They sat side by side beside the campfire, each lost in their own thoughts. They would be spending the night in a clearing in the woods, a few miles away from the Stargate, and would be heading back in the morning. Teal'c and Daniel had long since retired to their tent, leaving Sam and Jack alone, tending to the small campfire they had built to keep them warm from the cool night breeze of the.
"Sir," her innocent voice broke through his thoughts.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Oh, nothing... everything." he responded shifting his gaze from the starry night to her bright blue eyes.
The night was cold, and she shifted closer to the flames, and to him, hugging her knees up to her chest.
The fire crackled as Jack added another few twigs. "Carter?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Ever wonder what you'd be doing now if you hadn't joined the SGC?"
She as quiet for a few seconds as she thought over this sudden (unexpected?) personal question coming from the Colonel. "I'd probably be working for NASA, trying to get my turn at a mission."
He continued prodding at the fire.
"Of course, that would probably have taken years..."
For a few moments, neither of them spoke. Both of them once again engrossed
in their own thought while staring intently at the fire.
"But... don't you ever wish for a normal life?" he asked.
"Normal life, sir?"
He looked back up at her, the reflection of the flames danced in her eyes. "Yeah, ya know, settle down, get married, raise some kids... the whole white picket fence and golden retriever thing?"
Sam shrugged, looking away from his gaze which had suddenly seemed to intesify as he spoke. "I don't know. I guess that for me, I've always made my career my priority. I don't know if I want to suddenly make that second to my children. I've worked very hard to get to where I've gotten, and being a female in the military, well... never mind, you wouldn't understand..."
"Try me," he asked her gently in a carresing voice.
She paused, surprised at his sudden request for intimacy. "It's just that as a female officer in the military, it's really hard to raise a family, especially working for the SGC. I don't know if I would be able to come out here, and put my life in constant danger when I know I have someone that needs me and is waiting for me back home. Besides, I don't go out much. It's hard to meet anyone, let alone someone who would understand all of this." She finished, motioning at the camp they had set up.
"Oh."
"Well what about you sir? Ever think about raising a family again?"
"Me? No, I'm much too old to start that dating stuff all over again and well... someone has to save the galaxy from the Goa'uld. And, like you said, no one would be able to understand what we do," he added as a second thought.
It was quiet. No one spoke. The only sound came from the crackling and hissing of the fire, and the distant howls of animals out in the woods somewhere. Jack looked over at Sam whose face was lit up only by fire and moonlight which intesified her beauty.
"Carter?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Do you like baseball?"
"Baseball, sir?"
"Yeah, that game where you try and hit the ball, run around the bases, and--"
"It's a fun sport, I suppose."
"Then how about going to see the Rockies against the Giants saturday? Assuming of course, that you don't have any plans..."
"No, I don't have any plans..."
"Good then, it's settled. Pick ya up at 1100 hours." He added before she could say anything else.
"That would be great sir." She stood up and started heading toward their tent.
"Oh Sam, I have one condition."
She turned back to look at him. "What's that?"
"That while we're at the game, you don't call me sir."
"Yes... sir."
She retreated into the tent followed a few minutes later by Jack. Each falling asleep to dream those forbidden dreams that, today, had gotten one step closer to becoming reality.
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~The End~
-Ginamarie-
AKA: Dana AIM: SolitaryGirl42 Visit my site! http://www.geocities.com/Gate_Philes
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* STEVE SAYS: " Stonehenge Rocks! "
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"What I've seen, I've seen because I wanted to believe. If you look to hard, you can go mad. But, if you continue to look, you become liberated, and you come awake as if from a dream..." ~Fox Mulder
Story Notes: Archive: Anywhere, just let me know where it goes :)
Feed me at Starbuck1031@hotmail.com
Feed me at Starbuck1031@hotmail.com
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 ]