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TV Shows » Stargate: SG-1 » I Almost Said I Love You
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Author of 7 Stories |
Sam finally agrees to go with Jack to his cabin on downtime. A cute one-shot to Toby Keith’s ballad “Crash Here Tonight”. Not much action, but still very SJ!
I Almost Said I Love You…
Jack O’Neill had been caught off-guard by Samantha Carter many times. The experience was nothing new. During their first meeting, she had first made a comment about the location of his “reproductive organs”, then, as if that wasn’t enough, challenged him to an arm wrestle. Then, of course, there was the first time that she proved that not only was she pretty damn hot but she was also a genius. Literally. Even her IQ said so.
Then came the whole gaudy blue dress thing on that Mongolian planet. Not only had she kicked some serious ass that day, but she’d looked amazing doing it.
Everything about Sam Carter, in fact, had caught Jack off-guard at first. He had never met a woman even remotely like her before. It had gotten better as the years went on, of course. But every once in a while, she’d pull something else out of her bottomless bag of Carter Tricks, and the poor colonel would be left dumbfounded once again.
But nothing –not even the Broca incident when she had tried to seduce him (and he had so wanted to give in)- could have prepared Jack for the sight that awaited him when he swung open the back door of his Minnesota cabin.
There was Samantha Carter. Sitting on the edge of the short little dock by his pond; long, long legs dangling over the edge. Clad in a pair of kaki capris, a sky blue tank top, and an open, white blouse. A pair of white spongy-looking flip flops in her hands, and sunglasses on her head. Tiny ripples formed in the murky water where her bare feet disappeared below the surface.
And the first thing that popped into Jack’s mind after being completely wiped blank? Oi.
“Carter?” he managed after a moment of standing there utterly dumbstruck. His voice came out low, gravelly, and surprised.
She twisted around, blue eyes wide. “Sir!” she exclaimed, jumping to her feet. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t see your truck; I thought I’d beat you here. I was going to wait for you, sir.”
“At ease, Carter; sheesh.” He took a few steps forward and squinted against the sudden assault on his eyes. Putting a hand to his forehead to block the intrusive sunlight, he asked, “So…whatcha doin’ here? I thought you said you wanted to stay behind and tinker with that doohickey SG-12 brought back from P4X-something or other.”
Suddenly very interested in the pair of shoes in her hands, she replied, “Yes, sir. I did plan on staying on base, sir.”
“But?”
There was a pause, and he could see a blush creeping up her neck. “Uh…I broke it, sir.”
Jack’s face broke into a triumphant smirk. “You broke it?” he echoed, thoroughly enjoying watching her squirm beneath his admonishing gaze.
“Yes, sir. All I did was start to run some routine test! Just to figure out what it was! One minute I was turning it over in my hands, the next I heard this snap, and it exploded!”
He frowned at this. “You okay?”
“Fine, sir. It was mostly just a bunch of smoke,” Sam assured him with a small smile. “Anyway, then I had nothing to do. Teal’c’s on Chulak recruiting and Daniel is…staying with Janet and Cassie for a few days…” she continued hesitantly.
“Whoa, whoa. Hold up a second. Danny-boy and the doc are shacked up?”
“Yeah. But besides that…I got bored, sir.”
A horrible, teasing grin animated Jack’s face. “Now I’ve seen it all,” he drawled, crossing the few yards between them with a swagger. “You –who have refused my offers to go fishing time after time- show up at my cabin out in the middle of nowhere, break your brand new Ancient toy, and get bored playing with the rest. I do believe all hell has frozen over.”
Sam gaped indignantly. “All hell, sir? And I never ‘refused’ your offers. I politely declined.”
“Uh huh,” he mocked. “Oh, and by the way, lose the ‘sir’ for a while, huh? We aren’t at the SGC. We’re on leave.
A devilish smile and mischievous glint appeared on her face. “Lose the ‘sir’, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Then you can’t get me in trouble if I do this.”
And the next thing he knew, the murky, cold water of the pond came up to smack him the back. And he was under the water, looking up and seeing Carter. Down on her knees on the edge of the dock, laughing.
Bursting through the glassy surface with a splash, he growled deep in his throat and flared up at his attacker. “Oh, I am so not laughing, Major!” he scowled, running a hand through his soaking wet hair until it stuck up in all directions.
“Major? I thought we’d lost the formalities…Jack!” Sam gasped between side-splitting giggles. She obviously found his current state amusing. We’ll see who has the last laugh here, Samantha!
“Oooh, that is it!” And with that, he grabbed ahold of his second-in-command by the collar of her blouse and pulled her down. With a high-pitched squeal of, “Sir!” Sam Carter hit the water with a huge splash and flailing limbs.
Resurfacing after a moment or two of disorientation, Sam found herself standing in a murky, dirty pond that was surprisingly deep. Her head and shoulders proved to be the only parts of her body that hadn’t disappeared below the surface as she stood flat-footed on the muddy bottom. Jack stood across from her, smirking evilly.
A very surprised and very wet Carter. Standing inches from him. Hair separated into dark blonde, dripping pieces, white blouse completely see-through and plastered to her skin, sky blue tank beginning to allow a glimpse of the soft skin beneath. Her bra was a lavender color. He could see…
No! Bad Jack! Down boy, down!
He tore his eyes away from her chest to her face. He had never seen her smile so genuinely, or laugh so playfully. Her beautiful eyes twinkled with mirth.
It hit him then, a torrential wave of emotion, filling his chest so full that it nearly burst. And he felt warm, warmer than he’d felt in years…
Since Charlie had died.
This strange emotion, this all encompassing feeling…it was love.
So drunk was O’Neill with this gut-wrenching emotion that by its own accord, his mouth opened to release the aching pressure that had welled up in his chest. The three most dangerous and yet most thrilling words in the entire universe formulated on the end of his tongue, ready at any moment to leap onto his lips.
But the reality of the situation came crashing down around his ears as the woman before him raised both hands and slicked her hair back in one single sweep and sighed, “Well, that was refreshing, sir.”
Sir. Jack groaned inaudibly and stifled the urge to mutter, “D’oh!”
Could I really be that kinda guy
See one candle burning in your eye
And watch my heart fill up with butterflies
Shocked and embarrassed by his near-confession, Jack’s genuine smile was replaced by a cool smirk, and he said, “You know what they say, Carter. Turn-about’s fair play.”
“So I’ve heard.” They simply stood there for a moment, both breathless and soaked through to the skin. Subsequently, Jack felt a shiver being transmitted through the water from the direction of his 2IC. He averted his gaze and hoisted himself back up onto the dock.
“C’mon, Carter. Getcha some dry clothes,” he growled, his voice low and gravelly. Without another word, he disappeared into the house.
Girl, I shouldn’t go there anymore
Act like I’ve never been in love before
You probably think it’s my first time
Jack dutifully ignored the sound of the door squeaking open and then groaning shut as he dug in his drawers for some clean clothing. He couldn’t believe what he had very nearly revealed! With more force than was strictly necessary, he slammed the drawer shut after snatching up an old worn Air Force T-shirt and a pair of cotton shorts he never wore anymore. Gritting his teeth, he scolded himself. Jack, you idiot! Get your head out of the gutter! You cannot risk your career over this! You cannot risk the well-being of the planet over this!
Because that was essentially what would happen. If he told Carter the way he felt, she would undoubtedly feel the same. Once that line was crossed, they would no longer be able to hide it. There would be no going back. They would be court-martialed in an instant, and there would go the first line of defense the planet Earth had against the Goa’uld. And they weren’t that selfish. They couldn’t be.
“Uh…Jack?” he heard her call unsteadily.
“In the bedroom,” he replied.
He caught a glimpse of utterly-soaked Sam out of the corner of his eye but quickly averted his gaze. It wouldn’t do for him to be aroused if his goal was to keep his rioting emotions in check.
“Here.” He tossed the clothes at her, and she caught them deftly. “The bathroom’s down the hall. Uh… you want a beer? I’m gonna go get a beer.”
“Sure, that’d be great. Thanks.”
Am I getting in too deep?
I wouldn’t want to freak you out
And make a promise I can’t keep.
Carter returned from his bathroom a few minutes later. Jack could look at her now. Her hair had been towel-dried and was no longer plastered to her skull with pond water. Both his shorts and T-shirt were too big for her, but she didn’t seem to mind.
I could get used to this, Jack thought. Seeing her in my shirt...my Air Force shirt, too… Always did love a woman in uniform… Whoa ho! Don’t you even go there! Bad Jack!
“Feel better?” he forced himself to say.
“Uh…yeah, thanks for the clothes, sir. Jack. I…uh…I left my wet stuff hanging over the shower rod to dry. That all right?” she asked, helping herself to the open bottle of Guinness on the counter.
“Yeah. Fine.” There was a brief pause as he put his own bottle to his lips and drank. “So how long you plan on stayin’? Cuz if it’s just for a few days, you can have my bed. But if you’re staying the whole time, I’ll set up the guest room for you.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that. I’ll just sleep on the couch. Really,” she protested, gesturing over her shoulder at the small but incredibly cozy living room.
“It’s no trouble. I did the same when T came out with me that one time,” he retorted.
The expression on her face seemed to fall a little at that. “Oh. Teal’c. Right,” she said, voice flat. Jack took another pull of his beer and pretended not to notice.
“So am I getting out the good sheets or not?” he asked lightly, attempting to insert a bit of levity into the conversation. But Sam’s gaze snapped up to meet his, and her eyes were wide. And the potentially sexual meaning of his question hit him hard.
“I…uh…I just meant how long are staying?” he amended quickly, cheeks burning.
“Well, I was planning on staying a while if it doesn’t bother you,” she replied tentatively.
“No biggie. I’ll just, uh, go set up the room while you go get your stuff out of the car.”
“Right. Good. Uh, be right back.” She disappeared out the front door a moment later.
Releasing a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding, Jack drained the last of his beer and headed to the linen closet where all the extra sheets and dry towels were kept. And while stretching a navy blue fitted sheet over the bare mattress, he began to hum distractedly.
And I’ll sing you one more love song
If everything is still alright
Why don’t you just crash here tonight
Sam showed up in the doorway several minutes later with a duffle bag strung over her right shoulder. He was in the process of stuffing one of the two pillow cases with an extremely fluffy down pillow when he offered, “The dresser’s empty if you just wanna dump your stuff in there.”
“Uh, no thanks. I’ll just get stuff out of my bag,” she replied. “So,” she began, snatching up the other pillow and stuffing it into the case, “this basically all you do when you come out here? Sit around, drink beer, and make the bed for your guests?”
“I fish!” Jack replied incredulously. “I…bask in the Minnesota sunshine. And I don’t often have guests.”
“Like I said. You sit around and drink beer,” Sam corrected, a wry smile upon her face.
It proved to be infectious, and a grin tugged at the very corners of his mouth as well. “Yeah. Basically,” he conceded.
“Ya know,” he said after a moment or so of continuing to toss sheets onto the bed, “we can take care of this later. Wanna go fish while we still got some daylight left?”
And Sam dropped her stuff on the floor beside the bed. “Sounds great, sir.”
Jack had been just about ready to correct her choice of pronoun when something about the way she said it stopped him. And he realized then that that was why this whole situation, ever since he’d pulled her into the pond after him, had seemed awkward. To her, he was not “Jack”. He was “sir”, and being asked to call him something other than what she had called him for years had not felt right. That was why she was acting so quiet and hesitant.
He sauntered out the door, a burst of that elusive O’Neill confidence fueling his stride and his smirk as he glanced over his shoulder and asked, “Comin’, Carter?” And he whistled his way merrily out the door, leaving a confused but oddly pleased major in his wake.
