Grey Areas
Grey Areas
by Kirsty841
Summary: Set afetr shades of Grey. In the same universe as my other fics. Will definately need to read some of those to understand this one!
Category: Angst, Missing Scene/Epilogue, Romance
Episode Related: 318 Shades of Grey
Season: Season 3
Pairing: Jack/Janet
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: 01/23/04
Grey Areas.
Jack was just about to lock his front door when someone knocked on it. He groaned, wanting to go to bed. His head was buzzing from hours trying to convince his team that he still trusted them, and a chat with Daniel afterwards which hadn't really made Daniel any less pissed at him. There was only one person he hadn't spoken to yet since he came back through the gate, and he knew she was stood on the other side of the door. He opened the door and waited for the tirade to begin. What she said instead surprised him,
"Hey," she looked at his boxer and t-shirt clad form, "sorry, were you going to bed? I can come back tomorrow..." He held up a hand to stop her rambling,
"No, it's ok. Come in." She followed him into the living room and sat on the chair opposite him. He couldn't help thinking that a few months ago she'd have sat beside him on the couch.
"So, how you doing?" she asked quietly.
"How am I doing?" he repeated.
"That's what I said," she answered, confused, "it's not a difficult question is it?"
"Well, let's see. My entire team don't trust me anymore, Daniel's hardly speaking to me and as for you...well I'm not really sure what's going on there either. So yeah, I'm doing great thanks!" He slumped back on the couch and scrubbed his hands across his face. Janet sat still, her hands clasped in her lap. Eventually Jack sat back up and looked at Janet,
"I'm sorry," he said, very quietly.
"What for?" Janet asked, although she had a feeling she already knew.
"Everything. For biting your head off just for asking if I'm ok, for not being able to tell you what was going on with Maybourne, for avoiding you for the past couple of weeks..." he paused and took a deep breath, "for Laira." She broke their eye contact and looked down at her hands,
"Jack, you don't have to..." He moved quickly from where he was sitting and knelt on the floor in front of her, placing his hands on her knees,
"Yes, I do," he urged, "We have to talk about this. You've hardly spoken to me since I came back from Edora."
That was true, although not for the reason he thought. It wasn't because she felt cheated on, it wasn't because she was hurt that there was "another woman". Her and Jack had never agreed on an exclusive relationship. They were friends, good friends, who occasionally enjoyed each other's company in a different way to normal friends, but that was it. Since Cassie had been living with Janet it had put a restriction on their sex life, and they'd had to learn how to just hang out with each other and not jump into bed. The result had been the development of a closer friendship than she'd ever thought possible with this man, and Janet liked it more than them acting like horny teenagers around each other. Their "occasional screw" had become very occasional. So the fact that he'd been with Laira on Edora hadn't actually bothered her that much.
It was Daniel who had told her about it. He'd told her about the conversation he'd had with Jack afterwards, about how Laira had been the only one not to blame him for the loss of their people, how she'd welcomed him into her home, and essentially been the person that kept him sane when his whole life had been seemingly ripped away from him. She couldn't imagine how it must feel to think that you'd never see your own planet again, never see your friends or family, never see all the things that were familiar to you. She couldn't begrudge him the one source of comfort he'd found out there.
The reason she hadn't spoken to him much when he returned was an entirely different matter. It was a startling revelation, but afterwards things just seemed to slot into place and it all made sense. The reason was Sam Carter. For the three months he'd been away, she'd worked herself to exhaustion, despite Janet's protests that she needed to sleep, eat, and live on more than just coffee. At first she hadn't really thought anything of it, Sam had always been very focused on her work. She needed to get the Edoran people home too after all, but soon her motivation seemed to become clearer. She wasn't working her self to the brink of collapse for the Edoran people; she was doing it for Jack. And he was apparently oblivious. She knew nothing could ever happen between them with their situations as they were, but she couldn't help the feeling that she was betraying Sam's trust by sleeping with Jack in secret.
"You're right. We do need to talk. We've changed Jack. Our whole situation has changed. We're trying to hang onto something that's just not there anymore," she studied his face for a moment, looking for some indication that he understood what she was saying to him. She reached her hand out and he closed his eyes as she ran it through the greying hair at his temples.
"I do love you Jack, but it's different now. I love you as a friend. A very good friend." He opened his eyes, moved his head and placed a gentle kiss on the palm of her hand. He stood; his knees popping loudly and making Janet cringe, and pulled her gently over to the couch. She sat beside him but kept a careful distance.
"So you're not still mad about Laira?"
"I never was," she answered quietly. "We never agreed to be exclusive Jack." He seemed to think about this for a moment, giving her a searching look,
"Have you..." she stopped him, positive she knew what he was going to ask. Smiling, she answered,
"No. There's been no one else." He looked vaguely embarrassed,
"Sorry, I just wondered..."
"I know. It's ok."
"Can I ask why?" She thought for a second,
"I guess I just never really wanted to do the "dating" thing after the divorce."
"Hey! What am I? The Invisible Man?" she laughed, knowing he was joking.
"That was different. And plus I haven't really had time to even think about dating. It's been a busy couple of years!"
"Damn straight."
"You helped me Jack. You helped me finally get over my divorce, to move on from that and start living my own life. I can only hope I helped you in the same way. You've helped me with Cassie too. I could never have done that without you, without all of you. I can't ever thank you enough for that." It was true too. Cassie adored Jack and she knew the feeling was definitely reciprocated. He'd helped her through those first few difficult months it took Cassie to settle into her new life.
"C'mere," he said quietly, pulling her toward him and wrapping his arms around her. Janet wrapped an arm around his waist and cuddled into his side. Resting her head on his shoulder she let out a sigh and relaxed against him.
"We're gonna be Ok, right?" he asked.
"Yeah, we're gonna be just fine." She replied.
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