doors behind her. He turned to look at Anthony over the table, he had that look he used to get when he was up to no good, and it would always end up with Joanne in tears when he had that look. "So, Jack. How did you meet that lovely creature you've been watching all night? And why haven't I heard of her before? And another question, why aren't you going to bed with her right now?" Turning on the bench to face him, he wiped at his nose, wincing at the soreness for a moment before numbing it with a swig from his beer. Looking up he found Anthony staring at him, he looked so much like their mother when he did that, she would always have that look when he'd gotten back from somewhere, presuming that she would have to be paying for damage that he had caused. Was it his problem if his hands did things before his brain could engage?
Sighing he folded his arms up, looking out onto the lake to see the moon had replaced the sun, in dancing over the water. Scratching at the back of his head, he tried to find something that would give him an excuse to leave; something that would get him away from the questions that had been asked him. Picking up the nearly empty beer bottles, he quickly took them inside, emptying their contents down the sink before throwing the bottles into the bin.
Turning round he found Anthony standing in the doorway, blocking his escape from the kitchen, standing in the middle of the path that would lead him to the couch for the night. "Anthony, just leave it okay. It's a really touchy subject that doesn't need your meddling in" Anthony looked hurt for a moment, making out that his words had really struck home with him, but not showing any signs of backing down any time soon. Giving up quicker than he usually would, he blamed it on the alcohol and that he was getting weak or soft in his old age, it was always one of the two.
Leaning back against the counter behind him, he shoved his hands into his pockets, looking straight at Anthony without hiding any of his feelings from him. He could trust Anthony better than he did him self, Anthony wasn't the type to laugh at him or to judge him for something that he might have done. Licking his lips nervously, he took one last look round the cabin, checking to see if they were alone before he gave up some information about himself that he hadn't really told Sam about or anyone. How could he tell her now after she had moved on and told him to keep it in that room? "Sam was on my team before I retired, she was one of the researchers at the Space Telemetry Design thing, I was working at. You didn't hear about her because I never got time to see you, or I couldn't be bothered to call you. And the reason I'm not in bed with her right now is because...she's move on from me" Anthony move to his side, leaning up against the counter next to him, folding his arms in front of his chest. "So...you two were an item at one time?" He just shook his head at him, bowing his head down to his chest, kicking at something on the floor. The thing was he wished so much that they had given it a chance, seen where their feelings could have led them, but he had waited to long and she moved on.
Folding his arms in front of his chest, mirroring the actions of Anthony, he looked around the cabin again, trying to find something to rest his gaze on to. He hated telling his feelings to someone, but Anthony knew how much to push him or when to just shut up and let him talk when he was ready to. Swallowing what was ever left in his mouth and of his pride, he fiddled with his goatee, pulling and tugging at the odd strand. "No, we've never been an item. She had feelings for me once, so she told me, but there was nothing we could do with ranks and that. After a few years she moved on, started seeing some guy named Eric, but she's not seeing him anymore, it didn't work out between them" He heard Anthony sighed, pushing himself away from the counter top, to stand in front of him, his arms still folded in front of him, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.
All he could do was look at his baby brother, he had that look what Sam had when she was thinking something through, the brains in the family had skipped him and been passed onto Joanne and Anthony. "So, she's not seeing anyone at the moment?" He just shook his head, taking his hands out of his pockets, to pressed against the counter behind him. "And you still love her?" Suddenly he found something interesting on the other side of the kitchen, shooting across the kitchen to investigate it to find it to be nothing, another thing he'd imagine or could it have been one of those bugs things, from that other existence thing?
Anthony grabbed him by the arm, turning him round to face him face to face, instead of him looking at his back. All he could do was close his eyes, clasping his hands behind his head, looking up at the ceiling above them. "Jack, answer me" Letting his arms fall to his sides, he let his eyes fall upon the door of their bedroom, of her bedroom. "Yeah, I love her. But don't get started with me, alright? I'm tired and I'm going to my couch to sleep" Anthony simply nodding his head, knowing he had gotten a lot out of him as it was. He patted him on the shoulder, moving passed him to the couch in the living room while Anthony headed off to the bedroom. "Goodnight, Jack" Waving a hand to him over his shoulder, he collapsed onto the couch, pulling the blanket over him from the back of the couch.
In a way he was lot like his father, always keeping his feelings to himself when he could, bottling things up so they wouldn't get in the way. His father used to come to the cabin a lot, when his parents had been arguing before their divorce. Even though they get along fine now, they would be at each others throats from day to day, arguing over arguments that had happen and then would find something else to argue about in their spare time. Weeks his father would spend up at the cabin, which would make him miss him like hell. He was close to both his parents, not seeing much of them these days because he was hiding out himself now, and with all the work he had been doing at the SGC, he never had time for his family like Sam and the rest of them. They may have thought he never did any work, but there was a lot more to do when you were one of the superior officers of a base.
He would over look the delivery of supplies, have meetings with all the other team leaders, discussing ways to up the moral of everyone, have meetings with Hammond over daily routines and lots of other things. Paper work would always be the last thing on his a gender, the well being of his team came before some boring job, which was why he would spend his time wandering the corridors, searching out each of them to see if they were alright. There were lots of things it took to being a good leader, and it all depended on the performance of your team, what makes you a great leader is not your skills, it's your team that does that.
He could hear people whispering again, voices coming from the direction of the kitchen, moving towards the front door before the front door opened and closed. Opening his eyes to see a coffee table, he frowned at it for a moment before remembering why he was sleeping on the couch. Someone was walking around again, moving things or tiding something up, probably their breakfast bowls and mugs. Rolling onto his back, he folded the blanket down out of his face, looking up at the ceiling. It seemed awfully familiar to the times when he would sleep on the couch, the night after him and Sara had had their first argument as a married couple, he couldn't even remember what it was about.
Throwing the blanket over the back of the couch, he got up very slowly, taking his time to work out the creaks in his back and neck. Standing up he found the room to be spinning a bit, shaking his head to clear it, his eyes came to rest on a mug of coffee that was being presented to him. He followed the hand to an arm, the arm to a shoulder that was connected to a neck, and from the neck to the head, finding it to be Sam. Smiling his thanks to her, he took the mug from her, sipping it to find it just right, perfection from a perfectionist. He followed behind her, sipping at the welcoming substance that would wake him up, into the kitchen to find something cooking in the frying pan.
Rubbing at the back of his neck, he leant against the counter top next to the stove, watching her flip the bacon over in the pan. She had the whole motherly image going for her, traipsing round the kitchen like it was her own, knowing where everything live and belong. If she was to spend any more time in his kitchen, he could certainly get used to the idea of her in it, making breakfast in the morning or sitting at the breakfast bar while he made breakfast for her. Gulping down another mouthful of his coffee, he looked round to find both Cassie and Anthony gone, and so was Anthony's truck from where he had parked it. "Where's Cassie and Anthony?" Closing the cupboard she had gotten a plate out of, she started taking the bacon out of the pan, laying them out onto the plate, and turned off the gas to the stove. Opening the grill underneath, she took out some waffles and placed them on the plate next to the bacon. "They've gone to get some things from town, they won't belong" She pointed for him to take a seat on the other side of the breakfast counter, placing his plate between the napkin and cutlery that was already laid out for him. Rolling his eyes down at the floor, he made his way round the counter to the stool on the other side.
She topped up his coffee while he was eating his breakfast, the first time since she had been there and they were finally alone. It reminded him of the breakfast they had at his house, except without the awkwardness of the argument the day before and before he left the SGC. She was chatting away about something, drinking her own mug of coffee at the same time, watching him eat the breakfast she'd prepared for him. He used to think she was a terrible cook, but if she cooked breakfast like this then he couldn't wait to taste the rest of her cooking.
Wiping around the edge of his mouth with the napkin, he got up from his stool, taking his coffee with him, and went into his bedroom. Yawning as he put his coffee on the side table, next to his bed, he unbuttoned his shirt, shaking his head at the sight of his bed. Couldn't Anthony have spared two seconds to make the bed? Throwing his shirt onto a chair in the corner, he straightened out his bed, kicking his shoes off towards the doorway. Taking out a clean pair of boxers from his underwear draw, he shook his head in dismay at the way, Anthony had left his bedroom in a mess, 'Something's never changed''. Rubbing the sleep from the corner of his eye, he went into the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. He let his hands trailed down his face until they came in contact with the stumble that had grown, over the last few days. His facial hair never grew as fast as others, he been luckier than a kid he knew at school, the guy had to shave at least three times a day to keep his face clean shaven.
Taking his electric shaver out of the cupboard underneath the sink, he masterly shave away the unwanted stumble, trimming up the sides of his goatee at the same time. Feelings around the sensitive skin for anymore stumble, he flicked the lip open on his aftershave, dabbing on a little around his neck and cheeks. He stripped off his pants and old underwear, throwing them into the laundry basket before putting on his clean boxers and left his bathroom, going into his bedroom to find something a miss. When did he lay a suit out on his bed? Wasn't that thing supposed to be collecting mothballs in the wardrobe anyway?
Ignoring the carefully laid out suit for him, he opted for a pair of shorts and a vest, putting them on without taking his eyes off the suit that lay on his bed. He heard, what he presumed was Anthony's truck, pull up outside while he made his way back into the kitchen, finding Sam missing from where he had left her. Looking round he found the whole place had changed, in the matter of minutes of him being in his bedroom. A banner hung over the top of the fireplace, saying 'Happy Birthday, Jack', there was a pile of presents sat on the dining table and food laid out on the breakfast counter. He just bowed his head down at the floor; the trouble they had gone to for his birthday was too much by his account. She was certainly working miracles again, theses decorations were certainly not up when he got up early and was having his breakfast.
Turning to the sound of the front door opening, he watched Sam leading the way for everyone, the old gang back together underneath one roof. He couldn't help but smile as they came into the kitchen, all of them greeting him with a hug or a kiss on the cheek or a handshake. They certainly were all smug with themselves, congratulating each other and Sam. The door opened again with Cassie running inside, greeting everyone and Janet. Anthony slipped passed the group her huggers, joining him in the kitchen, stocking up the supplies in the fridge, mostly alcohol from the looks of it. "Did you know about this?" He asked him pointing to his other family in the living room, not taking his eyes off them encase they were to disappeared in a blink of an eye. Anthony screwed up the empty brown bag, stuffing it into the bin underneath the sink. "Sam told me about it last night and this morning, warning me that she had this planned the whole time. For a woman who hasn't got feelings for you anymore, she certainly went to a lot of trouble for your birthday" Scowling at his brother's remark, he looked at Anthony for a moment before looking back over the group, mingling in the living room.
Sitting at the head of the table, the stack of presents in front of him, Sam sat to left with Janet next to her, Teal'c at the end of the table with his Texan hat on, Jonas sat next to him with Anthony sat beside him, and Daniel sat on one of the breakfast stools behind them. Rolling his eyes at the sight of the presents, he picked out the first one, sharing a look with each of them, trying to work out whom it could have been from. None of them were giving any clues away while he started peeling away the wrapping, sparing no mercy for the worthless wrapping that someone had spent some time wrapping with care. The end result left after the wrapping was a cardboard box, placing the box carefully on the table; he lifted the lid to find a book on fishing. Holding the book up for everyone to see, or for someone to clam it as his or her present. "Mom, sent it to me to give to you. She said you ought to be pleased as its not underwear" Cassie started laughing while the others tried to high their amusement, looking else where but at him or at the present in his hands.
Laying the book aside, he took another present out of the collection, ripping it open without looking at anyone. He could already tell whom it was from; who else would wrap their presents in Minnie Mouse Christmas wrapping paper? Cassie really needed to start growing out of her thing for Minnie mouse, this coming from the guy who adored the Simpsons. Pulling the last of the wrapping away, he found it to be a video, a basic black video with nothing written on it. Looking up at Cassie, he found everyone to be looking at the young woman, all of them with a questioning look about the present. "I made a copy of a very amusing video I recorded. Ya know when you lot came back from that Christmas party and you were all drunk, falling up and down the stairs and over each other" There was a mad rushed to grab the video, but it was quickly moved to behind his back, away from the prying hands that were reaching for it. He just simply smiled at them all, watching the death glares turn onto Cassie one after another.
Leaving the video behind his back, he took another present from the pile, this time looking at the label to see it was from Jonas. The man didn't know the first thing that he liked, how could he have brought him a present? Shaking his head at it, he peeled the wrapping away from it with great ease, letting it fall to the floor with the rest of the rubbish. He just stared at the present in his hands, not really sure how he should react to it, why on earth had the man given him a box of blue jello? "Erm...I thought as you liked it so much...well you know" Nodding his head at him, not honestly sure what he supposed to say to it, he put the box of jello on top of the book, piling up his presents in front of Anthony.
Most of the rest of the presents were the usual; a book of archaeology off Daniel, trying to get him to understand that the artefacts he collected weren't rocks and had some meaning to them. Janet gave him a hospital gown, saying it would remind him of the great times he had spent in her infirmary, keeping the details of his visit hush-hush from Anthony, telling him the visits were his monthly examines. Teal'c gave him a set of knives that chef's used, his subtle way of saying he needed to improve on his cooking skills. Anthony gave him a new tackle box, saying his old one needed to go into retirement as well, sending it to the graveyard of fishing tackle. His dad had sent him a Homer Simpson t-shirt, the love for the Simpsons shared between them. And Joanne had sent him a picture of her new baby and of her family, saying he ought to come and visit them before the end of the year.
But the best present was save till last, it wasn't anything big but it didn't have to be from her, she'd already done enough by getting them here and organising his birthday. Taking a deep breath he unpeeled the sellotape, taking great care to not rip the wrapping or damaged it in anyway. Folding the wrapping up, he placed it to the side while he investigated his present; it was the size of a photo album, which probably meant it was. Opening up the cover he found himself to be staring into the face of Charlie and Sara, and below them was all of them at one of the Christmas parties, standing all together and laughing at the photographer. If he wasn't the man he was, he would have shed a tear, but instead he bowed his head, drawing his finger over the faces in front of him. "I found your cigar box, with your pictures in, a few weeks after you left and we were planning our mutiny. I thought instead of carrying him round in a cigar box, it would be nice to see him in a photo album" Licking at his dry lips, he turned the page in the photo album, seeing another picture of Charlie and of them, SG-1. Someone placed a hand on his shoulder; this must have been the best present he had ever had, in a way she had given Charlie to him all over again. First Sara had given Charlie and now she had given him Charlie.
Closing the cover up on the photo album, he stood up clutching it to his chest, taking over to the bookshelf in the corner. Carefully he slid it with all the rest of the book, smiling at the way he fitted in with everything else on his shelves. Rolling his eyes, turning round he found them all to be watching him, all of them with their own sympathetic look. He waved it away rejoining them round the table, wiping his hands down the front of his vest, trying to get rid of the sweat from his palms. "So, anymore surprises for me today?" They all smiled at him, letting the moment pass over their heads, returning back to the festive mood they had going before. Daniel stood up from his seat, straightening his shirt before shoving his hands into his pockets. "Well, we've got to get back to Motel and get ready for tonight. No doubt it will take Janet hours to get ready, so we better give ourselves at least a five hour head start" They all stood up from their seats, listening to Daniel and Janet argue as they made their way outside to their car. He let the others go a head of him, pulling Sam back away from them for a minute.
She looked at him with those eyes of him, he thought he was going to die there and then, drowning in the depths of her eyes. Raising his eyebrows at her, he cleared his throat, looking to others that were talking to Cassie and Anthony outside. Taking the chance that they were out of earshot, he kissed her on the cheek quickly, not wanting the others to see his show of affection. She looked a little shocked at first, holding a hand up to her cheek where he had kissed her. "Thanks Sam, for putting those pictures in that photo album. I always wanted to do something like that but never got the time or could never find the right places to put them. Thanks" Her smile just blew him away, patting him on the arm before she headed out to join the others. Shaking his himself from his trance, he briskly followed her outside, shoving his hands into his pockets, coming to stand in front of the doorway on the porch.
Janet and Jonas got into the back of the car; both waving their goodbyes to him from inside the car while Teal'c took his seat behind the steering wheel. Cassie was talking to Janet through the window of the car, playing with a lose strand of her hair at the same time. Anthony came back inside, scratching the back of his head in confusion, shaking his head at whatever Sam and Daniel had been talking about. "Jack, we'll see you later" He raised his eyebrows at Daniel, watching him climb into the passenger side, waving to him before he got into the car. Their car quickly took off down the dirt road, Teal'c still not taking his lead weighted foot off the accelerated.
Looking to the side of him, he found Sam to be looking at him, her hands in the back of her jeans, standing so close to him he could smell her perfume. She went to move passed him back into the cabin, Cassie running pass them both inside, sounding very excited about something. "Sam, what did Daniel mean? He'll see me later" Turning round to face him, he found she had that incredible smile of hers again, taking a few steps to stand in front of him again. Putting his hands on his hips, he bowed his head a little, making himself become eye level with her. "Well, were going out to town to celebrate your birthday. And before you ask, yes you have to wear the suit I lay out on your bed for you. No exceptions even for the birthday boy. It's half two now, Cassie going to take nearly all the time getting ready, so will I as I've got to get that damn dress on. You're going to sit back and relax for a bit for three hours and then get ready, understood?" He just nodded his head at her, watching her go back into the cabin, his eyes wide with shock. What had he done to her? Either having her own command had gone to her head, or she had just ordered him around? But he found in a weird way, he liked her ordering him around.
He'd been ordered into the shower as soon as Anthony had finished using the bedroom, dragging him off the couch from watching the Simpsons, and pushed him into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him. She had gone totally nuts since Daniel and the others left, ordering everyone around so they struck to her plan of action. Pulling his vest up and over his head, he threw it into the laundry basket as he entered the bathroom, turning on the taps on the shower. The room was already full of stream from Anthony's shower, making the mirror and everything coated in a wet shine. Opening the small window in the bathroom, he breathed in the cool air from outside that was slowly sweeping into the bathroom, contrasting with the warmth coming from the shower.
Going back into his bedroom, he could hear Sam ordering around the other two, getting them to check things over and putting them into some order. Rubbing a hand over his stomach, he pulled open a draw in his chest of draws, selecting himself a pair of Simpsons boxer shorts and a matching pair of Simpsons socks. Pushing the draw shut, he dropped them onto the bed next to his suit, passing pass them without a second thought as he re-enter the bathroom, shutting the door close behind him.
Throwing his shorts into the laundry basket, he stepped into the shower, shutting the stall door behind him. In a matter of seconds, he found himself in a cloud of stream, only being able to see the outline of things. He just let the water run over his body, washing his hair down into place, down his back and his front, relaxing all his muscles in its warmth. Searching through the stream, he picked up his shower gel, quickly squeezing a greedy amount into the palm of his hand. Foaming up his hands, he quickly washed himself down, almost knocking himself out when he banged his head on the wall in front of him, not seeing anything in the stream.
Washing down the suds from his body, he picked out the shampoo, squeezing the contents out onto the top of his head before massaging it into his hair. Even through the wall he could hear Cassie complaining to someone, standing virtually on the other side of the wall from him. If only she knew what kind of state he was in on the other side of that wall, she'd probably have nightmares for the rest of her life. He'd been told once from Janet that Cassie saw the male members of SG-1 as her dad's, him being the fun dad, Teal'c the strong and scary dad, for scaring off potential boyfriends, and Daniel the dad who helped out with the home work. Jonas would be the adopted brother from hell.
Turning the shower off, he opened the stall door, stepping out to pick up his towel from the towel rail, wrapping it around his waist. He shook his head from side to side, spraying droplets of water all over the bathroom. Almost falling over because of his light-headedness, he opened the door to the bedroom, letting the stream rushed out into the bedroom. Running his fingers through his hair, he combed it back into placed, flatting it back out of his face. Taking the towel from round his waist, he dried himself down quickly, draping the towel over the end of the bed. Taking his boxer shorts off the bed, he put them on and went back into the bathroom; most of the stream had either evaporated or had gone out through the window.
Opening the bathroom cabernet above the sink, he took his deodorant out and quickly sprayed himself all over. Replacing it back into the cabernet, he took his aftershave out, dabbed some on his neck and cheeks, before closing the cabernet again. Picking up his toothbrush, he quickly brushed his teeth before going back into his bedroom. Pulling his boxers down a bit, rolling his shoulders and moving his head side to side. Shaking his head at himself, he sat down on the edge of the bed and put his socks on, briefly looking at the clock to see he was on scheduled.
He pulled on his pants, walking round the bed to the other side table, opening up the little draw, to take out his watch that his dad had given the year before for his birthday, a nice Rolex that was once his grandfathers. Fastening the watch on to his wrist, he looked over his shoulder when he heard the door open, seeing Anthony quickly ducked inside, closing the door behind him. "That woman is a menace. She's running round out there like the world's going to end, trying to get everything to perfection" All he could do was smile at him, fastening up his pants and then looped a belt through the loops, fastening that in placed as well. If only Anthony had seen her out in the field, he was sure she was even worse, now that she had a command of her own.
Rolling his eyes at him, he walked back round the bed to pick his shirt off the bed, shrugging it onto his shoulders. Fastening up some of the buttons, he pulled Anthony away from the door, opened it and then pushed him outside before closing the door again. He heard Sam calling Anthony to come outside, doing up the rest of his buttons before tucking his shirt into his pants. All the way through dinner now, Anthony would be giving him an evil look but he didn't care, the man had called the woman he loves a menace and no one got away with that, well maybe he did when she wasn't in the room.
Opening up his wardrobe, he selected himself a tie from his collection, taking it with him into the bathroom, using the mirror in there to tie his tie with perfection. Straightening it out, he smiled at his accomplishment, thanking whichever god had let him get it right first time. Normally he would end up strangulating himself or tying himself in knots with the tie. Walking back into his bedroom, he tucked the small part of the tie into the label behind the big part of the tie, smiling at the image of Goofy on his tie. Picking up his jacket off the bed, folding it over his arm before he open the door, playing with his goatee.
Cassie and Anthony were sat on the couch, hands on their laps, looking straight in front of them like they were zone out or something. Opening the closet door, he took his best shoes out and closed the door with his foot, sitting down at the head of the table, draping his jacket over the back of the chair. Sam came rushing in from outside, looking at him for a moment before disappearing off into his bedroom. Frowning down at his shoes, he slipped them onto his feet and did up the laces, pulling them as tight as they would go without snapping the laces. Sitting up in the chair, he found a towel was dropped over his head before he got the rough treatment of someone drying his hair for him. Sighing he folded his arms, letting her get on with it while he sat there, watching the towel move in front of his face, every time she changed direction.
The towel was flung onto the table; she started combing his hair for him, trying to put his hair into some kind of order, which it would never do. She finally gave up and just messed his hair up, not saying a word to anyone or to him. Shaking his head as he stood up, he picked up his jacket from the back of the chair, putting it on in one fluent movement. Straightening his tie and jacket out, he looked up at her to find her staring at him, almost drooling with her mouth open. She shook her head at the floor, pulling at her dress and then started fiddling with her hair. "You look...hansom, Jack" Looking down at him self, he shoved his hands into his pants pockets, taking in her appearance for the first time. She looked like she was going out to kill someone, the way she was looking tonight, drop dead gorgeous but then she always was in her BDU's. Swallowing whatever hadn't dried up in his mouth, he cleared his throat, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. "Well, you...look...err...beautiful" She smiled at him, her eyes twinkling their own smile at him, her hands clasping behind her back before she picked up her pursue from the breakfast counter.
Anthony and Cassie shot up from the couch, bailing outside into his truck, which had been moved, parked in front of the front door. Licking at his lips, he followed her to the front door, picking up his wallet and keys from the side table. Slipping his wallet into the inside pocket of his jacket, he waited for Sam as she closed the front door, then he locked it and they both got into the truck. Cassie and Anthony were sat in the back, silent as a church mouse, not moving an inch from where they sat. Raising an eyebrow he looked at them over his shoulder, looking to Sam and then back at them again. "You do know you can move now? She won't bite your head's off anymore now that were going" They both visible relaxed into their seats, looking at each other before smiling. Rolling his eyes he started the engine, setting off down the dirt road and then onto the highway, heading in the direction of town.
Pulling up at the restaurant that he had been ordered to, he parked up next to the car which looked like one of the base's lend out's. Straightening his tie in the mirror for the last time, he opened his door and got out, slipping his car keys into his pocket. Their welcoming committee was waiting for them at the entrance of the restaurant, all of them looking very posh with their ties and Janet's nice dress. Cassie linked her arm with his, tugging him off to see the others before he could do anything else. It was all a big rush getting through the entrance and then to their table, not one of them allowing him to collect his bearings for a second. You'd think he was the president, the way they were all standing round him, protecting him from harms way.
Sitting down at their table, he found himself to be sat between Cassie and Jonas, both giving him the weirdest he had ever received in his life. And he had received quite a few, Thor had given him one, Hammond, Janet when she thought he was crazy in his time loops, Daniel also in the time loops and Sam had given him them as well. Ignoring the look they were giving him, he pulled his napkin off the table and laid it out on his lap, straightening his tie unconsciously when he heard someone talking to him. He found Sam and Daniel both looking at him, it reminded him of the time loops, the look they both gave him every time it restarted. "Jack, what would you like to drink? Beer? Or d'ya wanna share some wine with me and Sam?" Daniel said looking to the waiter, inspecting his face for something before straightening his glasses. Scratching at his goatee, something he had taken to doing when he was thinking, he looked between them both and then at Cassie and Jonas, they both were still giving him that funny look.
Ignoring their look again, he moved his chair closer to the table, nodding his head to Daniel. Maybe he should have started to get used to the looks he got, from aliens and earthlings. Picking the menu out of the middle of the table, he opened it out on to his place setting, suddenly finding two faces lending on either shoulder, reading the menu over his shoulders. Shaking his head at their actions, he shrugged his jacket off, turning slightly to draped it over the back of his chair. Turning back he found both of them, fighting over the menu, playing tug of war with the menu instead of a rope. Snatching the menu from both of them, he sat back into his chair, looking at it for himself for the first time.
Passing the menu to Cassie, he folded his arms onto the table and then looked round at everyone else. Anthony and Janet were talking about something, laughing and giggling with one another, while Daniel was sparing moments to direct a look their direction. Danny boy had nothing to worry about, Anthony was married and if he did think he had a chance with Janet, he would be so wrong. The woman so had a thing for Daniel it was uncanny, they were both mad about each other but hadn't realise it yet, it sort of reminded him of Sam and him. No one would have guessed that the two of them would fall for each other, admit to a room full of people and then...she would move on and leave him behind, to wallow in his self-pity.
Teal'c was just watching the other people in the restaurant, observing their behaviour and knowing him, surveying who could possible be future attackers. You could take the symbiote out of the Jaffa, but you couldn't take the warrior out of the Jaffa. He jumped when someone tapped him on the shoulder, turning slightly in his chair he came face to face with Daniel, when had he gotten out of his seat. "Jack, you need the bathroom?" Sparing a second to look round the table at everyone else, he shook his head turning back to face the table, finding about half of them staring at him, or mentally urging him to do something. Bowing his head down, he pushed his chair back and followed Daniel to the bathroom.
As soon as he had stepped into the bathroom, Daniel shut the door behind him, pushing him further into the room. Either Daniel was about to try and take him on or he was going to talk, and talking was bad because he didn't have his pillow to conk out on. Daniel shoved his hands into his pockets, rocking back on his feet like he did, looking elsewhere but at him. "Jack, erm...General Penmings wants to ask you something" He new it was going bad, Daniel had that serious look on his face with the look that said, 'don't hit me, I've got glasses'. So this was why they had all come up here, that was why Sam was here, they were sent to come and talk with him. It must have been what she wanted to talk to him about the other night, which made him glad that he had cut in and she'd gone to bed.
Folding his arms over his chest, he moved closer to Daniel, making him back up a bit towards the door. He liked it when he intimidated someone, it gave him a sense that he had some controlled over the situation, which always turned out he never did in the end. "What does the lovely General want, Daniel?" Daniel took his glasses off, using his tie to clean them, emphasising that he wore glasses as he held them up for inspection before putting them back on. Turning his back on Daniel, he placed his hands on his hips and went over to the sinks, leaning against them with his hip. "Erm...he wants to...well with all the experience that you have and the knowledge you've got of the gate, he wants you to head the training facility at the Alpha site. It'd be good for you Jack, you'd get to see all of us more often than you do, you'd see little action and you'd be in command" Biting down on his lower lip, he looked at Daniel leaning against the wall near the door, a good place to stand if you wanted to make a quick getaway or block someone's exit, with him it could be either.
Folding his arms in front of his chest, he gave it some thought for a moment, concentrating on one of the tiles on the floor. Did he really want to go back to work, go off world and train some more idiots to go out and lose their lives? Train some good people who would go out and try and carry on his footsteps, saving the world from snakeheads and all like them. "Jack, you could stay as a civilian, you wouldn't have to come out of retirement". Looking up at Daniel, who was now leaning against the sink next to him, he was playing with his tie, straightening it or strangulating himself with it. Standing up straight, he pulled Daniel's hands away from his tie and sorted out for him. "What's that got to do with anything? If I'm retired or not?" Pulling one last time, he finally got the tie to seat properly, looking something like his own with out Goofy. Daniel turned round and looked in the mirror, flatting the tie down his front before he turned round to face him.
Daniel shoved his hands in his pockets again; he could hear the band in the other room, doing their sound tests. Grimacing at the thought of having to do some dancing, he shuffled on his feet, moving further away from Daniel. "Well, I thought that you and...no it doesn't matter. Anyway, you don't have to make your decision right now. The first team heading out to the training complex will be leaving next Thursday at nine am. If your going just be there, if not then I guess the General will have to find someone else" Nodding his head at him, he patted him on the shoulder, motioning for him to go through the door first. Scratching at his goatee he followed behind him, almost hitting himself with the door when he wasn't paying attention. He had the chance to go through the gate and have command of his own base. What a chance? What a pain in ass to dump on a guy on his birthday.
But the biggest pain of all was that she knew, and she used the excuse of having a vacation to get close to him and spring it on him. If all that was all she wanted, why hadn't she just asked? She was probably stir crazy from being away from her lab for long, biting her nails at the thought of someone playing with her doohickeys. Well it wasn't going to go unnoticed; someone was in for a chat tonight and would be leaving in the morning as well.
Dinner had been nice with everyone chatting and listening to Anthony, going on about some childhood memory of his that made everyone laugh for a while. But he couldn't take his eyes from Sam, she had lied about her reasons for coming there, saying she was on vacation. He should have known that she would never just take a vacation, there would have to be a reason behind her actions, scientists always had reasons for doing something. Even when their plates were being collected, he was reluctant to take his eyes from her, trying to see if she was the woman he thought he knew. It had all been charade for her, just to ask him to come back for General Penmings. Wouldn't it have save them both a lot of trouble, if she had just ask him as soon as she had seen?
He was pulled from his thoughts from Cassie, literally pulling at his shirtsleeve, trying to gain his attention for something that was important to her. Wiping at his face, trying to wipe the look from his face, plastering a smile onto his lips as he turned to face Cassie in his chair. She was smiling like she always did; at least she hadn't been playing a charade on him, and the only one he could really trust to be herself. "Jack, will you dance with me?" Looking to the dance floor, he saw quite a few couples already, dancing along to the songs being played. It was evitable that he would have to do some dancing tonight, hopefully all that practised him and Sara had done at those military functions would be enough to get him through the night. Nodding his head at her, he pushed his chair back, pulling her chair back for her as well. He felt the others watched them move away from the table, heading down the steps onto the dance floor in the middle of the room, surrounded by the other tables, making it the certain of attention for the room.
Taking Cassie into his arms, the band started up another song, a little quicker than on before but not to quick, so hopefully Cassie would run away from him. She was giggling at something, placing her hand on his shoulder as they moved around, him leading them in time with the beat.
Girlfriend
You make my head start spinning around
And all I can ever hear is the sound
Of your heart beating in my ears
Girlfriend
This boy has found another reason to sing You're reminding me of everything
That I hold dear in my heart
Pulling Cassie close to him, he pushed her out to spin her and then pulled her back against, when the beat changed slightly; making so her back was against his chest. He could hear Anthony edging him on, casting a look over his shoulder; he found them all watching him and Cassie. Shaking his head, he spun Cassie out again and back to him, returning them back to their previous dancing positions.
And I'm feeling elevated
Lifted to my highest dream
My whole world's revolving in
Circles round your heart
You gotta be the one for me
Or else life makes no sense
So wrap your arms around me
Kiss me till I'm dead
He hated it that he was angry with Sam, but yet he still wanted her be the one that he was dancing with. Nothing against Cassie, she was great and that, but if he ever had the chance to have Sam in his arms, even if he was annoyed with her, he would take it. Probably even kill for a chance to have in his arms.
Girlfriend
A girl like you would take an army to find How glad I am that you said you would mine Standing there in the cold dark night
Girlfriend
Let me take you to the fields of sun
How much it means to me that you are the one That I hold here in my arms
Spinning Cassie out again, he pulled her back against him, her back against his chest again while she was laughing, enjoying it even when his mind was on else things. Why couldn't she have just asked him? It wasn't as if he would have bitten her head off, they were friends after all or so he had though so.
And I'm feeling elevated
Lifted to my highest dream
My whole world's revolving in
Circles round your heart
You gotta be the one for me or
Else life makes no sense
Wrap your arms round me
Kiss me till I'm dead
Girlfriend
He let go of Cassie and clapped at the band, when the song came to end and began another while they headed back to their table. Pushing Cassie chair under for her, he looked round at the faces, missing the chance to look at Sam, encase she saw his anger in his eyes. Sitting down he quench his thirst by finishing off his glass of wine, he wished he ordered a beer now, something less delegate for his taste. "Jack, I didn't know you were such a good dancer" He looked up at Janet, raising his eyes brows at her while he sat back against his chair, draping his arm over the back of Cassie's chair. "I'm only as good as my partner" That earned him a kiss on the cheek from Cassie, he looked down at the table top, picking at something on the tablecloth.
The waiter came over and handed Daniel the bill, he just handed him his credit card and the man disappeared off somewhere with it. They were all talking again and he found himself to be staring at Sam again, still not able to work out why she hadn't had asked him. There had been several chances for her to ask him, not just the night they had been left alone together, which had made him miss the game. The waiter came back and waited for Daniel to sign the receipt, while the others began to collect their things together. Pushing his chair back, he picked up his jacket from the back of it and slung it over his shoulder, shoving his hand into his pocket.
Slowly he made his way to the entrance, suddenly finding Cassie to have linked arms with him, leaning her head onto his shoulder as they walked along. Opening the door for her, she lead the way and he followed through, holding the door long enough for Jonas to hold it instead, linking his arm with Cassie again. She yawned leaning her head to rest on his shoulder again, letting him lead her to his truck while she had her eyes close. "Jack, want to go to a bar or something? Its still early" He waved a hand at them dismissively, searching in his pocket for his keys. "Cassie's tired and I don't really feel up to it. You guys go ahead, I'm sure you lot can have fun without an old pensioner" Unlocking his truck, he opened the back door and helped Cassie inside, where she lay down on the back seat and fell a sleep.
Draping his jacket over her, he closed the back door and turned to face them, watching them huddle up together, even Anthony was participating in their little powwow. Opening the driver's door, he looked over at them for one last time before he got inside, leaving the door open with his feet resting on the step. "Jack, we'll meet you back at the cabin. I'm sure me and Sam will enjoy are nice looonnnnggg walk home tonight" He just grumbled to himself, swinging his legs round and shut his door with little more effort than was needed. Starting the engine, he dropped it into reverse and back slowly out of his parking spot, careful not to disturb Cassie. Changing into drive, he pulled up next to them, rolling his window down. "Just don't be too late, I don't want to be disturb by two drunken idiots, coming in at two o'clock in the morning" He sped out of there quicker than Flash Gordon, leaving two very shock people in his wake while he drove off home.
He couldn't understand it, if it was something that was connected with the SGC, she would have felt compelled to tell him or as the case maybe, ask him about the prospect of coming back to work. Women, never would he understand and he didn't want to understand them. They were something that would never be able to have a guide for. He certainly needed one for Sam, something that would explain to him why she hadn't asked him. Shaking the thoughts out of his head, he concentrated on driving and not disturbing the sleeping teenager in the back, who could be really cranky when she was abruptly woken up.
Waking up he found himself, half on the couch and half off it, his butt sticking up in the air with the blanket covering half of his body. It had taken him a while to get to sleep the night before, not being able to fine a comfortable position on the couch or the blanket didn't covered him enough. The littlest things that had kept him awake until exhaustion had taken him, not caring which position he had been in when he had fallen asleep. Throwing the blanket off of him, he slipped off the rest of the couch onto his side, making a thud when he hit the floor. Pushing himself up off the floor, he straighten his t-shirt out, twisting it back round to fit properly as he made his way to the kitchen.
He hadn't heard anyone come in last night, but he'd probably been dead to world, the odd occasion when the slightest of noises hadn't had woken him up for once. His dreams had mostly been replaying his conversation with Daniel in the bathroom, putting in some deep thought into his proposition and what had he meant by him and someone? If he had thought that him and Sam had something going on, then he was terribly mistaken, it was clear to everyone that she had moved on. He was just a friend now in her eyes, it was the only reason she had organised the whole birthday thing because she was his friend, and friends do that for one another. He done something like that for Daniel's birthday, had then all over to his house for dinner to celebrate his birthday.
Flicking on the kettle, he took one of the mugs off its hook, placing it on the counter while he reached for the instant coffee jar. Twisting the lid off of it, he let it fall onto the counter next to his mug, opening the cutlery draw to get himself teaspoon. Nudging the draw shut with his hip, he took a teaspoon of coffee out of the jar and dropped it into his mug, letting the spoon clink against the side of the mug when he dropped it in. Screwing the lid back on the coffee jar, he replaced it back in between the tea bag jar and sugar jar, straightening them all out to make them look neat and tidy. "You making coffee?" Jumping at the sound of her voice, he held a hand over his heart, grabbing onto the counter top with his other hand. His hearing was starting to go; normally his senses would have heard someone moving around, always alert to other people's presence before they knew it themselves.
Calming himself down a bit, he unhooked another mug from the rack, and added the ingredients to make her a coffee. She went and sat at the breakfast, her head resting in her hands while she moaned to herself, grumbling about something or another. The kettle boiled with a click of the switch, pouring the boiling liquid into both mugs, he stirred its contents round, not paying attention to anything else except at his task at hand. She was babbling about something, but it could have been anything because he really wasn't in the mood to listen to her. Placing her coffee in front of her on the breakfast counter, he took his own into the living room, searching the couch for the remote. "Jack, is there something wrong?" Looking up he found her stood at the end of the couch, the sunlight making a halo formed round her head, kind of like an angel standing there before him. Shaking it out of his head, he delved into the depths of his couch, searching round underneath the cushions for the remote.
The couch moved slightly when she dropped onto the other end, placing her mug down on the coffee table but he still carried on searching for the remote, ignoring her as best he could. Turning round on the couch, he moved his hand further underneath the couch, touching something that felt like the plastic of the remote. "Okay, something's been wrong with you, since you came back from the bathroom with Daniel last night, and all the way through dinner you kept giving me evils, like I had betrayed you in some way" Giving up on his search for the remote, he shifted on the couch and dropped his feet onto the coffee table, folding his arms across his chest. "You could say there's something wrong, why didn't you ask me? Why did Daniel have to ask me?" Looking at her through the corner of his eye, all he could see was confusion on her face, her fingers threaded through her hair while she stared at him. "Asked you what? What are you going on about?" Shaking his head at her, he dropped his hands down to his sides, looking around for a moment before turning to look at her. "Why didn't you ask me General Penmings proposition? Asking me if I wanted to take command of the training facility at the Alpha site?" Her eyebrows just shot up, her mouth dropping wide open, her hands laying on her lap with no life to them. That was not the response he was looking for, he was hoping for an apology, not to get the gawping goldfish affect.
She shook her head at him, shuffling on the couch to move closer to him, draping her arm over the back of the couch behind him. Running a hand through her hair, she just looked him straight in the eye; from looking in her eyes he could tell it was a surprise for her as well. "I didn't know a thing about it, I heard that the General was considering people for the position but I didn't think he would considered you. If I had known I would have told you, you know that right?" Frowning slightly at her, he came to the conclusion that she was telling him the truth, making him feel guilty for even doubting her. Rubbing a hand over his face, he cursed at himself for being such a fool, covering his eyes with his hand. "Sorry, Sam. I thought that...never mind" Getting up from the couch, he picked up his coffee from the table and headed out to the back of his cabin, trying to put some space between himself and her. He should have known that she wouldn't keep something like that away from him, it wouldn't do anything for her to keep it from him, if anything it would have him come back to Colorado and they would all see each other more frequently.
Gulping down most of his coffee, he set his mug down on the picnic bench, looking out over the lake to see someone already out fishing. The door opened again, letting her out into the fresh air, she sat down on the bench behind him, placing her mug near his own. "Jack, did you really think I would keep something like that away from you? What would be the point anyway, for me to keep something like that away from you?" He turned round to face her, finding her sat there in his jacket from the night before, he'd left it drape over the back of the armchair before he went and got undress. Running a hand through his hair, he sat down on the other side of the picnic table, suddenly feeling the chill that was in the air. "I don't know. I thought it was what you were going to say to me the other night, the night you had your nightmare thing" Her face screwed up slightly at the thought, rolling her eyes at it, she looked out onto the lake, playing with her mug in between her hands.
Resting his head into his hands, he watched her across the table, wondering how he could ever think ill things about her. She looked at him and caught him staring, he quickly diverted his gaze onto the table top, rubbing his hands on his thighs, trying to get some warmth to them. Licking at his lips, he picked up his coffee and downed the rest of its contents. Normally he would have used it as an excuse to leave, to get away from his problems but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to use it. "I can't actually believe that you thought, I'd keep something like that away from you. We've supposedly been friends and we've fought side by side, and still you thought I would keep something like that away from you?" He just dropped his head down, feeling a weight on his shoulders that was pushing his head down. How could he have thought that she would do that? Maybe he was trying to find a reason for her to hate him again, leave him in his old silent solitary or he was actually scared of his feelings, she didn't returned them and there was only him.
Wiping his hand down his face, he looked at her to see she was babbling, always babbling about something or another. Never giving her mouth chance to rest, always going on about something, but this something was something important. "...shows that you really don't know me and that I really don't know you. To think I actually felt something for you, but to find out the person I love is a total stranger to me" She pushed herself up from the bench, taking her coffee with her as she made her way back into the cabin. The weight upon his shoulders just suddenly became heavier, making his head drop onto the table with a thud. His life was so messed up it was unbelievable. "I think it best that me and Cassie leave this morning, we'll...see ya around" She closed the door behind her, he sat up and stared down at his empty coffee mug, focusing all his anger onto the poor defenceless mug. With a whack of his hand, the mug went spiralling off the table and smashed against a rock at the edge of the lake.
She didn't love him and that was fine, but now he had just lost his friend, one of his best friends in the world. It just showed how much they had grown apart, at one time he used to be able to tell what was going through her head, but now all he got was dizzy spells round her. But he'd been having them since he met her and somehow learnt how to keep his balance. She could put him off with one look, making feel stupid or really good about him self with that one look.
Inside he could hear people moaning and crashing about, Sam getting Cassie up and ready to go. The door opened and Anthony came outside, holding a hand to his forehead as he came over and sat down where Sam had been sitting. He leaned back and looked through the window, resting his head down on the table, he watched Anthony looking through the window, getting a clear picture of what was going on inside by the look on his face. "What the hell, have you done, Jack?" All he could do was shrug, not wanting to share anything remotely close his feelings or something that would give Anthony ammunition against him. Anthony sat forward on his seat, leaning onto the bench to close the distance between them. "Jack, what's going on? Sam's in there fuming and you're out here, silent as ever. You do realise she's leaving, right?" Nodding his head at Anthony, he got up from the bench and slowly made his way back inside.
Opening the door, he found Sam going out the front door with their bags, throwing them in the direction of her car before coming back in, and going into the spare bedroom. Pulling his t-shirt down, he move into the kitchen, watching them move around the bedroom in hushed whispers. The curtains were suddenly drawn inside their room, he could clearly make out Cassie pulling her jumper over her head while Sam was guiding her, pushing her towards the door. "Sam, stop pushing me! I'm going as fast as I can" Cassie's head popped out from her jumper, she smiled sympathetically for a moment before being pushed out the front door, and then it slammed behind them when Sam went through. He just dropped his head down to his chest, the rest of his body falling down to the floor, to lean against the cabernet behind him, his head resting against his folding arms.
Sitting at the dining table, he pushed his food around the plate, not really in the mood to eat something, or do anything since they had left that morning. Anthony sat next to him, neither of them saying anything to one another, just sitting in silence in a place that was filled with laughter the day before. If only he hadn't let her leave, even if she didn't care for him anymore, they still could have had their friendship that was something he had treasure for some time. Pushing the plate away from him, he snatched his beer bottle up and greedily drank from it, not being able to wait for his next drink. Slamming the bottle back onto the table, he wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand, catching Anthony watching him, giving him that disappointed look their mother gave them.
Anthony placed his plate on top of his, picking them both up to take into the kitchen, putting them into the sink with the other dirty dishes. Looking round the room, he couldn't think of it without Sam being there anymore, even if she didn't care for him, all he wanted was her to be there. "Jack, what exactly happen this morning?" Shaking his head at the tabletop, he stood up taking his empty beer bottle with him, dropping it into the bin while he opened the fridge door, taking himself another beer out. "Well, lets see shall we. I was told last night about a job offering back at work. I thought Sam was supposed to ask me something; I had some really stupid thoughts about it. This morning I ask her about it, and she knew nothing about it. She said that we didn't know each other and that she couldn't believe she was in love with a total stranger. So hell, Anthony. Leave me to wallow, okay?" Twisting the lid off his beer, he threw it onto the side and walked off into the living room, dropping onto the couch.
He could hear footsteps coming from the kitchen, coming closer to him until he was able to see Anthony at the end of the couch. What the hell did he have to smile about? "Jack, what was that thing about the stranger?" Frowning he elevated himself up, by leaning back on his elbows, crossing his legs over each other. "She said she couldn't believe she was in love with a stranger" Anthony just waved his hands round in circles, doing that thing Daniel did when he wanted people to come to the conclusion on their own, having no hint from him. "What?" Throwing his hands up into air, he grabbed hold of his feet and threw them onto the floor, dropping onto the couch. "She's in love with you! Stupid SOB!" He couldn't move his limbs, he couldn't make his brain work or do anything. It was that simple, she had total him she was in love with a stranger, the stranger being him.
Shoving the beer into Anthony's hand, he climbed over the couch, almost falling over his own feet and ran into the kitchen. Snatching the phone out of its cradle, he quickly dialled the number that would be the answer to all his problems. They picked up after the third ring, people were laughing in the background and there was a television, blaring away in the background.
"Daniel Jackson"
"Daniel, its me. Tell General..."
"Penmings"
"Yeah, that I'll see him 0830hrs sharp as Colonel not civilian O'Neill" "Okay, Jack. But I thought...yeah sure, I'll tell him. I'll see you next week" "Don't tell Sam, or Carter, okay?"
"Okay, Jack. Is that it?"
"Yeah. Bye, Daniel"
"Bye, Jack"
He ended the call and dropped the phone back into its cradle, hurrying off into his bedroom to find his bags. Hopefully things won't be too bad, or will they?
The End
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