"All right, campers, let's pack it up and head home." Colonel Jack O'Neill announced. "Carter, dial us home and send the signal."
"Yes, sir." Major Sam Carter did just what her commanding officer told her to do and, in just a few minutes, SG-1 was walking down the ramp in the SGC.
"Welcome back, SG-1. Debriefing at 1300 hours." General Hammond nodded at O'Neill, then turned and headed back to his office.
Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c headed toward the infirmary for their standard post-mission physical. When that was taken care of, they headed on to the briefing room, where they gave their post-mission debriefing.
***************
"... no artifacts, no evidence of any type of sentient life ever having been on the planet." Daniel Jackson completed his portion of the debriefing.
"Major Carter." General Hammond indicated that Sam should start.
"Sir, there were no substantial mineral deposits in evidence. I did bring back some samples of some of the common minerals we found, along with some of the plant life. Most of the plant life seems to be indigenous to earth." Major concluded her report.
"All right. Thank you, SG-1. You are on stand-down until 1400 hours next Monday. Dismissed." General Hammond nodded and exited the briefing room.
"Well, kids, looks like we've got five days to spend any way we want to," Jack said. "Poker tomorrow night at my place, 1900?"
"Sounds like a plan, Jack," Daniel answered him.
"That is agreeable with me also, O'Neill," Teal'c also affirmed.
"Sure, Sir, that sounds great." Sam picked up her paperwork. "See you guys later." With that she left the three men standing in the conference room.
"Have any of you noticed that Sam's been a bit subdued lately?" Daniel asked his friends.
"Subdued?" O'Neill questioned. "What do you mean?"
"Oh...quieter than usual. Spending a lot of time to herself. A lot of the work she's been doing in the lab is unnecessary stuff, like she's trying to find things to keep herself occupied," Daniel explained. "This is the first poker night she's agreed to come to in almost a month."
"Daniel Jackson is correct, Colonel O'Neill," Teal'c agreed with Daniel. "Major Carter has been uncharacteristically quiet."
"Yeah, I've noticed that she hasn't seemed to want to be around any of us when we've been on-planet." Jack thought about it for a minute. "It's none of our business, though. Carter will let us know if anything is wrong."
"Maybe..." Daniel looked doubtful.
"Definitely." Jack skewered Daniel with a glance. "When she wants to talk, she'll let us know. Meanwhile, we mind our own business."
"Okay, Jack." Daniel picked up his own report and left the conference room with Teal'c in tow.
Jack stood there for a minute, then made up his mind. Carter's reticence might not be his business, but if she had a problem, it could potentially affect the team. He headed to the lab.
Sam was seated at her computer entering her report on the minerals and plants she'd brought back from P9J-234 when she heard a quiet knock on her door.
"Come in," she called turning from her computer screen. "Colonel, may I help you?"
Jack sauntered into the small room and closed the door behind him. "Yeah, Major," he answered. "We - the rest of the team and I - noticed that you've been keeping to yourself quite a bit lately. Is there some problem?"
"No, Sir, no problem," she denied. "I've just been busier than usual, that's all."
"Well, according to Daniel, a lot of the work you've been doing lately has been busy work. Are you avoiding us?" Jack was concerned.
"No..." Sam looked down at the floor. "I'm not avoiding anyone. Like I said, I've just been busy."
"Okay, whatever you say, Major." Jack gave in. "You are definitely coming over for poker tomorrow night?"
"I wouldn't miss it, Sir." She smiled. "I'll even bring the beer."
"Great." Jack turned to leave, then turned back to her just before he opened the door. "Sam, you know you have friends you can talk to, don't you?"
"Yes, Sir." Sam fidgeted with her mouse. "There's really nothing to worry about. Like I said, I've just been busy with work."
"Okay, whatever you say. 'Bye, Major."
"Goodbye, Sir," she answered. Jack opened the door and left.
Sam took a deep breath and rubbed her forehead. He had seemed so concerned. It made her a little uneasy to lie to her commanding officer. Ah, hell, who was she kidding, it made her uneasy to lie to Jack. Her friend. A man she cared a lot about.
That was the problem. She cared too much about him. Her feelings were definitely not appropriate for a subordinate to feel about her commanding officer. That was one of the reasons she had been avoiding spending any time with the team lately. She had been dating up a storm when not on base. In the last month she'd been out with seven different men. She'd had seven interminably boring dates. The whole time she'd been with them, she'd been wishing she could be with Jack. At least he wasn't boring. Far from it. He kept her in stitches most of the time. Well, he had until the night after they had returned from Skaara/Klorel's triad on Tollana.
The team had gathered at Jack's, as usual, celebrating Skaara's freedom from the goa'uld Klorel. Skaara had returned with the Tok'ra to their current hideout to brief them on the information he had retained from his time has Klorel's host. Jack was feeling particularly triumphant, seeing as how he and Daniel had helped free Skaara. The alcohol was flowing rather freely, and no one was feeling any pain.
Sam had gone into the kitchen to get more ice for the drinks and Jack had followed her. Both of them were pretty far gone, Jack more than her, though. She had just filled the ice bucket, when she felt arms go around her from behind holding her tightly.
"Sam, we did it, didn't we?" Jack was exultant. She had never seen him so happy before. He turned her around in his arms, the ice bucket between them. He took it from her hands and put it on the table, then he started dancing her around the kitchen. They both started laughing and hugging, then the next thing she knew they were kissing. Not a sweet, friendly kiss, oh, no, it was a full-on, tongues down the throat, hot, hard, passionate kiss. And could that man kiss! Afterwards, he just smiled at her, ruffled her hair, and left her in the kitchen.
After she managed to get her breath back, she followed him into the living room. Daniel was doing shots with Janet with Teal'c keeping count, and Jack was nowhere to be found. So she went looking for him. She found him in his bedroom, lying back on the bed his clothing in a trail leading straight to him.
"Been waiting for you, Sam," he said. "Come here." She closed the door behind her and locked it. Then she left her own trail of clothing and joined him on the bed.
She would never forget what happened that night. It was the most wonderful, pleasurable experience she had ever had. It was true, the things she had heard, that making love with someone you care about was different.
But the next morning she got scared. What had she done? So, she got up before he woke, got dressed, and left. Later, from something Jack had said to her, she realized he didn't remember what had happened.
"Carter, where did you go the other night? You went to the kitchen, then you just disappeared. What happened?" he asked.
She was both hurt that he didn't remember what to her was the most amazing night of her adult life, and relieved that he didn't remember it. She started avoiding any type of social situation that included Jack. The bad part was that in avoiding Jack, she also was avoiding Daniel and Teal'c. She buried herself so far in her work that she was doing busy work. She had made a concerted effort to go out with other men. Maybe she hadn't tried hard enough to find someone to share her life with. But after a month and seven different men, she realized that she was going to have a difficult time finding someone she wouldn't compare to Jack.
Every time one of them kissed her, she found herself comparing it to his kiss. When one of them touched her, she found herself wishing it was him touching her. Her plan to find someone else hadn't worked, so she figured why should she keep punishing herself by staying away from her friends. So she decided she'd try to go back to the way things were. Hence, agreeing to go to Jack's poker night.
"It'll probably be just like always," she said, sighing.
***************
At 6:30 the next evening, Sam was ringing Jack's doorbell. She knew she was a little early, but she had picked up the beer and she wanted to get it in the refrigerator before it got warm. In her opinion, there was nothing nastier than warm beer.
"Just a minute. Jeez, keep your shirt on." The door opened and there stood Jack O'Neill clad in nothing but a towel and a smile. "Sam...what are you doing here so early?"
"I brought the beer, remember," she laughed, a little embarrassed at seeing him this way. But, as she thought on it, she had seen him in far less. Besides he had a VERY nice body. "I need to get it in the fridge."
"Oh, right, come on in." He gestured for to come inside. Hefting the two cases of beer up a little higher she carried them into the kitchen and put them on the table. "Just go ahead and put them in, and I'll get dressed and come back and help." With that, he retreated to his room.
'Damn,' he thought as he pulled on his jeans and sweatshirt. 'I forgot she was bringing the beer. And I just had to go to the door in a towel. I could have at least put on a robe. She probably thinks I'm some kind of exhibitionist.' Jack put on socks and shoes, and dashed back into the kitchen. Sam had already unloaded one case of beer, and she had started on the second one.
'Whoa,' Jack thought as he walked through the kitchen door and saw Sam standing at the open refrigerator door. 'I've done this before.' He couldn't shake the feeling of deja vu as he stood just inside the door watching Sam put away the beer.
"Sam, sorry it took me so long." Jack walked over to the table and looked at the second case of beer. "Two cases of beer? Are you planning on getting drunk?" He took the bottles out and handed them to her. She placed them in the refrigerator.
"Not planning on it, but, if it happens, so be it." She grinned at him. "I just want to make sure we have enough. We ran out the last time I was here for poker night."
"That was Daniel's fault. He only brought a six pack." Jack passed the buck of blame off on their archaeologist friend. "You know that Daniel can get drunk off the fumes."
"He is a cheap drunk," Sam agreed. They worked companionably, putting away the rest of the beer. "How about one before the guys get here?"
"Sure, don't mind if I do." Jack took the beer Sam handed him and twisted off the cap. "You always get my favorite beer."
"Well, I like it, too. It's the kind Dad always had. I got my first hangover off this beer." She took a long drink of the beer. Jack stood there holding his beer in his hand, just watching her as she tilted her head back swallowing the beer. 'She has a beautiful neck,' he thought. 'Long and graceful.'
Aloud he said, "Come on and sit down. The guys should be here any minute." He led the way to the living room and gestured to the sofa for her sit down. Sitting down next to her, he looked at her for a moment, then he spoke.
"I'm glad you decided to come tonight, Sam. We've missed you on poker night."
"Well, I've been kind of busy," she said.
"Busy with what?" Jack was curious as to what had kept her so occupied that she couldn't spend any time with her friends.
"I've been dating a lot." She was looking down at her beer bottle, peeling off the label. If she had been looking at Jack, she would have seen the look of shock on his face. He had managed to control it by the time she looked back up at him.
"Turning into a social butterfly on us, Carter?" he joked lamely. "Leaving the rest of us caterpillers behind, huh?"
She chuckled at his attempt at humor. "No, not really. Anyway, I've decided that the dating scene is not for me. It's just not worth the trouble."
Feeling a little light-headed at the feeling of relief her words provoked, Jack tipped back his bottle and downed the rest of it. "I could've told ya that Carter. It's a hassle."
"Yes," Sam smiled at him. "It is. That's why I've decided to cool it awhile."
The ringing of the door bell brought their conversation to close as Jack opened it to find Daniel and Teal'c standing on his doorstep. Poker night had begun.
***************
Three hours later Jack and Sam had killed most of a case of beer by themselves. They had reached a point where everything anyone said was hilarious. They laughed at everything they said, that Daniel said, and that Teal'c said.
'Boy, they're both in good moods,' Daniel thought. 'The last poker night we had two weeks ago Jack was as grouchy as a bear. The only difference between then and now is Sam's here. Hmm...I wonder...' Daniel decided to think on this a little more. He yawned.
"Danny-boy, had a little too much to drink there, have ya?" Jack asked, causing Sam to laugh as it he had told the most hilarious joke in history. Daniel had only had half of a beer.
"The fumes." Sam laughed so hard she fell off the sofa. The poker game had ended an hour before when two of the participants had gotten so drunk that they couldn't see the cards.
"I think I'm outta here, Jack," Daniel said. "Teal'c, you ready to roll?"
"What are we rolling, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c still had a tendency to take things literally, even after three years.
"The wheels of my car home." Daniel grabbed his coat and Teal'c's, tossing it to the latter. "Sam, do you want a ride?" He might as well have been talking to himself, Sam was still rolling on the floor laughing her ass off.
"Don't worry about her, Danny-boy, I'll take care of her," Jack said. "She'll be as safe here as she will be at home."
"Whatever you say, Jack." Daniel look at Sam who was now beginning to calm down. "Bye, Sam."
"Bye, Daniel, Teal'c" Sam answered. "Fumes..." She started laughing again. Daniel just shook his head and left with Teal'c in tow.
"Bye, Daniel, Teal'c. Call me tomorrow, Daniel, just not too early, maybe about noon?" Jack stood at the door as Daniel and Teal'c got in Daniel's car and left.
Jack looked at Sam, still lying on the floor giggling. "Okay, Major Carter," he said, hauling her up and over his shoulder. "Time for bed." And with that, he carried her down the hall to the guest bedroom. Laying her down on the bed, he removed her shoes and covered her with the blankets.
He brushed his hand over her hair, and trailed one finger down her cheek and across her lips. "Good night, Sam."
***************
"Jack." He heard a soft voice calling his name. "Jack, where are you? Jack..."
"Sam?" Jack sat up in bed and look toward the direction of the sound. He saw her silhouetted in his doorway. "Sam, are you all right?"
"No, I'm not." She started walking toward the bed, taking off her clothes. "You left me alone." By the time she reached the bed she had taken all of her clothes off. Jack had the strangest feeling that this had happened before... but that was just a dream... wasn't it? Sam threw back the covers and crawled into bed with him, snuggling close to him. "I just want to be close to you, Jack."
"Uh, Sam, uh, what are you doing?" He was still half-drunk himself. "I think you need to stop that."
"Why?" Sam was caressing his body with her hands, lips, and tongue. "Don't you like this? You did the last time." She straddled his body, grabbing his hands and holding them down above his head.
"The last time?" Jack was thoroughly confused now.
"Oh, I forgot, you don't remember. But I do. You liked this," she bit his neck lightly, causing him to shiver. "You still do, don't you. You liked this too," and she proceeded to kiss him down his chest to his abdomen. He started to shake. "You still like that, too." As she started to venture even further, he stopped her.
"Oh," he hissed. "I do like that." He reached down and dragged her up, flipping her over onto her back. He held her down much as she had held him down and kissed her ferociously.
"Oh, Jack," she sighed.
***************
Later, they lay together, both of them feeling the aftershocks of their pleasure. Jack wrapped his arms around her and held her closely to his side, kissing her gently and lovingly.
"How could I have forgotten something like that?" he asked. "I love you, Sam."
"You told me that the last time, too." She looked up through the dim light of the room into his eyes. He could see the doubt written on her face.
"I'm sorry, Sam. I did remember in a way. I thought it was a dream." Jack ran his hand over her hair. "It never occurred to me that it could have possibly been real. It was too perfect to be real." He leaned over her and touched her lips with his and smiled. "You probably won't remember this in the morning. You're pretty drunk."
"I was drunk, but not now." Sam slid her arms around Jack's neck. "I'm sober, now. And if I wasn't sorry the last time, why should I be sorry this time?"
"You weren't sorry? Then why did you leave like you did?"
"I was afraid you would regret what happened. Plus, we broke a lot of regulations-" He pressed his lips to hers cutting off her words.
"Since when have I ever let regulations stop me from doing what I wanted to do?" Jack kissed Sam again, deepening the kiss until they were once again locked in the throes of passion.
Afterward, he whispered in her ear, "Nothing is going to keep us apart ever again. Nothing."
***************
The ringing of the phone woke them the next morning. Cursing, Jack answered the phone.
"For crying out loud," he barked into the phone. "Who the hell is this?"
"Jack," Daniel's voice came over the line. "Did I wake you up?"
"Hell, yes," Jack answered. "Why are you calling so early? I told you not to call me before noon."
"Uh, Jack, it is noon, in fact it's after noon," Daniel informed him.
"Oh," he said. He looked at his watch on the bedside table. "Sorry, Daniel, I didn't realize it was so late."
"It's okay. You and Sam really tied one on last night. I haven't seen you so drunk since the party we had after we came back from Tollana." Daniel paused. "Is Sam still there?"
"Um, yeah, Daniel, she's still here. Do you want to speak to her?" Jack asked.
"No, that's all right. Just tell her I said 'Hi' and I'll see her on Saturday for that flea market thing."
"I'll tell her. Bye, Daniel."
"Bye, Jack."
Jack looked over at Sam lying close beside him. She was looking at him and smiling.
"What are you smiling at," he asked, smiling back at her.
"You," she answered. "We're going to have to be really discreet."
"Major Carter, I happen to be the soul of discretion. It's worth it to be with you." Jack wrapped his arms around Sam and kissed her.
"You know," she said, "I think I'm going to enjoy living on the edge a little in my personal life."
"Oh, being with me is like being on the edge?" he asked.
"Oh, yes, you never know what's going to happen next." Sam then pushed Jack over on his back and gave him a kiss he would NEVER forget.
The End
Poker Night by Karen
Story Notes: Please send feedback.
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]