Fic | Tit for Tat | Sam/Baal (SG1) [FRT]
Fandom: Stargate SG1
Characters: Sam Carter, Baal
Pairing: Sam/Baal
Written for: scifiland ILYLP [Smarter than] and 5_prompts [table 8, #3 When will you learn?]
Rating: FRT
Word Count: 1,588
Summary: Sam and Baal engage in a battle of wits and words.
Sam runs a finger along the edge of the Ancient device and wonders offhand why so many of them are round. This particular one stands on a small column of white stone and is carved from the same. From a few steps back it looks rather like a large mushroom.
She has no idea what it's supposed to do.
Looking around, she catches the amused expression on Baal's face. Oh great, that's all she needs: a self-satisfied know-it-all just waiting on her to mess this up. She rolls her eyes and turns her attention back to the array of buttons.
There's three rings, surrounding a central dome that looks like it might be crystal. The inner ring is yellow, the middle one turquoise and the last is red. Each bears a black symbols that is not Ancient or Asgard or anything else she knows.
She looks at her pad, taking another reading, then hovers a finger over a turquoise button.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” Baal asks.
No, she's not. What she wants to do is break something over his head. She gives him a tight smile.
“I know what I'm doing.”
He chuckles. She squares her shoulders and presses the button.
It lights up, then fades. Other than that, nothing happens.
It's a bit of a relief, because at least she's not blown to pieces, but she can sense the smirk on Baal's face. Damn him. If he knows so much, then why the hell can't he help? She knows the answer to that. He wants her to ask. Yet, well it'll be a cold day in hell before she does that.
She checks the pad again and presses a second button, this time yellow. It lights up. Stays lit. Deep with the mushroom, a hum resonates. Static dances up her arms, making the hairs stand on end.
“I'm not sure that you do,” Baal says. She glares at him and presses another yellow button.
The crystal dome flares brightly, blinding her. When the light dims, the room has changed. She wheels round. Cam, Daniel and Teal'c are gone. It's just her and Baal, probably because he was close to the device so he could annoy her. Serves him right, she thinks even as she tries to figure out what has happened.
“I believe,” Baal says in a maddeningly smug tone, “That I told you so.”
Sam glares at him. “That is not helpful.”
“Did you not say that my assistance was unnecessary?”
He looks so smug, so full of himself, that she wants to throttle him.
“No, that's not what I said.” She picks up the pad. The readings make no sense, so she puts it back down again. “What I did say was that I would rather have needles shoved under my fingernails than have your... help.”
Baal sits on the edge of the dais, back against the wall and one leg drawn in. He rests an arm on his knee and lets his head drop. Sam rolls her eyes as he closes his.
“Fine,” he drawls and makes a show of yawning. “Let me know when you're done.”
She's going to do something alright... But then she catches herself. Looks at him, eyes narrowed. And she smiles.
“I don't think you had any more idea than I did,” she says, turning her back and returning to the device. “You're all mouth.”
“Believe what you wish.”
“You know what I think? I think that if you were so much smarter than me, you'd have told me just to rub it in. That you haven't suggests your smarts are lacking.”
“I beg your pardon?”
His tone has lost the bored pretence and taken on real annoyance. Sam grins: this is too easy. Hook baited, she casts the line.
“Come on, like you've ever been reticent about showing me just how inferior I am. The only reason you aren't is because you can't.”
She dares a glance over her shoulder. The casual pose is gone and he stares at her, danger in his eyes. She arches an eyebrow at him.
“You would be wise not to speak to me thus.” His voice carries the duel tone of the symbiote. “I tolerate your insolence to a point, but do not push it.”
Sam laughs. “Like that frightens me. Whatchya going to do, Baal, glow me to death?” And reel. “Plus if you kill me, you'll have to figure this all on your own and that might take some time.”
There is a low growl and the scrape of boot on stone. Her heart hammers as his footsteps close, but she tries not to tense, not to give her nervousness away. She scrolls the screen of the pad upwards and pretends that she doesn't notice him glowering at her.
“I should kill you where you stand,” he says, but what he does is snatch the pad from her hands. She folds her arms and looks at him. His attention is on the pad. “What is this? You couldn't solve a crossword with these calculations.”
He goes on, but he is working now. She smirks and wanders around the device, humming to herself. After a moment, his stream of insults and complaints trails off.
“Why are you humming?” he asks, tone an accusation.
She looks up, all innocence. “I was?”
His eyes narrow. “You were.”
“Really?” She shrugs and dusts off a perfectly clean spot of the device. “How odd.”
She maintains her air of innocence as he stares at her. Tries not to grin as his eyes widen a little. Yeah, she thinks and gives in. So who is smarter than who?
“You manipulated me.” Baal is clearly affronted. “That's not fair!
Sam laughs outright. “I know, it's got to be awful being outdone by a mere Tau'ri female, but you're such a bad influence. Now it's bitten you in the ass.”
He shakes his head, annoyance vying with wry amusement. “Clearly,” he says finally. He holds out the pad. “Here, I believe it makes more sense now.”
Going over, she scans the new, improved program. She has to admit he's good, but not out loud. She nods and looks back at the device.
“It's a transporter.” She glances around the room. It's nothing that exciting really, just a few weird statues and painted walls. “From room to room, because... I don't know, doors were beneath them?”
“I believe we travelled several levels upwards.”
“So it's an elevator?”
“And security device.” Baal eyes the nearest statue. “To protect the... art.”
“I think it protects itself,” she remarks with a grimace. Then shakes herself. “So much for a weapons repository.”
“I don't know,” he says, still engrossed with the statue. It's black and has what looks like a raven's head. The body is nothing Sam recognises and is glad about that. Baal continues, “Is sheer ugliness a weapon?”
“Not one we can harness.”
“That is quite honestly the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. And I include Anubis in that.”
Sam giggles, then feels a flood of shock as she realises they've gone a whole two minutes without arguing. Hell, they're even agreeing on the questionable art.
She stares at him. He tilts his head and smirks. For some reason she has no idea about, her cheeks heat. His grin widens.
Her lips twitch and she bites the bottom one, looks away. The worse thing is, she's enjoyed that brief moment of harmony. Baal will say exactly what's on his mind, without caring about proprieties or sensibilities. It's rather refreshing.
Still...
“Okay, Brainiac, how do we send the elevator back down?”
“Here.” He rejoins her and points at a red button. “That, then that and those two there.”
She presses the sequence and he adds a forth. The crystal dome glows again and a second later, they are back where they started.
Cameron looks relieved and at Baal suspiciously. “what did he do?”
“Nothing, it was my fault.” As much as she hates admitting that, especially where Baal can hear her, she's not prepared to let him take the rap for her mistake. “He got us back.”
“Right.” He looks from her to Baal and back again. “You okay?”
“I'm fine, but there's nothing here. It's... like an art gallery.”
“In the loosest sense of that term,” Baal adds. She grins at him, then coughs again and looks at Cam, who is frowning at them both.
“It's a bust, I'm afraid.”
“Now that,” Baal says as he saunters past. “Would have been considerably more interesting.” He flashes her a suggestive look. “And far less ugly.”
She blushes again. Cam's eyes go wide as he does another double take. Oh no. Oh, he can't think that...
But Baal looks even more smug than usual and starts humming and crap. She glares at him, but there's nothing she can say without digging herself in further. Denials will only serve his purpose more, whatever that purpose is.
Him and his damn games. Fine, she thinks and yanks the cables of the pad from the device crystals. He wants a battle, he's going to get a battle. She can handle him.
Maybe.
Characters: Sam Carter, Baal
Pairing: Sam/Baal
Written for: scifiland ILYLP [Smarter than] and 5_prompts [table 8, #3 When will you learn?]
Rating: FRT
Word Count: 1,588
Summary: Sam and Baal engage in a battle of wits and words.
Sam runs a finger along the edge of the Ancient device and wonders offhand why so many of them are round. This particular one stands on a small column of white stone and is carved from the same. From a few steps back it looks rather like a large mushroom.
She has no idea what it's supposed to do.
Looking around, she catches the amused expression on Baal's face. Oh great, that's all she needs: a self-satisfied know-it-all just waiting on her to mess this up. She rolls her eyes and turns her attention back to the array of buttons.
There's three rings, surrounding a central dome that looks like it might be crystal. The inner ring is yellow, the middle one turquoise and the last is red. Each bears a black symbols that is not Ancient or Asgard or anything else she knows.
She looks at her pad, taking another reading, then hovers a finger over a turquoise button.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” Baal asks.
No, she's not. What she wants to do is break something over his head. She gives him a tight smile.
“I know what I'm doing.”
He chuckles. She squares her shoulders and presses the button.
It lights up, then fades. Other than that, nothing happens.
It's a bit of a relief, because at least she's not blown to pieces, but she can sense the smirk on Baal's face. Damn him. If he knows so much, then why the hell can't he help? She knows the answer to that. He wants her to ask. Yet, well it'll be a cold day in hell before she does that.
She checks the pad again and presses a second button, this time yellow. It lights up. Stays lit. Deep with the mushroom, a hum resonates. Static dances up her arms, making the hairs stand on end.
“I'm not sure that you do,” Baal says. She glares at him and presses another yellow button.
The crystal dome flares brightly, blinding her. When the light dims, the room has changed. She wheels round. Cam, Daniel and Teal'c are gone. It's just her and Baal, probably because he was close to the device so he could annoy her. Serves him right, she thinks even as she tries to figure out what has happened.
“I believe,” Baal says in a maddeningly smug tone, “That I told you so.”
Sam glares at him. “That is not helpful.”
“Did you not say that my assistance was unnecessary?”
He looks so smug, so full of himself, that she wants to throttle him.
“No, that's not what I said.” She picks up the pad. The readings make no sense, so she puts it back down again. “What I did say was that I would rather have needles shoved under my fingernails than have your... help.”
Baal sits on the edge of the dais, back against the wall and one leg drawn in. He rests an arm on his knee and lets his head drop. Sam rolls her eyes as he closes his.
“Fine,” he drawls and makes a show of yawning. “Let me know when you're done.”
She's going to do something alright... But then she catches herself. Looks at him, eyes narrowed. And she smiles.
“I don't think you had any more idea than I did,” she says, turning her back and returning to the device. “You're all mouth.”
“Believe what you wish.”
“You know what I think? I think that if you were so much smarter than me, you'd have told me just to rub it in. That you haven't suggests your smarts are lacking.”
“I beg your pardon?”
His tone has lost the bored pretence and taken on real annoyance. Sam grins: this is too easy. Hook baited, she casts the line.
“Come on, like you've ever been reticent about showing me just how inferior I am. The only reason you aren't is because you can't.”
She dares a glance over her shoulder. The casual pose is gone and he stares at her, danger in his eyes. She arches an eyebrow at him.
“You would be wise not to speak to me thus.” His voice carries the duel tone of the symbiote. “I tolerate your insolence to a point, but do not push it.”
Sam laughs. “Like that frightens me. Whatchya going to do, Baal, glow me to death?” And reel. “Plus if you kill me, you'll have to figure this all on your own and that might take some time.”
There is a low growl and the scrape of boot on stone. Her heart hammers as his footsteps close, but she tries not to tense, not to give her nervousness away. She scrolls the screen of the pad upwards and pretends that she doesn't notice him glowering at her.
“I should kill you where you stand,” he says, but what he does is snatch the pad from her hands. She folds her arms and looks at him. His attention is on the pad. “What is this? You couldn't solve a crossword with these calculations.”
He goes on, but he is working now. She smirks and wanders around the device, humming to herself. After a moment, his stream of insults and complaints trails off.
“Why are you humming?” he asks, tone an accusation.
She looks up, all innocence. “I was?”
His eyes narrow. “You were.”
“Really?” She shrugs and dusts off a perfectly clean spot of the device. “How odd.”
She maintains her air of innocence as he stares at her. Tries not to grin as his eyes widen a little. Yeah, she thinks and gives in. So who is smarter than who?
“You manipulated me.” Baal is clearly affronted. “That's not fair!
Sam laughs outright. “I know, it's got to be awful being outdone by a mere Tau'ri female, but you're such a bad influence. Now it's bitten you in the ass.”
He shakes his head, annoyance vying with wry amusement. “Clearly,” he says finally. He holds out the pad. “Here, I believe it makes more sense now.”
Going over, she scans the new, improved program. She has to admit he's good, but not out loud. She nods and looks back at the device.
“It's a transporter.” She glances around the room. It's nothing that exciting really, just a few weird statues and painted walls. “From room to room, because... I don't know, doors were beneath them?”
“I believe we travelled several levels upwards.”
“So it's an elevator?”
“And security device.” Baal eyes the nearest statue. “To protect the... art.”
“I think it protects itself,” she remarks with a grimace. Then shakes herself. “So much for a weapons repository.”
“I don't know,” he says, still engrossed with the statue. It's black and has what looks like a raven's head. The body is nothing Sam recognises and is glad about that. Baal continues, “Is sheer ugliness a weapon?”
“Not one we can harness.”
“That is quite honestly the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. And I include Anubis in that.”
Sam giggles, then feels a flood of shock as she realises they've gone a whole two minutes without arguing. Hell, they're even agreeing on the questionable art.
She stares at him. He tilts his head and smirks. For some reason she has no idea about, her cheeks heat. His grin widens.
Her lips twitch and she bites the bottom one, looks away. The worse thing is, she's enjoyed that brief moment of harmony. Baal will say exactly what's on his mind, without caring about proprieties or sensibilities. It's rather refreshing.
Still...
“Okay, Brainiac, how do we send the elevator back down?”
“Here.” He rejoins her and points at a red button. “That, then that and those two there.”
She presses the sequence and he adds a forth. The crystal dome glows again and a second later, they are back where they started.
Cameron looks relieved and at Baal suspiciously. “what did he do?”
“Nothing, it was my fault.” As much as she hates admitting that, especially where Baal can hear her, she's not prepared to let him take the rap for her mistake. “He got us back.”
“Right.” He looks from her to Baal and back again. “You okay?”
“I'm fine, but there's nothing here. It's... like an art gallery.”
“In the loosest sense of that term,” Baal adds. She grins at him, then coughs again and looks at Cam, who is frowning at them both.
“It's a bust, I'm afraid.”
“Now that,” Baal says as he saunters past. “Would have been considerably more interesting.” He flashes her a suggestive look. “And far less ugly.”
She blushes again. Cam's eyes go wide as he does another double take. Oh no. Oh, he can't think that...
But Baal looks even more smug than usual and starts humming and crap. She glares at him, but there's nothing she can say without digging herself in further. Denials will only serve his purpose more, whatever that purpose is.
Him and his damn games. Fine, she thinks and yanks the cables of the pad from the device crystals. He wants a battle, he's going to get a battle. She can handle him.
Maybe.