Stargate SG1; Sam & Jack; Five Pieces of Furniture: Couch
Title: That's What Friends are For
Author/Artist: sjhw_tolerance
Theme: Pieces of Furniture: Couch
Rating: Teen
That’s What Friends are For
“You can’t be serious?”
The tone of Sam’s voice caught Jack’s attention and he paused outside her open lab door, peering curiously inside. She paced the area behind her worktable-it was as far as she could move, given the length of the phone cord-distractedly running her free hand through her short hair. Jack thought it gave her a rather sexily rumpled look, which unfortunately, was ruined by the aggravated expression on her face. He’d seen that look before and was thankful it wasn’t directed at him this time.
“You’re absolutely positive there are no other delivery times before next month?”
She hadn’t seen him yet so Jack took a couple cautious steps into the room, trying to look casual as he eavesdropped.
“All right well…then I guess it’ll have to wait. Let me get my calendar.” Sam set the receiver down and that’s when she must’ve realized he was in the room, because her eyes met his and for a moment that look of annoyance was directed at him. But other than a brief frown, she ignored him and pawed through the mass of papers and file folders on her desk.
“What’s up?” he asked, stepping closer when she started flipping through the pages of her organizer.
“It’s nothing.”
“Well, it must be something, Carter.”
She flipped through several more pages before looking up and glaring mildly at him. “I ordered some new furniture a couple of months ago and the only day they can deliver it is this coming Friday, when I have to be at the Pentagon.”
Ah, now he knew why she was so annoyed. All they-the ‘they’ being him, Teal’c and Jonas-had heard about for weeks was her upcoming and incredibly hard to get, been on the waiting list for six months, appointment to use the latest, new super-secret artificial intelligence next generation super computer at the Pentagon. Evidently neither the SGC nor NORAD, with all their super computers had anything even close to this one and, at least according to Carter and the dozen or so other computer geeks involved in upgrading the gate’s dialing and diagnostic programs, all of whom swore they needed to run everything through said super computer before they could finish the upgrades.
“I can take the delivery for you.” The words were out of his mouth before his brain could come up with a dozen or so reasons why offering to help her was such a bad idea, and given the surprised look on her face, she was equally taken off-guard.
“Well…ah….” she stammered, clutching the receiver in one hand and her date book in the other. Jack watched with interest at the dozen or so emotions that played over her face, starting with downright disbelief and finally ending with an uneasy look of hope. “If you’re sure it won’t be too much of an inconvenience.”
Jack was sure there was nothing more inconvenient than waiting for something to be delivered but over the last few weeks, since their return from Halla and the run-in with the human form replicators, he would pretty much do anything to help bridge what he felt was the ever-expanding chasm between them. He had been right in his decision to leave Fifth behind and while he was confident the military part of Carter understood and approved, the other side of her-he refused to call it the ‘human’ side-hadn’t been so sure.
While it occasionally angered him and always confused him, that aspect of her personality was a part of her that he valued and even though he had voiced his displeasure, he counted on the balance she brought to the team.
“Not a problem. Just tell me when.”
The smile that filled her face was almost reward enough on its own and he tried not to cringe too much when he heard her say, “Hello? Between noon and six p.m. on this Friday?” Yes, I’ve got it worked out. I want to keep that delivery date.” She scribbled on a piece of paper on the desk, cradling the phone with her shoulder. “Great. See you on Friday.”
Six hours of potential waiting for furniture? Jack didn’t sigh, keeping what he hoped was a helpful look on his face.
Sam hung up the phone then and gave him another grateful looking smile. “I really appreciate this, sir. I ordered the furniture almost six months ago,” she paused briefly, her smile turning wry. “About the same time I made the appointment at the Pentagon to use their new AI. I never dreamed it would take this long.”
“It’s all right,” he said. “I understand. What about the furniture that’s already there?” he asked, watching her as she opened one of the drawers on the worktable and fished around for something.
“Umm…I haven’t really decided I guess. It’s all still in pretty good shape. Donate it somewhere?”
She held out a key ring with several keys dangling from it and he held out his hand, catching them when she dropped them into it. “Don’t worry about it. Just mark the pieces you want removed and we’ll take care of it.”
“We?”
“I’ll get the guys to help me. We’ll haul them off to the Goodwill or maybe the Disabled Vets.”
“Okay,” she agreed, giving him another big smile. “I really appreciate this, sir.”
“My pleasure, Carter.” He smiled and left her lab, jingling the keys while he walked. It might be a pain in the ass to wait around her house for six hours if the delivery guys took all day, but on the other hand, he could really use the brownie points it would gain him with Sam.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Even though she was tired and the lightly falling rain was turning into sleet, Sam was in a good mood as she drove home from Peterson. The new AI was even better than advertised; the testing and simulations had gone better than she’d imagined. She’d really have to convince Hammond to pull some strings and get one of its sister machines at the SGC. In fact, the simulations had gone so smoothly and quickly, she’d been able to catch an earlier hop back to Peterson that afternoon, instead of having to wait for her scheduled one the next day. And after she’d seen the weather forecast detailing the huge winter storm headed towards Colorado, she’d been even more thankful one of her former flying buddies had squeezed her onto his transport.
Turning up the defroster to high, she squinted through the windshield, the wipers leaving icy streaks in their wake; the street lights and other lights glaring off the surface of the icing streets. Slowing down when an SUV two cars ahead of her fishtailed slightly at a stop sign, Sam curbed her eagerness to get home and focused on the street ahead of her. She could take her time, and thanks to the earlier flight, she still had the entire weekend ahead of her. And to top it all off when she got home, she’d have her new furniture.
Sam smiled. Her new furniture. It had taken her several months to find exactly what she wanted and even when it had to be special ordered, she hadn’t cared, because the couch and two matching chairs were perfect for her living room. She’d wanted cloth and the pattern she’d finally found had mixed subtle shadings of green, burgundy with just the slightest hints of gold. And when she’d found the antique walnut end tables and matching coffee table two weeks ago, she knew the wait had been worth it.
The usual twenty-minute drive from Peterson to her house took almost an hour and she could feel the tension start to ease a bit in her shoulders, only to resettle in her stomach when the lights of her car illuminated a very familiar black truck still parked in front of her house. Driving slowly past, she could see the faint glow of light from the back of her house. What was Jack still doing at her house? Panic suddenly gripped her, maybe her furniture hadn’t been delivered and he was waiting to tell her in person.
Skidding a bit around the corner when she sped up, she turned down the alley and pulled in behind her house. The wind had picked up, whipping down the alley, the cold sleet biting into her exposed skin during the mere seconds it took her to walk from her car to her backdoor. The first thing that struck her as she quickly closed the door against the wind and sleet that followed her in was how quiet it was. If Jack was there, she would have expected him to have the TV on, but she couldn’t hear anything except the wind and the icy rain beating on the roof and windows.
Slipping of her coat and heels, she tugged at her tabs, undoing the top button of her blouse while she padded in her hose-clad feet toward the soft glow of light drifting out into the hallway from the living room. Peering cautiously around the corner, she let out a soft cry of delight when she saw her two new chairs framing the fireplace. They looked even more perfect than she remembered. Forgetting her concern about Jack’s whereabouts for the moment, Sam made a beeline across the room and stroked the fabric on the closest chair. It was soft and plush, just like she remembered, the colors deep and vibrant.
Lost in admiration of her new chairs, it was a moment before she realized she wasn’t alone in the room. The low snuffle and slightly heavy breathing behind her alerted her to another presence-she’d found Jack. Turning around, she could only shake her head when she saw him sprawled out on her new couch, fast asleep. Catching him asleep and off-guard like this made her heart do a little flip.
He was lying on his side, dressed casually in jeans and a dark green shirt that actually matched her new furniture, and at least he had his shoes off, she noted. His silver hair looked even hotter-if that was possible-against the dark upholstery. He was so handsome, even if his mouth was open and he was snoring slightly. Thank goodness she’d had everything sprayed with Scotch Guard because if he was drooling on her new couch….
Jack continued to sleep and while she was loath to wake him, the weather was only getting worse. She wasn’t sure what had motivated him to do this favor for her, or why she had accepted, but she was glad she had. Maybe things would finally start to get back to normal now-or maybe even better than normal. If she wasn’t so tired, she thought she could probably just watch him sleep all night. But while it might be a wildly romantic fantasy to have him stranded at her house because of the storm, she was way too exhausted from her long day to do more than just imagine the possibilities.
Sighing softly, she took one long, last lingering look and reached out, gently touching his shoulder. “Sir?”
He didn’t move. Sam shook him a little harder. “Colonel?” That got a reaction from him, if you could call the low murmur he made and way he seemed to sink deeper into the cushions a reaction. Almost against her will, her hand left his shoulder and ruffled through his hair and she murmured, “Jack?”
That got a reaction; he rolled to his back, his eyes slowly opening. His expression was open and unguarded for a few precious moments and what she saw in them made her wish she wasn’t so tired and they were going to spend the weekend snuggled together on her new couch. “Hey,” he said, his voice husky from sleep.
“Hey.” She stepped back while he sat up. “I didn’t think you’d still be here. What time did they deliver the furniture?”
He stretched and then reached for his shoes, slipping them on before answering. “Around five, I guess. Right before it started to rain.”
“Sleeting now.”
“Ah, lovely.” Jack stood up, looking around the room, that endearingly vague expression on his face.
Sam smiled slightly and walked over to the second of her new chairs. “Here,” she said, picking up his leather jacket and holding it out to him.
“Thanks.” He gave her what she thought was a hopeful look. “So…I guess I’ll be going?”
Stifling a yawn, she smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry. Its been a long day.”
“Ah, that’s right,” Jack said. He started towards the door and she trailed after him, switching the hall light on. “How’d it go with the super computer?”
She was pretty sure he didn’t want to hear all the gory, technical details so she gave him the short answer. “Yeah, real good. They should have all the upgrades finished this weekend.”
“Excellent.”
He was already at the front door and when he reached for the door knob, she laid her hand on his arm. His eyes met hers and for one crazy moment she was tempted to ask him to stay, but she didn’t. “Thanks again, sir,” she said. “I really appreciate you giving up your afternoon for me.”
“My pleasure, Carter,” he replied, his lips curving in a slow smile that made her knees wobbly. “Maybe I’ll get to fall asleep on your couch again sometime.”
The cold air rushed in when he opened the door and she suddenly decided to give into one last crazy desire. Clutching at the collar of his jacket, she pressed close and brushed her lips fleetingly against his cheek. “Anytime,” she whispered against his cheek, the slight stubble making her lips tingle before she released him. His dark eyes flashed with suppressed desire and he grinned before heading out into the night, tugging his collar up higher.
Sam watched him from the open door, feeling warm in spite of the sleet and wind whirling around her. She returned his wave when he disappeared into the truck and waited until his truck pulled away before she finally closed the door and headed back to her living room. Feeling slightly giddy-from either hunger, fatigue or something else she wasn’t sure she wanted to name-Sam sat down on her beautiful new couch and grinned, certain she could still feel the warmth from Jack’s body-and his eyes.
The End
Author/Artist: sjhw_tolerance
Theme: Pieces of Furniture: Couch
Rating: Teen
That’s What Friends are For
“You can’t be serious?”
The tone of Sam’s voice caught Jack’s attention and he paused outside her open lab door, peering curiously inside. She paced the area behind her worktable-it was as far as she could move, given the length of the phone cord-distractedly running her free hand through her short hair. Jack thought it gave her a rather sexily rumpled look, which unfortunately, was ruined by the aggravated expression on her face. He’d seen that look before and was thankful it wasn’t directed at him this time.
“You’re absolutely positive there are no other delivery times before next month?”
She hadn’t seen him yet so Jack took a couple cautious steps into the room, trying to look casual as he eavesdropped.
“All right well…then I guess it’ll have to wait. Let me get my calendar.” Sam set the receiver down and that’s when she must’ve realized he was in the room, because her eyes met his and for a moment that look of annoyance was directed at him. But other than a brief frown, she ignored him and pawed through the mass of papers and file folders on her desk.
“What’s up?” he asked, stepping closer when she started flipping through the pages of her organizer.
“It’s nothing.”
“Well, it must be something, Carter.”
She flipped through several more pages before looking up and glaring mildly at him. “I ordered some new furniture a couple of months ago and the only day they can deliver it is this coming Friday, when I have to be at the Pentagon.”
Ah, now he knew why she was so annoyed. All they-the ‘they’ being him, Teal’c and Jonas-had heard about for weeks was her upcoming and incredibly hard to get, been on the waiting list for six months, appointment to use the latest, new super-secret artificial intelligence next generation super computer at the Pentagon. Evidently neither the SGC nor NORAD, with all their super computers had anything even close to this one and, at least according to Carter and the dozen or so other computer geeks involved in upgrading the gate’s dialing and diagnostic programs, all of whom swore they needed to run everything through said super computer before they could finish the upgrades.
“I can take the delivery for you.” The words were out of his mouth before his brain could come up with a dozen or so reasons why offering to help her was such a bad idea, and given the surprised look on her face, she was equally taken off-guard.
“Well…ah….” she stammered, clutching the receiver in one hand and her date book in the other. Jack watched with interest at the dozen or so emotions that played over her face, starting with downright disbelief and finally ending with an uneasy look of hope. “If you’re sure it won’t be too much of an inconvenience.”
Jack was sure there was nothing more inconvenient than waiting for something to be delivered but over the last few weeks, since their return from Halla and the run-in with the human form replicators, he would pretty much do anything to help bridge what he felt was the ever-expanding chasm between them. He had been right in his decision to leave Fifth behind and while he was confident the military part of Carter understood and approved, the other side of her-he refused to call it the ‘human’ side-hadn’t been so sure.
While it occasionally angered him and always confused him, that aspect of her personality was a part of her that he valued and even though he had voiced his displeasure, he counted on the balance she brought to the team.
“Not a problem. Just tell me when.”
The smile that filled her face was almost reward enough on its own and he tried not to cringe too much when he heard her say, “Hello? Between noon and six p.m. on this Friday?” Yes, I’ve got it worked out. I want to keep that delivery date.” She scribbled on a piece of paper on the desk, cradling the phone with her shoulder. “Great. See you on Friday.”
Six hours of potential waiting for furniture? Jack didn’t sigh, keeping what he hoped was a helpful look on his face.
Sam hung up the phone then and gave him another grateful looking smile. “I really appreciate this, sir. I ordered the furniture almost six months ago,” she paused briefly, her smile turning wry. “About the same time I made the appointment at the Pentagon to use their new AI. I never dreamed it would take this long.”
“It’s all right,” he said. “I understand. What about the furniture that’s already there?” he asked, watching her as she opened one of the drawers on the worktable and fished around for something.
“Umm…I haven’t really decided I guess. It’s all still in pretty good shape. Donate it somewhere?”
She held out a key ring with several keys dangling from it and he held out his hand, catching them when she dropped them into it. “Don’t worry about it. Just mark the pieces you want removed and we’ll take care of it.”
“We?”
“I’ll get the guys to help me. We’ll haul them off to the Goodwill or maybe the Disabled Vets.”
“Okay,” she agreed, giving him another big smile. “I really appreciate this, sir.”
“My pleasure, Carter.” He smiled and left her lab, jingling the keys while he walked. It might be a pain in the ass to wait around her house for six hours if the delivery guys took all day, but on the other hand, he could really use the brownie points it would gain him with Sam.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Even though she was tired and the lightly falling rain was turning into sleet, Sam was in a good mood as she drove home from Peterson. The new AI was even better than advertised; the testing and simulations had gone better than she’d imagined. She’d really have to convince Hammond to pull some strings and get one of its sister machines at the SGC. In fact, the simulations had gone so smoothly and quickly, she’d been able to catch an earlier hop back to Peterson that afternoon, instead of having to wait for her scheduled one the next day. And after she’d seen the weather forecast detailing the huge winter storm headed towards Colorado, she’d been even more thankful one of her former flying buddies had squeezed her onto his transport.
Turning up the defroster to high, she squinted through the windshield, the wipers leaving icy streaks in their wake; the street lights and other lights glaring off the surface of the icing streets. Slowing down when an SUV two cars ahead of her fishtailed slightly at a stop sign, Sam curbed her eagerness to get home and focused on the street ahead of her. She could take her time, and thanks to the earlier flight, she still had the entire weekend ahead of her. And to top it all off when she got home, she’d have her new furniture.
Sam smiled. Her new furniture. It had taken her several months to find exactly what she wanted and even when it had to be special ordered, she hadn’t cared, because the couch and two matching chairs were perfect for her living room. She’d wanted cloth and the pattern she’d finally found had mixed subtle shadings of green, burgundy with just the slightest hints of gold. And when she’d found the antique walnut end tables and matching coffee table two weeks ago, she knew the wait had been worth it.
The usual twenty-minute drive from Peterson to her house took almost an hour and she could feel the tension start to ease a bit in her shoulders, only to resettle in her stomach when the lights of her car illuminated a very familiar black truck still parked in front of her house. Driving slowly past, she could see the faint glow of light from the back of her house. What was Jack still doing at her house? Panic suddenly gripped her, maybe her furniture hadn’t been delivered and he was waiting to tell her in person.
Skidding a bit around the corner when she sped up, she turned down the alley and pulled in behind her house. The wind had picked up, whipping down the alley, the cold sleet biting into her exposed skin during the mere seconds it took her to walk from her car to her backdoor. The first thing that struck her as she quickly closed the door against the wind and sleet that followed her in was how quiet it was. If Jack was there, she would have expected him to have the TV on, but she couldn’t hear anything except the wind and the icy rain beating on the roof and windows.
Slipping of her coat and heels, she tugged at her tabs, undoing the top button of her blouse while she padded in her hose-clad feet toward the soft glow of light drifting out into the hallway from the living room. Peering cautiously around the corner, she let out a soft cry of delight when she saw her two new chairs framing the fireplace. They looked even more perfect than she remembered. Forgetting her concern about Jack’s whereabouts for the moment, Sam made a beeline across the room and stroked the fabric on the closest chair. It was soft and plush, just like she remembered, the colors deep and vibrant.
Lost in admiration of her new chairs, it was a moment before she realized she wasn’t alone in the room. The low snuffle and slightly heavy breathing behind her alerted her to another presence-she’d found Jack. Turning around, she could only shake her head when she saw him sprawled out on her new couch, fast asleep. Catching him asleep and off-guard like this made her heart do a little flip.
He was lying on his side, dressed casually in jeans and a dark green shirt that actually matched her new furniture, and at least he had his shoes off, she noted. His silver hair looked even hotter-if that was possible-against the dark upholstery. He was so handsome, even if his mouth was open and he was snoring slightly. Thank goodness she’d had everything sprayed with Scotch Guard because if he was drooling on her new couch….
Jack continued to sleep and while she was loath to wake him, the weather was only getting worse. She wasn’t sure what had motivated him to do this favor for her, or why she had accepted, but she was glad she had. Maybe things would finally start to get back to normal now-or maybe even better than normal. If she wasn’t so tired, she thought she could probably just watch him sleep all night. But while it might be a wildly romantic fantasy to have him stranded at her house because of the storm, she was way too exhausted from her long day to do more than just imagine the possibilities.
Sighing softly, she took one long, last lingering look and reached out, gently touching his shoulder. “Sir?”
He didn’t move. Sam shook him a little harder. “Colonel?” That got a reaction from him, if you could call the low murmur he made and way he seemed to sink deeper into the cushions a reaction. Almost against her will, her hand left his shoulder and ruffled through his hair and she murmured, “Jack?”
That got a reaction; he rolled to his back, his eyes slowly opening. His expression was open and unguarded for a few precious moments and what she saw in them made her wish she wasn’t so tired and they were going to spend the weekend snuggled together on her new couch. “Hey,” he said, his voice husky from sleep.
“Hey.” She stepped back while he sat up. “I didn’t think you’d still be here. What time did they deliver the furniture?”
He stretched and then reached for his shoes, slipping them on before answering. “Around five, I guess. Right before it started to rain.”
“Sleeting now.”
“Ah, lovely.” Jack stood up, looking around the room, that endearingly vague expression on his face.
Sam smiled slightly and walked over to the second of her new chairs. “Here,” she said, picking up his leather jacket and holding it out to him.
“Thanks.” He gave her what she thought was a hopeful look. “So…I guess I’ll be going?”
Stifling a yawn, she smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry. Its been a long day.”
“Ah, that’s right,” Jack said. He started towards the door and she trailed after him, switching the hall light on. “How’d it go with the super computer?”
She was pretty sure he didn’t want to hear all the gory, technical details so she gave him the short answer. “Yeah, real good. They should have all the upgrades finished this weekend.”
“Excellent.”
He was already at the front door and when he reached for the door knob, she laid her hand on his arm. His eyes met hers and for one crazy moment she was tempted to ask him to stay, but she didn’t. “Thanks again, sir,” she said. “I really appreciate you giving up your afternoon for me.”
“My pleasure, Carter,” he replied, his lips curving in a slow smile that made her knees wobbly. “Maybe I’ll get to fall asleep on your couch again sometime.”
The cold air rushed in when he opened the door and she suddenly decided to give into one last crazy desire. Clutching at the collar of his jacket, she pressed close and brushed her lips fleetingly against his cheek. “Anytime,” she whispered against his cheek, the slight stubble making her lips tingle before she released him. His dark eyes flashed with suppressed desire and he grinned before heading out into the night, tugging his collar up higher.
Sam watched him from the open door, feeling warm in spite of the sleet and wind whirling around her. She returned his wave when he disappeared into the truck and waited until his truck pulled away before she finally closed the door and headed back to her living room. Feeling slightly giddy-from either hunger, fatigue or something else she wasn’t sure she wanted to name-Sam sat down on her beautiful new couch and grinned, certain she could still feel the warmth from Jack’s body-and his eyes.
The End