Happily Ever After
Linz
E-MAIL: lindsaymallen@yahoo.com
CATEGORY: Sam and Jack, Some Daniel/Janet, angst
SUMMARY: Isn't it supposed to be a fairytale?
RATING: PG-13 (small swear words)
SPOILERS: none
SEASON: up to you
STATUS: Complete
ARCHIVE: SJA, Heliopolis, others only have to ask.
DISCLAIMER: Ok, don't own characters (wish I did) made this story up, didn't make any money out of it, yada yada, you know the rest.
NOTES: Just enjoy :).
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
'Happily Ever After...'
Isn't that the way it's supposed to finish? Don't all good fairytales culminate with that one immortal phrase that everyone who's ever been a child understands?
The phrase that lets you know that everything is right with the world.
That when Prince Charming meets Princess Charming, they kiss, get married and *always* live happily ever after?
Well, not this "Once Upon a Time..."
Five years ago, Colonel Jack O'Neill was injured on a mission, nothing life threatening, but serious enough to put an end to his field career. Everyone thought he'd retire - again, instead he accepted an instructors post at the Air Force Academy.
He even seemed grateful, but I didn't understand why. At least not until the very end of his leaving party. When with his usual finesse he turned my world around.
'Man of few words'?
You could say that.
We were all stood around him, as he was coerced into making a speech, surprising us all when he began in a tone that was not usual for our mouthy Colonel...
"I really only have one thing to say," his nervous cough was eloquent of his state of mind and it grabbed everyone's attention, mine included. Jack O'Neill was not known for being nervous, at least not in front of his command team and soldiers he'd served with for years.
He was even fidgeting, which didn't go unnoticed and just as the marines were about to let him know they'd seen the famous Jack O'Neill completely fazed by having to give a speech, he moved.
He walked around the room with deliberate slowness and finally came to a stop right in front of me, catching my eyes in a penetrating gaze that never faltered (not even when the cheers and wolf-whistles began). The kind of look that only he knows how to give, the kind that opens you up and leaves no place guarded, the kind that I had longed to be the recipient of for so many years.
My CO was known for his matter-of-fact, straight-line approach, well he certainly lived up to that quirk of personality that night. As the next words he spoke raised the noise levels to the roof and my heart to heaven. He just looked at me with those expressive dark chocolate eyes and his voice was molten fire.
"Major Carter, I love you," and then he simply kissed me until I believed it.
We were married one year later.
We were also filing for divorce two years after that.
Yeah, that's right, my fairytale, my hero and my prince, my husband. He wasn't my happily ever after, after all, and it hurts. It hurts so damn much, that not even six months without even hearing his voice blunts the pain.
We'd saved each other from so many things, but we couldn't save each other from ourselves.
The end came slowly; sneaking up before either of us knew it was there. But when it finally arrived, it was quick, brutal and very, very painful.
Which is why I am stood talking to my reflection as I brush a fleck off my regulation black T-shirt, while trying to convince myself that today can't be as hard as that day six months ago when my world fell apart.
Today, Colonel Jack O'Neill, combat instructor at the US Air Force Academy, my ex-CO, my ex-best friend, my nearly ex-husband and I, will be in the same room for the first time in 182 and 1/4 days (not that I've been counting).
So here I am, trying to convince myself that I am not going to react to him, to his eyes, to his voice or to his smile - if I see one that is. It's been a long time since I've seen him smile. Really smile I mean. But then again, I suppose he could say the same about me.
Not for the first time I wonder when he stopped looking at me like I was everything he'd ever wanted.
Instead his eyes grew dull, only showing that cold detachment that had served him and his unit so well for so many years, but now it was a look that I loathed, because it meant he was shutting me out. It was a look I had seen too many times and each time it hurt me more.
Oh, we were happy for a time. Very happy, fairytale happy, and then we just... weren't.
In the end, after that awful realisation, Jack ran to his cabin and I ran, well... here.
Refusing to let the tears (that I know are ready and waiting) actually fall, I look down to the third finger on my left hand and watch the light play off my wedding band set. The last link to him that I could never quite destroy, even when all hell broke loose between us, I couldn't take them off. I couldn't admit to myself that it really was all over, that the man who was supposed to be my Prince Charming, wasn't.
I honestly never thought I'd see him again, to look into his eyes and see the hurt there. To let him look into my eyes and show him the exact same thing. But today, as a result of Daniel all but demanding his presence for "something big", I will have to see him again over that briefing room table, as I had done hundreds of times before.
But this time it was different, this time it was hard.
I look at my reflection one last time and I square my shoulders as I place the symbol of his love on my dresser, my hand feeling unusually light while my heart felt devastatingly heavy.
I force a smile to my lips and walk out the door telling myself that the only man I have ever truly loved isn't going to rip out my heart all over again.
I won't let him... I can't let him.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
A sharp knock sounds on my office door and before I have chance to look up and grant entrance, the door opens and there stands the only man that I expected to come through it.
"Hey George, still got you chained to the desk I see," he smiles at me, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes.
Allowing myself the smile back, I offer my hand in greeting.
"Well, you know how it is Jack, I still have unruly Colonels to keep in line," He accepts the hint and shakes my hand
"You wouldn't have had it any other way Sir," as he moves to sit down, I see the subtle pain the simple movement causes.
"You're damn right Colonel" we both laugh this time, but he's wrong, I would've had it *any* other way than him getting caught in crossfire and nearly losing his leg.
"How's the Academy treating you?" I continued although I already knew the answer.
Officially, Jack was a combat instructor at the Academy. Unofficially, he was an intermediary between the Academy and the SGC. His role was to choose the best graduates from the academy and take them to a facility not far from the mountain and adapt their thinking and training to give us the next generation of SGC field personnel. His instincts and experiences made him perfect for the roll, and he was damned good at what he did.
"No complaints, General. These kids are good, but I don't think the Academy did it's job on the "following orders" front" he smiled, again it missed his eyes.
"What goes around comes around Jack,"
"Yeah but at least my innate charm and good looks detracted from my more "pain in the ass" moments"
Again we both laugh, but this time, it doesn't reach my eyes either. The banter and irreverence may be there, but he's not the same Jack O'Neill. He's missing something, that spark, that light behind his eyes... he's missing *her*.
Knowing him as I do, I look at him and can see the unrest just beneath the surface. I know why, but there's nothing I can do to ease it. I wish there was something I could do, but once more my hands are tied.
I had to stand by and watch their relationship pass the bounds of CO and 2IC while ignoring it because they were too damn good at their job. Then I had to stand by once more and watch as those same two people, who should have been perfect for each other, finally got their chance and hit self-destruct.
We chat for a while longer, about nothing in particular, which in itself is telling for a man who has little patience with small talk. Eventually we both realise that we cannot put off the inevitable any longer and without verbal acknowledgement we rise and walk out into the briefing room.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
This is hard, no wait... I've done hard. Actually as a team we did impossible (with a side order of insane) on a weekly basis.
But as I follow Hammond, I know that I haven't faced anything as difficult as this for a very long time.
I know she'll already be there of course. She'd never be late for something like this... hell she'd never be late full stop, not unless there was a pesky little sun about to screw up her intricate calculations.
I nearly smile at that, one of those small remembrances of how it used to be, before it hurt.
Forcing myself to keep walking and to keep my face impassive, I enter the room and even manage a smile and a hello to two of the three occupants.
"At ease," comes the familiar command as we sit.
Well, I kinda limp to a seat and more collapse than sit, but hey... this damn knee hurts.
Part of my mind is suddenly focussed on why we are all here, on what Daniel's big secret is; yet it's the feeling in the pit of my stomach that holds my attention. The one I always got when she was close by, the one that used to make me think I was invincible, that I could do anything.
Not anymore, now it just hurts - even more than this damn knee.
The first thing I notice about her is that she hasn't changed a bit, maybe a little thinner, but still... then my eyes notice something different, focussing on that I realise that her left hand shows no link to me and that hits me like a punch in the gut.
OK, so mine has no link to her, but that's a very recent development - recent as in about an hour ago. I can still feel its weight on my finger, kinda like phantom pain. Plus, it's close by, very close... close as in my jeans pocket.
I watch as her eye's dart over me and then skirt the table, then finally her gaze rests on my hands. I see her shoulders stiffen as she stills, acknowledging the lack of gold. She starts to force her head up, I can feel the determination in her movements, but I know her well enough to know that there is pain there too.
Yeah Sam, I know. It hurts doesn't it?
I make myself look at her, full in the face. Call it old habits dying hard, but I had to see if that old exquisite reaction was still there.
I found out as soon as her blue eyes met and held mine. The jolt hit me like a zat blast, only it lasted longer.
She was still as dangerous to my balance as she had always been, and even after the last few months, I was still nowhere near able to protect myself from her.
Six months of complete self-denial only quadrupled her impact. God she was stunning, I remembered everything about that face, every detail and for a second I remembered those eyes laughing into mine, while her smile literally brightened my world, making all the lame ass jokes worthwhile.
But it was such a long time since I'd seen her smile that kilowatt smile just for me that I barely remembered it... Who am I trying to kid?
I remember the exact damn second of time.
I know exactly where we were and exactly what we were doing. It was the morning she left for her mission to 256; she'd forgotten her notes. When she came back in to get them, I was waiting for her, holding them and her keys out to her and she smiled at me.
I remember it as clearly as if it had happened yesterday, because after she got hurt, things changed between us. But I still remember her smiles; I remember everything about her.
Including how it feels to watch her walk out of my life without being able to fight for her.
I struggle to put air in my lungs, knowing that with one look she had made me as vulnerable as I always had been where she was concerned.
She never did understand just how deeply I needed her, if she did she wouldn't have left.
That memory only serves to piss me off.
But she still holds my gaze, the challenge implicit. She's trying to show me that this is easy for her that she can shrug off the memories as easily as she shrugged me off that day six months ago.
She wants me to look away first... not a chance in hell.
I remember shouting after her as she turned on her heel and left me stood standing in the middle of a Mall, I remember waiting for days, weeks for her to come home and let me explain. But she never did. She ran away from me in that mall and she'd been running ever since.
Right now the only thing I wanted to do was to show her that I was fine, to make her realise that I could live without her. Hurt? Me? No way!
I wanted to show her that she meant nothing to me.
But I couldn't do it, I couldn't even *pretend* it, so I fell back on old training and detached myself completely, removed all emotion from my face and locked it up. It was my time honoured and well-trusted defence and I knew would cut at her.
I wasn't wrong.
I'd hit the target true, my aim just as good as it always had been. She dropped her gaze to her hands and did not look back up. But not before I catch a glimpse of old pain.
Why Sam? What did you think was going to happen today? Your precious fairytale is over. I destroyed it. You told me so the night before you heard the message on the answering machine, spied on me and then left me, for once without bothering to find out the facts.
Let me tell you something Sweetheart, I might still have been your prince, had you trusted me and not let that be the only time in your life when you didn't think enough!
Major Sam Carter thought too much on occasion, but that day Sam *O'Neill* didn't think at all and that just *really* pisses me off.
But knowing that's she's only an arm's length away and she's hurting provokes me into old doubts.
Would she have reacted so intensely if she'd stopped loving me? Maybe the fact that she couldn't detach herself and coldly analyse the evidence says more than I want it too right now, I'm too steamed to get deep. The only thing I know is that for the first time, when it mattered the most, my major - my *wife* - didn't trust me. She didn't think and she ended up ending our marriage because of that.
Once again, this room is witness to the sparks that we generate, but the memories of the first time this room crackled because of us is painful to me now. I don't want to be here, it's too hard.
I know Daniel wanted me here for something, but the only reason I came was to prove to myself that I could do it, that I could be near her and not feel. And now I've found out that the only thing I can do is hurt her and in turn hurt me. I just want this to be over.
Jeez, fishing never looked *so* inviting... yeah it did, the day she finally said yes to the invitation.
The only thing that's stopping me from getting my ass right out of here, is Daniel. I never lost touch with either him or Teal'c, (or George for that matter) so they both know what its taking for me to remain here. For him to do something like this, knowing that Sam and I hadn't done "the same room" thing for a very long time meant it must be really big.
I look at him, words marking the first real communication between any of us since we walked in. The tension in the room had stifled all other conversation, and I felt like a goldfish in a bowl.
"So?" I purposely sounded bored, like I used to when Daniel was running a briefing. But my eyes sent him a clear signal... "Get the hell on with it so I can get the hell out of here!"
He gets the message,
"Just a second longer Jack," he mumbles, looking to the door with urgency.
I think he knows that it's all about to go asses-up. Me and Sam in the same room was a bad idea. I'd told him so in not very eloquent terms when he rang to tell me to be here. But he'd played that irritating loyalty and friendship card.
So I'm here, the outside showing indifference while inside I was brutally controlling my gut... only just stopping myself walking out or grabbing her by the shoulders and demanding0 to know why Sam O'Neill couldn't trust me with the same unwavering faith that Sam Carter had.
Finally, something happened... The Doc walked through the door that Daniel had spent the last five minutes staring at.
"Sorry I'm late General, SG-9 decided to go exploring and got the P4X 176 version of poison oak"
Hammond just nodded and motioned her to sit. But she didn't sit, she smiled at Teal'c as she walked past him, let her hand squeeze Sam's in a completely obvious gesture of support as she sent me an evil - no change there then, the Doc always did blame me. Then she did something that really did surprise us all, apart from Hammond.
She walked to Daniel (who was beaming) and kissed his cheek as he took her hand and faced the stunned room.
Sensing the question on everyone's mind, Daniel dropped his bombshell. He and the Doc had gone and got themselves engaged!
Congratulations followed, with the same genuine joy that I had witnessed not so long ago. But it was Sam who caught my attention. I could tell she was doing her best not to cry and as she hugged them both, I heard her whisper "Be happy" and for some reason that simple wish ripped me apart.
"What she means is be happier than us!" The distaste laced my words, leaving no one in any doubt as to my state of mind.
I saw her head snap around to me, but before she could respond, Daniel interrupted.
"Jack, don't be an ass. Don't spoil this for us. We wanted *all* our friends here, to be happy with us. I know this is hard for you, but please..."
I felt like shit, he was right of course.
"Daniel, I'm sorry. Doc, I'm sorry," I look them both square in the eyes to let them see I mean it before I carry on. "I really am happy for you guys, but I think I should go before I do spoil this for you"
Daniel nodded, understanding what I was feeling. The Doc however...
"That's right Colonel, you run away when emotions get involved! You're good at that"
"Excuse me?!" I demanded at precisely the same time as Sam warned,
"Janet, don't..."
But the Doc was mad and I knew that when she was mad, you were in for low flying needles and some seriously straight talking.
"I'm sorry Sam, but I'm sick of this. I'm sick of him acting like he never had anything to do with your break-up. The ever so *perfect* Colonel, couldn't possibly be part of the problem! Well wake up and smell the coffee *Jack*. You *were* the problem! You and your macho crap, so you couldn't go through the gate anymore and Sam could... deal with it! But no, at the first sign of trouble you run into Sara's arms!"
Dr. Janet Fraiser had accomplished what many had nearly died trying to do... she'd made me speechless, for a second anyway.
Then I got mad, madder than I had been in a very long time, and right at that moment, I didn't care who was there or why. I may have answered the Doc back, but I was looking at, and talking to, Sam.
"You think it was jealousy? Because I couldn't go through the gate and you could? You think I'm that pathetic?"
I couldn't believe she'd thrown our marriage away because she thought I was some spoilt child who couldn't get his own way. So I said something childish, something I knew would hurt her, a lot.
"You really didn't know me at all, did you?"
I saw her bristle and I just knew that there were tears falling. But I didn't care, because for the first time I was actually hearing her side as she looked at me and spoke with such venom.
"How the hell was I supposed to know you? You pushed me away after the accident and I never knew why... not until I heard *her* on the machine and then I realised you were too busy getting re-aquainted with your ex-wife to bother with your current wife!"
She moved so suddenly and slammed to door so hard behind her that it knocked the picture off the wall. For a second I just stood still, breathing hard, fighting the urge to hit something.
And then I did something that I'd sworn I'd never do again, I went after her and I slammed to door just as damned hard as she had.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
I watched him leave, and felt Daniel grip my shoulder, reassuring me.
I hadn't meant to say anything, Sam wouldn't have wanted me to. But when I saw how brave she was being when he was being such a jerk to her. I couldn't help it.
"It's ok," Daniel soothed me "we knew the chances of something like this happening. There's still too much emotion between them for it to have been easy"
"I know," I begin as the General stands and walks over to us "I just wish he hadn't gone after her now. Neither of them are thinking clearly enough. Besides, he should've gone after her when it all hit the fan, not now. She's finally started to get on with her life..."
Daniel held me tighter, and was about to say something when Teal'c interrupted.
"He did indeed attempt to locate MajorCarter six months ago Dr. Fraiser. He was unable to"
I swallowed hard. "I didn't know that Teal'c"
"Not many people did, Doctor," replied General Hammond.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
I ran along the corridor, wiping madly at the tears, ignoring the stares from the SF's.
I'd sworn I wouldn't cry over him anymore. But as I remember the pain that came with not being able to understand why my husband shut me out from his emotions and then the humiliation of finding out his reasons... the tears only fall harder.
I reached my quarters and slammed the door behind me, as I leant against it for support.
Ever since 256, he'd pulled away from me. My first command mission that went bad. I'd been seriously hurt and spent nearly a week unconscious in the infirmary to prove it. When I came to, Jack was there, holding my hand and looking like he'd been awake for as long as I had been asleep.
While I was confined to the Academy hospital, things had been fine. It was only when I got home that he pushed away. At first I assumed it was because I had scared him. Knowing I'd feel pretty much the same way if the shoe had been on the other foot, I accepted it. But it didn't end, for four weeks he shut me out so completely that I began to wonder if I'd come home to the right reality. I tried reasoning with him, I tried shouting at him, I even cried to him, but nothing helped. In fact it just made it worse. It was only when I heard the first of two things that the pieces began to fit.
I overheard him talking to Daniel when he thought I was asleep. Granted, I only caught the end of the conversation, but it was enough... "If I'd been there, it wouldn't have happened" He didn't think I was good enough to command my team, that only he would have been good enough to stop an all out Goa'uld attack! I'd always thought I'd had his respect as a soldier, I was wrong.
After I heard that, I stopped trying to understand him and so we started fighting and he pulled away further. It was another month of near constant bickering before I actually found the truth.
Jack was out as usual and I'd been in the shower, so I hadn't heard the phone ring. I didn't think twice about listening to the message that was flashing on the machine. I wish I had.
"Hey Jack, its Sara. 11am at Alessandro's is fine. I know you didn't want me to leave any messages, but I really think it's time Sam knew"
With that one simple sentence my world fell apart. Autopilot got me dressed and drove me to the mall. I had to make sure because some part of me wouldn't believe that my husband was back with his ex wife. I had to see, and boy did I.
I watched through the window as Jack hugged Sara so tightly, his head bent right into the crux of her neck and shoulder as she held him and ran her hands absently through the hair at his nape.
My pain was past bearing, but I walked calmly into the diner, right up to the table. Sara saw me and stiffened in surprise. When Jack lifted his head, all he saw was my hand make stinging contact with his cheek and then he would've only saw my back as I ran out of the shop and away from him, picking the quickest route out of the mall.
As far as I was concerned, that was the end of my marriage. Not only did he not respect my abilities to do my job; he also detached himself from me and ran back to his ex-wife.
I didn't even go home to pack a bag, I left and went to a random motel and cried.
I was suddenly jolted from my memories as the door handle shook with such impatience I thought it would come off altogether. Good job I'd locked it, because I knew exactly who it was.
"Sam, open the damn door!"
I didn't answer. I just stood and swatted at more tears. I didn't want him here; he was six months and a divorce petition too late.
"I swear to God, you either open this door now, or I knock if of its hinges!"
I knew he wasn't kidding, but I still didn't move.
"For Christ's sake, Carter, let me in!" I don't think I'd ever heard him so mad, he was livid. But it was his next words that caught my attention.
"Jesus Carter, you've finally let me know why you threw our marriage away and you think I'm going to leave it at that?!"
'*I* threw our marriage away?' Ok, my turn to be livid... I unlocked the door and swung it open with the full force of 6 months of pain behind me. I knew I'd startled him, but I wasn't about to stop there. Grabbing hold of his leather jacket, I pulled him violently into my room and began *my* side of things.
"I didn't throw our marriage away Jack, you did. When you wouldn't talk to me, when you stopped thinking I was capable of doing my job! When you started to think that only you could have possibly stopped what happened on 256," I heard him draw a quick breath, but I carried on regardless of the fact that he was showing me more about his feeling than he had in nearly a year.
"I heard what you said to Daniel about it not happening if you'd been there. Maybe not, but then again, how could I possibly live up to the amazing Colonel Jack O'Neill? But the worst thing was that you threw me away because you wanted your ex-wife more than me!"
I was crying so hard, but I didn't care that I was letting him see how much he'd hurt me. In fact I wanted him to see it, I wanted him to realise what he had done to me and I wanted him to hurt because of that. I knew I'd succeeded as I watched his expression finally reveal to me something more than detachment. I watched as his eyes showed me that every accusation of mine had hit it's mark and I watched as I saw pure, unadulterated fury wash through his entire being and then an absurd calmness take hold of him. A calmness which was reflected in his next words.
"You think I just pushed you away because I was disappointed in you? That I didn't think you could be as good at my job as I was?"
The shock in his voice should have alerted me that he was about to drop a bombshell...but I was too caught up in his eyes. Deep, dark and in more pain than I'd ever seen as he continued in a voice raw with emotion.
"You weren't as good at my job as I was Sam, you were better. I meant every word I said to Daniel. But it was never about my lack of faith in you. It was because if I had been there, you wouldn't have got hurt, because I would have taken the hit for you. That was my job, as a CO and as your husband. I shut you out because I was more afraid than I have ever been. I was felt so damn guilty because I wasn't there to protect you, and you'd nearly died... just like..."
He sucked in a deep shuddering breath, I knew why.
Charlie.
"Yes I went to Sara, not because I wanted her more than you, but because I needed to talk to someone who knew about guilt. Someone who could tell me why I was making the same old mistakes again and make me stop before I really did lose you!"
I suddenly became vibrantly aware of just how close he stood to me. His breathing ragged his eyes full of pain and I knew without a doubt that he was telling me the truth.
"Yes you saw us together, but you didn't want to see that she was comforting me after telling me what a complete asshole I was being! You just turned and ran away from me without letting me explain."
"You didn't want to explain Jack, if you did, why has it taken you six months to tell me this!"
For the first time in six months he touched me, he grabbed my shoulders and shook me, hard.
"For cryin' out loud, will you just listen to me! I couldn't *find* you to explain! I had no idea where you'd gone and you never came home to give me the chance. After a week I realised that you weren't going to come home and that you'd been judge and jury and found me guilty without trial. You didn't trust me Sam and when I realised that you'd threw us away because you'd trust me as you CO but not as your husband I knew it was over, you only proved that when I got those damn papers by a courier!"
He dropped his hands from my shoulders so suddenly that I nearly lost balance.
"You never told me any of that, you just shut me out of your life!" I accused
"I know," He sounded insecure, "but by the time I understood what I was doing to you, you ran away from me and our marriage"
"I needed you to talk to me a long time before I left you, instead you let the arguments begin without caring that you were ripping me apart"
"I know I was wrong, but I wasn't going to come looking for you again. I waited for you to come home, or to the cabin, convincing myself that you'd start thinking properly sooner or later and that you'd come and find *me* and let me explain. But you never did, you just decided I wasn't worth fighting for"
I couldn't deny the accusation. I hadn't gone back to him, because I couldn't bear hearing him tell me he wanted someone else more than me. I spent five days crying in a motel room. After that, I went back to Cheyenne and on as many missions as Hammond would authorise. Everyone knew I was acting on emotion, but when the man you love appears to have had an affair, logic doesn't really count for much. In my mind our marriage ended the moment I saw his head on Sara's shoulder and her hand in his hair. I petitioned for divorce shortly after and sent the papers to him in Minnesota via courier.
I could see the how badly that had hurt him, but I didn't know what to say. There was so much to take in. Everything I had thought for the last 8 months had just been turned on its head, so I said the only words that I felt expressed my emotions.
"I'm sorry Jack"
It was only when I said those words that I felt better than I had in a very long time and for the first time today, I dropped my guard and really looked at him.
The anger had drained away, leaving only a desolation that I knew all too well. The knowledge that we'd let each other drift away though misunderstandings and fear was almost as unbearable as what had come before.
Slowly with a gentleness that I'd missed so desperately, he took my left hand and looked pointedly at my bare finger then back to my eyes. Something so familiar sparked between us in that moment and I grabbed onto it with all my might.
"I'm sorry too Sam" his voice nothing more than a husky whisper.
I knew what he was referring too, and I knew the symbol that he was using to represent it.
Pulling away from him, I turned my back on him able to sense his uncertainty even without looking.
Walking over to my dresser I picked up the two objects so recently removed and held them out to him so he could see. His shock was almost funny, had the air not been supercharged, I would have laughed at his expression, especially when I placed them back on my finger.
I didn't move. I just looked into those wonderful brown depths and saw the spark light the fires behind them as a slow sensuous smile curved across his lips.
I watched, fascinated, as he slipped his hand into his pocket and fished out something that caught the light. My breath catching as he pushed it ever so deliberately onto the third finger of his left hand.
My heart hammered as he walked with careful determination to stand right in front of me, stopping only when he was so close that the material of his shirt met the material of mine. I stilled completely and watched as his smile reached his eyes and there it was, that same penetrating gaze that still left no place within me unguarded.
I was mesmerised by this man. I was caught in his spell and willingly so.
He picked my up left hand again so that our rings almost touched, while his three simple words washed over me.
"Come here Sweetheart"
And I did, oh I really did.
Go to the next part!
Back
~ DJA main page ~ Updates ~ Alpha by Author ~ Alpha by Title ~ Alpha by Series ~ GTKY ~ Song Lyrics ~ Challenges ~
~ Quotes ~ Shippy Reviews ~ DJ Galleries ~ Daniel/MS bio ~ Janet/Teryl bio ~ Beta Readers ~ Links/Webrings ~
~ FUQs ~ Search the DJA! ~ Welcome Packet ~
~ Sam and Jack Archive ~ SG-13 Homepage ~