Another new story!
Respect
Pairing: implied SJ
Summary: Filler between Carter's sudden replacement on Atlantis and her assumption of command for the "George Hammond"; implied SJ.
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"...So, you're selling your house, and you're going to live...on a ship..."
Sam looked over at her former commanding officer with a small smile as she pulled a sweater out of her chest of drawers. "I know it sounds a little crazy." She said with an understanding nod.
"Just a little?" He asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically.
"What do you expect me to do?" She asked, looking at him as she placed the sweater into her bag. "After the whole Atlantis thing, I haven't really gotten very many, uh...opportunities for advancement, you might say..."
"Yes..." He sighed. "Thank you, Woolsey."
She bit the inside of her cheek. "Look, I know how you feel about him..."
Jack raised an eyebrow as he studied her.
"Look, I think we had an especially bad first meeting..."
"Well, he practically accused of us of wasting the Air Force's money when Janet was killed."
Sam tensed. "I know."
"To say nothing of the fact that he wasn't even apologetic about the fact that Cassandra was without a mother, and we'd all experienced a loss..."
"I know." She reiterated as tension grew with her discomfort.
"I mean, I know I was lying on a gurney through the whole thing, but..."
"I know." She muttered, casting her warning glance to him in an effort to get him to stop talking about it.
"Look, I just think he's an ass."
"Well, he did get Kinsey fired," she offered, limply.
"Yes, well..." Jack said with a sigh.
"Barrett keeps insisting that Woolsey is just trying to..."do his duty"..." She said, using the newly-promoted Lieutenant General's trademark air quotations, as she shrugged. "I don't know..."
"Well, can't be doing too well if he fires the most qualified woman for the job in at least two galaxies and replaces her with himself."
Sam blushed. "I'm hardly the most qualified woman," she chuckled, modestly.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but ANYONE would be better than Woolsey, and I think that the Pentagon made its wisest decision yet when they invited you to take the position."
"At your suggestion, I'm sure."
"Hey, who's better than your former commanding officer to tell them about your unique qualifications?" He asked with a wink.
She managed a nervous smile as she turned back to her packing with a small sigh.
"Hey..." Jack murmured from where he sat on the bed, watching her moves around the bedroom as she packed her bag.
"Hm?" She asked as she continued her work without looking at him.
"What's going on in that head of yours?"
She turned a glance back at him, looking considerably like the woman he'd worked with for so many years on SG-1, despite the fact that her blond hair now framed her face in carefully placed curls which had made her drastically more feminine in appearance. "Truth is, I took this job as much for you as I did it for myself."
He raised an eyebrow.
"I've heard a few...rumors..."
"Rumors..." He said, skeptically.
She swallowed. "Barrett sent me this report that he managed to find...I didn't ask any questions, but..."
"But what?"
She reached for a piece of paper which had stuck out of her brief case. "I think it's the reason why they fired me."
He raised an eyebrow as he looked at the piece of paper which she had just handed him. "What is this?"
"Woolsey's speculation about our...allegedly inappropriate personal relationship."
"Sam," he murmured apologetically, looking up at her.
"Look, if they fired me because of this, you're probably next." She said, pulling the sheet of paper back from him as she folded it. "That's why I'm leaving."
"You don't have to do this, Carter." He said, seriously. "You don't have to protect me."'
"Yes, Jack," she said with a small sigh. "I do."
He opened his mouth to speak, but she interrupted. "We can't afford to lose you and your expertise. At this point, I'm not as valuable as you are."
"I think you and I both know that has about a snowball's chance in hell of being true."
"Look, I know you think I'm this...irreplaceable resource that is capable of single-handedly saving the planet, but the truth is that there's a whole planet full of people who are smarter than me."
"Uh...that's debatable."
"My work on the Stargate program has been cataloged and will be easily accessible. And they can pull me in whenever they need me. But if you get forced into retirement?"
"If I could only be so lucky," Jack groaned.
The doorbell rang, and Sam sighed as she looked toward the door. "I'm just saying...you can do more good where you are than I can with my...diminished credibility."
He opened his mouth to speak.
"Let me get rid of them, and I'll be right back, okay?" She said, managing a small smile.
He nodded, somewhat reluctantly, as she left.
She walked up to the door before opening it. She inhaled sharply as she saw the person on the other side of the door, whose face had been turned from her door.
"Mr. Woolsey," she managed in her surprise.
"Colonel," he said, amicably. "I hope this isn't a bad time?"
"Just...packing..." She said, motioning to the uncharacteristically messy living room. She turned back to him. "What are you doing here? Can Atlantis really afford to have you gone for any length of time?"
"I'm here for my annual review board," he said, soberly.
"Any surprises?" She asked, trying to control the bitter tone in her voice.
"Colonel, I know this seems unconventional..."
"Unconventional?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "I think that's putting it mildly."
He sighed. "I didn't come looking for a warm welcome, but I hope that you'll keep an open mind at the very least."
"Just cut to the chase, Richard. I don't have a lot of time to waste." She said, soberly.
"I'm sorry," he said, unexpectedly.
Sam blinked. "Excuse me?"
"I came to apologize."
"For..."
"For my unsupportive attitude and remarks over the past several years," he said, seriously. "I was trying to be the conscience to something I didn't fully understand at the time."
Sam just stared at him in surprise.
"I'm not saying that I would necessarily change anything." He clarified. "And even with these considerations for the difficulty of your job, I don't agree with every command decision which you made..."
"Well, as long as that's cleared up." She said, somewhat sarcastically.
"But I respect how difficult it was for you to make those decisions. Especially with how dearly you hold rules and regulations."
She raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, you must be speaking of someone else...because if I recall correctly, you once sent a memo which indicated that I was "not capable of holding [myself] to even the most basic of military protocols"."
He winced, recognizing once again, that SG-1's personal connections would entitle them to the most sensitive of his memorandi. "When I said that, my judgment about SG-1 was still somewhat clouded by my unfortunate affiliations with...certain individuals."
"You mean, the former Vice President?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Among others," he admitted somewhat regrettably.
"And your time in command suddenly changed your mind about all of this?"
"It's...difficult..." He began slowly. "To remain objective when you are in the thick of everything. And I have made my share of mistakes as well."
"Ah." She said with sarcastic understanding, sounding much like Jack as she reached to close the door. "Well, as long as we understand each other on that point."
"Colonel Carter," he interrupted as he placed his hand on the door. "I'll leave in a moment after I've finished what I came here to say."
She stood, watching him closely.
"Despite the fact that I am not entirely sure that I would have given you an any more positive review if I'd known two years ago what I know now," he said, slowly. "I have grown to understand, and perhaps, even respect your decisions over the last thirteen years."
She was silent for a few moments before she inhaled. "Thank you, Mr. Woolsey," she said, pushing aside her surprise.
"Well, that's all I came here to say. Enjoy your assignment on the George Hammond."
She managed a small and somewhat insincere smile.
"I'll just...go." He said, clearly uncomfortable as he turned to step back down to his car.
"Good luck," Sam said after a moment. "With your work."
"Thank you," he said with a grateful smile as he nodded in his appreciation.
She closed the door with a small, and almost confused, sigh as Jack poked his head around the corner. "Woolsey?" He asked, clearly puzzled.
She nodded.
"What'd he want?"
"To...apologize..." She said with her brow furrowed.
His eyes widened. "Are you kidding?"
She shook her head. "No...and the weirdest part is that I think it was...sincere. I mean, down to the "I still disagree with your command decisions, but I understand them" clause of his speech."
"Huh," he murmured, pensively.
She exhaled quickly before she clapped her hands back together. "Guess it's back to packing."
"Not until Daniel, Teal'c, Mitchell, and Vala come to help."
"Jack..."
"What? You have a big house for someone who practically lives offworld." He defended.
She chuckled softly as she relieved some of the tension she'd been feeling.
"Carter, about this whole...job thing..."'
She shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I'll just do my time, and maybe someday someone will see my compatibility for work at Area 51 or something."
"I'm sorry, Carter," he said with a sigh. "If I'd known..."
"You would have inadvertently made things worse," she said with an affectionate smile. "Like I said, I'll do my time, and hope for the best."
He nodded, thoughtfully, as she slipped past him and back into the bedroom.
"Hey, Carter?"
"Yes?"
"Where are you putting your stuff?"
She shrugged. "Some of it's being sold, some of it's being given away, and some of it's being put in storage. The more...sensitive items are probably going to be put in Daniel's basement, but...other than that..."
"Let me know if you need me to stash some stuff at my place, okay?"
"Probably not, given the circumstances, but I'll keep it in mind." She said, nodding affirmatively.
"Right." He said, nodding. "I just..."
"I know." She said with a grateful smile. "And I appreciate it." She motioned to his cell. "So, were you going to call in the troops, General?"
"Oh, right." He said, pulling out of his reverie as he began tapping on the keyboard of his phone.
"I'm going to get back to this," she said, motioning to the bag on her bed. "Hopefully I'll be through before Daniel and the gang show up."
He nodded, discreetly, as he stepped out of the room to place the call.
Sam sighed softly as she wondered for the thousandth time if she had the courage to do what her heart had wanted to do for years - leave the Air Force and spend the rest of her days as retired Colonel Samantha Carter, the lover, and maybe someday, wife of Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill, who spent her days as a scientist and researcher at one of the universities which dotted the eastern United States.
She knew he'd never ask - he'd proved at least that much over the years - but with the scrutiny on the program before its inevitable unveiling, she wasn't sure they could ever set aside the awkwardness of their professional relationship so many years before.
"Carter?" Jack asked as he walked back into the bedroom.
"Yes?" She asked, turning to him as she more figuratively turned from her thoughts.
"You know, before there get to be too many other people around here..." He said, smiling the smile he wore when he got nervous.
"Yes?" She asked with her heart pounding slightly in anticipation.
"I'm gonna miss you, so...come back in one piece, okay?"
"Don't die?" She asked with a sad, yet amused, smile.
He nodded.
"Yes, sir." She said with all of the hidden affection she'd ever offered in those simple words in years past.
"Good. Just wanted to get that out of the way before Daniel and everyone else gets here."
"Sir?" She asked, inhaling, as she looked at him.
"Yes, Carter?"
"I'm gonna miss you too," she admitted before returning to her packing. "Just wanted you to know..."
She was unaware that Jack's eyes followed her every movement as he regretted leaving every word of their singular admission in the isolation room nearly nine years earlier. With Woolsey's latest underhanded attempt at discrediting SG-1, she'd been left holding the bag, and it tore him up inside. But Carter was all about taking things in stride and her cool composure had informed him about his place - at the Pentagon where she'd ordered him.
Maybe one day...
"Can you pass me one of those pairs of socks?"
Sam's voice interrupted his thoughts, and he reached for it. "Here."
"Thanks." She said, offering a gentle smile before she turned her attention back to her packing.
Maybe one day, he thought again as he resolved once again to respect her unspoken desire to continue life in normal operation. Just...not today.