FanFic100: #094 Independence
Well… what a pity. Just one more night on the base before heading back to Atlantis and all he does is sit around in the SGC guest officers’ quarters and do… nothing. Granted, it’s what he intended in the first place - what with wanting a little quiet after three weeks of busy leave back home - but it’s like it always is when you actually get the quiet you want: You’re bored out of your wits. Bored, bored, bo… oh, a knock on the door.
A little startled, he gets up from reading the book he hadn’t paid any attention to anyway and opens the door. It reveals… Cadman. In black leather biker gear. And to make matters even stranger, she shoves a full face helmet and a packet into his unsuspecting hands and says, “Alright, gear up, sir.”
What the…? He feels awfully much reminded of that little F-302 stunt he pulled with her six weeks ago. He’d taken great care not to remind her of that again, and she had refrained from any allusions. Well, any open allusions, that is. So he had just assumed she was insinuating to him that she wasn’t interested the way he discovered he was, but letting him down gently and without too much embarrassment. But now she’s standing there and all he can do is stare at her.
“Pardon me, sir. Do… do I have something in my face?” He blinks. Crap, he must be looking like an idiot to her now. He forces himself to make the idiot stare go away and regain at least a little bit of his dignity.
“No, it’s just… never mind. You were saying?” She gives him a look from under her lashes.
“Do you want to pass the evening here with…” she bends her head to catch the title of the book that fell to the ground when she shoved the stuff into his hands, “Mr. Hemingway… Mh… never pegged you for that guy.” What is that supposed to mean? Or… wait… is she doing that just to tease him a little? “Anyway, do you want to pass your evening with old Ernest in Spain or do you want to get to know a very special baby?” He takes a look at her again and finds it very easy to guess which “baby” she’s referring to.
He finds himself looking back at his battered edition of For Whom The Bell Tolls and at her again and… mentally apologizes to Mr. Hemingway for abandoning him for a pretty girl and - hopefully - a fast bike. But then again… Ernest would have understood, he’s sure of that. “Tough question.” He’d intended not to let the growing excitement shine through, but he just can’t hold back the hint of a grin at her rolling her eyes. “I think I’ll take door number two.”
For a moment, he can see surprise shining through. Look who just lost her cool there for the blink of an eye. But then she manages to get back her slightly smug demeanor. “Good choice. You’ve got ten minutes.”
He could tell her now that he’s still her superior, but now he’s really curious where this is going and simply complies; shutting his door and changing into the gear she just gave him. Surprisingly… it all fits and he really wonders how she managed to get the right sizes. As it is… he didn’t have a problem finding out when it’s her birthday, but she… Anyway, he’s done. Feeling a little embarrassed, he opens the door again.
Huh. Is that appreciation he sees on her face? More and more it dawns on him that he might have read her totally wrong when he thought she didn’t turn him down openly only because she was still searching for a way to do it that wouldn’t offend him too much. “If I may say so, sir… black is definitely your color.”
He chooses not to comment on that, because he has the stupid feeling that the color of his face is saying enough. Instead, he just gestures her to lead the way, which she does with a smirk on her face. She’s about a step or two ahead of him and he can’t help staring at her back and her… well… backside. Reminding himself that she’s a fellow officer and deserves nothing but his utmost respect, he forces himself to look away.
To distract himself from staring at her, he clears his throat and says, “You know… there’s one thing I’ve been wondering about…” She turns around, her eyebrow raised. Dammit, he really likes that quirking-her-eyebrow-thing, and if he wants to get out of this without embarrassing himself, he should stop making her do things he likes. “Why didn’t you… uh… sell your bike? I mean, you’re on a three-year-tour, aren’t you?”
She gives him a look that’s downright disapproving and shakes her head. “Sell her? No way, sir. The Sooz and I… we go way back. She’s… well, never mind.” It looks like she wants to add something, but then refrains from it. Maybe… because it’s way too personal. It would figure. Lieutenant Cadman likes to talk and she doesn’t have a problem with telling things about herself… but he’d noticed already quite a while ago that it were usually just tidbits or funny anecdotes. Every time it had looked like she was about to tell something about her she’d just give a very tiny sign of hesitation and then shut up.
Usually, he lets it lie when he sees this, but today… he feels like something is different. “It’s what, Lieutenant?” When he sees that she’s about to close herself off, he feels compelled to add, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell on you. Promise.”
She sighs. “First of all, it is a she. And second… it’s really nothing deep or anything.” She avoids his gaze, puts a stray strand behind her ear and gives him an edgy smile. He wants to rub her back and tell her she doesn’t have to embarrassed, but like all the other times he’d wanted to comfort her in the weeks before going on leave, he does nothing but mirror her smile with an encouraging one. She sighs again. “The Sooz… she means freedom. The only thing I alone ever had full control over. I had her since boot camp and… well, you know how boot camp can be. Like I said… nothing really deep. Sorry if you expected more, sir.”
Huh. More than that? She basically just told him what’s about the most important thing in the world for her and what was probably a very difficult time in her life. What the hell do you say to that? He wants to thank her for sharing this little bit with him or tell her it’s actually more than he expected… but something tells him that even if she might not be as disinterested as he thought, it’s not the right time for that yet. So all he does is smile again and say, “I’m starting to really get interested in that… Suzuki of yours.” Alright so that’s not what he really meant to say he was interested in, but at least it earned him one of those secret little smiles she doesn’t give everyone.
By now, they have reached the surface and she leads him through the checkpoint, pointedly ignoring the funny looks the two guys on guard are giving them. In the parking lot, she makes a beeline for one of the few occupied slots and well… there it is. It’s not a big bike or one of those very slim racing machines, but it does look like there’s at least some power under the chassis… which is, as he notes a little surprised, not red, but of a very dark midnight blue.
She steps beside it and looks a little shy all of a sudden. “Yeah, well… that’s her. Granted, it’s no F-302, but… she can get you pretty far, if she has to.” Absentmindedly, her fingers play over the seat and he feels his gaze glued to them. He never realized she had such… beautiful fingers. If he didn’t know she usually used them to play around with C4, he’d never guessed it. “Sir?” Dammit, that’s really not like him. Letting himself get distracted by some details in the fabric, so to speak.
“I was just… thinking of the backlog that must be cluttering my desk by now.” Whoa, totally believable. Okay, so that’s not what the look she’s throwing him says, but he could have been thinking about that.
“Mh, maybe we should really give you something else to think about then,” she says and signals him to take his place behind her. At first he’s a little reluctant to place his arms around her waist but she just gives him a nice little laugh and tells him it’s either giving up his reservations or falling off the bike. There’s really only one option left.
Then she starts the motor and takes them away from Cheyenne Mountain. At first, while still driving through the city it feels like she’s restraining herself and he’s surprised at how careful a driver she is. He chastises himself a little because he’d let himself be guided by stereotypes and prejudices. By now he should have learned that Laura Cadman is pretty good at surprising him when he least expects it.
After driving through the city she takes them on a route he recognizes as one leading into the mountains and he wonders if that is finally her payback for him putting her stomach to the test a few weeks ago. Now she is giving more speed and because he is so close to her, he can feel her muscles move while controlling the bike. The wind is starting to get rougher the faster she drives and she’s taking the many bends pretty… sharply. A few times he’s sure there are only a few inches between their knees and the road’s surface. Luckily, the road is basically empty and although dusk has set in, it’ll take a little time until it’ll be fully dark, since it’s summer.
She was right, he thinks. This is certainly no F-302, but that doesn’t mean it’s not as exciting. It’s just… different, and he starts to really understand what Cadman misses about her bike on Atlantis. He realizes that his somewhat unusual birthday gift may have meant more to her than he’d assumed all the time, and suddenly he’s glad he gave in to that stupid whim and used up nearly all the favors certain people on the Daedalus owed him.
Then, just when he started to get a feel for how she’s driving, she slows down and steers the Suzuki onto a small platform beside the road, really only big enough for the bike and maybe the two of them. Where is that supposed to go? Shrugging, he gets off the bike and she follows. It’s almost dark now, but when she takes off the helmet he can still see the very lovely sight of Laura Cadman’s hair looking just a little roughed up and her eyes glinting with delight in the dark. Very much… like she looked after the F-302 flight. “Come on, I want to show you something.” Show him something?
She walks to the edge of the platform and seeing her standing there, high above the ground, makes him a little dizzy, but who is he to let himself be outdone by a Marine at something that has to do with height? Trying to look totally unfazed, he walks up beside her and… yes, now he can see what she wanted to show him. In front of him, Colorado Springs is spreading out, little dots of light shining through the night. The last time he ever saw it like this… he can’t even remember when that was.
“Wow, that’s…”
“Just wait another minute.” He looks beside him to see her raising her eyebrows suggestively and giving him another secret little smile. Before he can ask what exactly is going to happen in a minute, the question is already answered by fireworks going off above Colorado Springs. Whoa. And even more ‘whoa’ because she leans in and says in a very low voice, “Happy Fourth of July, sir.” Yep… payback for her birthday, definitely. But… the kind of payback he likes. He smiles down on her, suddenly positive that this wasn’t the last time the Suzuki will get them somewhere.