Stitches: Turning Heels
Title: Turning Heels
Author: Christi and Katrina
Rating: PG
Timeline: During Chimera
Summary: An unexpected event in Sam's life causes her to reevaluate.
Author's Notes: So, we've reached that inevitable point. Luckily, seeing as canon no longer applies, it probably doesn't mean what you think it does.
--
It wasn't until Pete insisted on walking Sam to her door that she realized they had been on a date.
In retrospect, she was sort of dense for not realizing it sooner. But when her brother had called and asked her to do him the little favor of showing his friend around town, she hadn't really thought that much of it. It was the small sort of thing you did for family without asking a lot of questions. But then the friend had turned out to be a recently single guy with time to spare and the overwhelming desire to pick her up for their outing. And pay for lunch. And now, walk her to her door.
Okay, maybe 'sort of dense' was a bit of an understatement.
"This is a nice house," Pete said cheerily as he tried to put his arm on her elbow to lead her up the walk.
Deftly avoiding the contact, Sam shrugged. "I've always liked it."
"Good curb appeal, nice neighborhood..." he continued thoughtfully. "A little small, maybe."
All this prompted was another shrug. "It's fine for me." After all, she barely spent any time there.
"Oh, good," Pete agreed, turning to look at her as they paused on her front stoop. "So, this was great."
It was? Sam searched her mind, trying to figure out when, exactly, she had done anything to merit a 'great' review. "Um, sure," she agreed hesitantly.
"We should do it again sometime," he pushed on.
Damn. Now they were at that awkward part that Sam was completely useless at - the politely crushing all their hopes and dreams part. "Oh. Um. Well, maybe." As his expression brightened, she rushed on to say, "I don't know when though. My work keeps me pretty busy."
Thankfully, while Pete was cheerful and optimistic, he seemed to recognize a brush off when he heard one. "Ah," he said, having the grace to look just disappointed enough without making her any more uncomfortable. "Well, do me a favor: if you suddenly find yourself with an abundance of free time, give me a call."
"Sure," she said lightly before unlocking her door and stepping through. "It was nice to meet you, Pete. Enjoy your time in Colorado Springs."
And then the door was shut and he was gone, allowing Sam to heave a sigh of distinct relief.
"Well, that was awkward," she offered to her empty house as she hung up her keys and slipped off her shoes.
Though it was pretty early, the irritation of today's excursion had drained a lot of her usual energy. Flopping down onto her couch, she drew her feet
up and stared at them blankly. She couldn't help but wonder why the accidental date with Pete today bothered her so much. He was a nice enough man - cute, well employed, and he had a decent sense of humor.
Of course, the fact that she was listing good qualities about a man like you might a particular breed of dog seemed to say a lot.
But it wasn't just that Pete wasn't a good fit. It was almost like she felt bad about being on a date in the first place, which was ridiculous. She was completely free to date.
Except for the part where she was in love with another man and had essentially been dating him for months.
...Huh.
It was the first time she had really let herself think about her relationship with Jack O'Neill in exactly those terms.
As she stared at her feet, comfortably encased in bright blue socks that had been made by him, she found herself shocked at how calm she felt about the situation.
Jack O'Neill was...well, he was a lot of things. He was grouchy and damaged and technically off-limits. He was also...everything she wanted.
Which raised the inevitable question - what in the world was she doing sitting alone in her empty house?
As simple as that, the decision had been made. Throwing her shoes back on and grabbing her keys, she hopped into her car. She kept thinking during the drive to Jack's house - analyzing it all, because it seemed so abrupt. Except for when she realized that really, her choice wasn't so much abrupt as it was finally accepting the truth of their situation.
Yes, there were regs. Yes, it was a serious thing to break them.
The problem was, for all intents and purposes, the regs had stopped meaning anything to them years ago. Every conversation that took things too far, every cautious admission, every stupid and adorable pair of socks had chipped away at the regs until they had disintegrated around them. Their relationship had already affected their work - sometimes for the worse, admittedly. But usually? Usually for the better.
After all, people always worked better when they enjoyed their jobs. Granted, maybe not in this exact manner, but the logic still held. Sort of.
In the end, it was simple. Even though she had spent Monday through Friday with the man, it was Saturday and there was nowhere else she wanted to be.
Pulling into the driveway, she blew out a deep breath, smiling in spite of herself. "Okay, Carter," she muttered as she climbed out of the car, "Don't blow it."
The familiar sound of scuffling feet followed her knock on the door, and before she could really figure out what exactly to say, Jack was standing in front of her. His hair was mussed and his face was full of surprise and she didn't even know how to start explaining that she had finally, finally realized that their unsolvable problem had worked itself out a long time ago.
"I'm wearing socks," she finally began.
His confused blink made a lot of sense, but to his credit he easily stepped aside, letting her in. "Me too," he replied. "They go well with my feet. Though usually, I wear shoes, too. For outside."
"No, I mean that I'm wearing your socks," she clarified.
"Carter, how did you get my socks?" When she pointedly stared at him and slipped a single shoe off, wiggling her toes for good measure, he caught on and nodded. "Ah. And? So? But? Therefore?"
"I went on a date today," she explained, though really, it didn't quite connect.
Jack seemed content enough to follow along anyway, merely raising his eyebrows at this new information. "A date, you say?"
She nodded, rushing to explain. "A date. And okay, I didn't realize it was a date until he was walking me to my door, but then I did realize it was a date. And then I thought about how I didn't want to be on a date. Actually, it made me think about how I shouldn't be on a date because, let's face it, you and I have been dating for months. Maybe years. And I just want you to know that I'm okay with that. In fact, us dating is what I want."
She hadn't really meant to blurt everything out so suddenly, and the look on Jack's face told her that he hadn't expected such a deluge of information either. "I...uh..." he began, then trailed off, dumbfounded.
His lack of response roused one tiny shred of panic - the nagging insecurity of a woman who had no idea how to do this. "Unless...it's not what you want?" she asked.
His almost immediate frown made her smile because God, he didn't even have to think about it. He just knew. "You even need to ask?" he muttered.
Feeling so much that she couldn't quite sort it out, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. "Guess not."
"Damn straight," he affirmed, pulling her even closer with strong arms. "You're really, really sure about this?"
"Would I be here if I wasn't?" she asked.
"I stopped trying to figure you out a long time ago. But my point is...my point is that this isn't a try-it-and-see-if-it-works kind of thing. We do this and there is no rewind button."
The hesitation in his voice - not over her, she was certain, but about what this all might mean for her, for them - had her pull away slightly so she could look him in the eye. "I know," she assured him, tightening her grip around his waist.
After a moment of studying her, he smiled - an all too rare, honest-to-God smile that had her grinning right back at him. "Well," he said softly. "Okay then."
He kissed her then, slowly and thoughtfully and just hot enough to make her toes curl and her fingers a little numb before he pulled away. "So," he drawled lazily, "you want to hang out tonight?"
All she could do was laugh in his shoulder because suddenly, it all sounded so easy - even if it wasn't really at all. "Yes, please."
"Ice cream?"
"Sounds perfect," she agreed.
"Excellent. I'll get my coat."
Author: Christi and Katrina
Rating: PG
Timeline: During Chimera
Summary: An unexpected event in Sam's life causes her to reevaluate.
Author's Notes: So, we've reached that inevitable point. Luckily, seeing as canon no longer applies, it probably doesn't mean what you think it does.
--
It wasn't until Pete insisted on walking Sam to her door that she realized they had been on a date.
In retrospect, she was sort of dense for not realizing it sooner. But when her brother had called and asked her to do him the little favor of showing his friend around town, she hadn't really thought that much of it. It was the small sort of thing you did for family without asking a lot of questions. But then the friend had turned out to be a recently single guy with time to spare and the overwhelming desire to pick her up for their outing. And pay for lunch. And now, walk her to her door.
Okay, maybe 'sort of dense' was a bit of an understatement.
"This is a nice house," Pete said cheerily as he tried to put his arm on her elbow to lead her up the walk.
Deftly avoiding the contact, Sam shrugged. "I've always liked it."
"Good curb appeal, nice neighborhood..." he continued thoughtfully. "A little small, maybe."
All this prompted was another shrug. "It's fine for me." After all, she barely spent any time there.
"Oh, good," Pete agreed, turning to look at her as they paused on her front stoop. "So, this was great."
It was? Sam searched her mind, trying to figure out when, exactly, she had done anything to merit a 'great' review. "Um, sure," she agreed hesitantly.
"We should do it again sometime," he pushed on.
Damn. Now they were at that awkward part that Sam was completely useless at - the politely crushing all their hopes and dreams part. "Oh. Um. Well, maybe." As his expression brightened, she rushed on to say, "I don't know when though. My work keeps me pretty busy."
Thankfully, while Pete was cheerful and optimistic, he seemed to recognize a brush off when he heard one. "Ah," he said, having the grace to look just disappointed enough without making her any more uncomfortable. "Well, do me a favor: if you suddenly find yourself with an abundance of free time, give me a call."
"Sure," she said lightly before unlocking her door and stepping through. "It was nice to meet you, Pete. Enjoy your time in Colorado Springs."
And then the door was shut and he was gone, allowing Sam to heave a sigh of distinct relief.
"Well, that was awkward," she offered to her empty house as she hung up her keys and slipped off her shoes.
Though it was pretty early, the irritation of today's excursion had drained a lot of her usual energy. Flopping down onto her couch, she drew her feet
up and stared at them blankly. She couldn't help but wonder why the accidental date with Pete today bothered her so much. He was a nice enough man - cute, well employed, and he had a decent sense of humor.
Of course, the fact that she was listing good qualities about a man like you might a particular breed of dog seemed to say a lot.
But it wasn't just that Pete wasn't a good fit. It was almost like she felt bad about being on a date in the first place, which was ridiculous. She was completely free to date.
Except for the part where she was in love with another man and had essentially been dating him for months.
...Huh.
It was the first time she had really let herself think about her relationship with Jack O'Neill in exactly those terms.
As she stared at her feet, comfortably encased in bright blue socks that had been made by him, she found herself shocked at how calm she felt about the situation.
Jack O'Neill was...well, he was a lot of things. He was grouchy and damaged and technically off-limits. He was also...everything she wanted.
Which raised the inevitable question - what in the world was she doing sitting alone in her empty house?
As simple as that, the decision had been made. Throwing her shoes back on and grabbing her keys, she hopped into her car. She kept thinking during the drive to Jack's house - analyzing it all, because it seemed so abrupt. Except for when she realized that really, her choice wasn't so much abrupt as it was finally accepting the truth of their situation.
Yes, there were regs. Yes, it was a serious thing to break them.
The problem was, for all intents and purposes, the regs had stopped meaning anything to them years ago. Every conversation that took things too far, every cautious admission, every stupid and adorable pair of socks had chipped away at the regs until they had disintegrated around them. Their relationship had already affected their work - sometimes for the worse, admittedly. But usually? Usually for the better.
After all, people always worked better when they enjoyed their jobs. Granted, maybe not in this exact manner, but the logic still held. Sort of.
In the end, it was simple. Even though she had spent Monday through Friday with the man, it was Saturday and there was nowhere else she wanted to be.
Pulling into the driveway, she blew out a deep breath, smiling in spite of herself. "Okay, Carter," she muttered as she climbed out of the car, "Don't blow it."
The familiar sound of scuffling feet followed her knock on the door, and before she could really figure out what exactly to say, Jack was standing in front of her. His hair was mussed and his face was full of surprise and she didn't even know how to start explaining that she had finally, finally realized that their unsolvable problem had worked itself out a long time ago.
"I'm wearing socks," she finally began.
His confused blink made a lot of sense, but to his credit he easily stepped aside, letting her in. "Me too," he replied. "They go well with my feet. Though usually, I wear shoes, too. For outside."
"No, I mean that I'm wearing your socks," she clarified.
"Carter, how did you get my socks?" When she pointedly stared at him and slipped a single shoe off, wiggling her toes for good measure, he caught on and nodded. "Ah. And? So? But? Therefore?"
"I went on a date today," she explained, though really, it didn't quite connect.
Jack seemed content enough to follow along anyway, merely raising his eyebrows at this new information. "A date, you say?"
She nodded, rushing to explain. "A date. And okay, I didn't realize it was a date until he was walking me to my door, but then I did realize it was a date. And then I thought about how I didn't want to be on a date. Actually, it made me think about how I shouldn't be on a date because, let's face it, you and I have been dating for months. Maybe years. And I just want you to know that I'm okay with that. In fact, us dating is what I want."
She hadn't really meant to blurt everything out so suddenly, and the look on Jack's face told her that he hadn't expected such a deluge of information either. "I...uh..." he began, then trailed off, dumbfounded.
His lack of response roused one tiny shred of panic - the nagging insecurity of a woman who had no idea how to do this. "Unless...it's not what you want?" she asked.
His almost immediate frown made her smile because God, he didn't even have to think about it. He just knew. "You even need to ask?" he muttered.
Feeling so much that she couldn't quite sort it out, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. "Guess not."
"Damn straight," he affirmed, pulling her even closer with strong arms. "You're really, really sure about this?"
"Would I be here if I wasn't?" she asked.
"I stopped trying to figure you out a long time ago. But my point is...my point is that this isn't a try-it-and-see-if-it-works kind of thing. We do this and there is no rewind button."
The hesitation in his voice - not over her, she was certain, but about what this all might mean for her, for them - had her pull away slightly so she could look him in the eye. "I know," she assured him, tightening her grip around his waist.
After a moment of studying her, he smiled - an all too rare, honest-to-God smile that had her grinning right back at him. "Well," he said softly. "Okay then."
He kissed her then, slowly and thoughtfully and just hot enough to make her toes curl and her fingers a little numb before he pulled away. "So," he drawled lazily, "you want to hang out tonight?"
All she could do was laugh in his shoulder because suddenly, it all sounded so easy - even if it wasn't really at all. "Yes, please."
"Ice cream?"
"Sounds perfect," she agreed.
"Excellent. I'll get my coat."