Work Text:
“Good morning, Carter.”
Sam glanced up and saw her commanding officer staring at her, a strange smile playing around his lips.
“Morning, sir.”
“Mind if I join you?”
Her brow creased as she looked at him with a slightly confused expression. “Of course not, sir.”
The smile that he was wearing remained as he slid his tray onto the table before he picked the seat opposite Sam. His eyes never left hers, nor did his smile fade. If anything, he was even more smug and satisfied looking than before, and the thought made her nervous. She forced herself to look away, but her gaze landed on the food on his tray and her confusion increased.
“Something wrong, Carter?”
She met his gaze and he raised a brow in question. “No, sir.”
He observed her for a few more seconds before he started to eat his breakfast, but only managed two mouthfuls before he could take it no longer.
“Do you want to share?”
“Hmm?”
“You’ve been eying my tray ever since I sat down. What’s wrong?”
“Oh. Um –”
“Carter?”
“Are you feeling OK, sir?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Never mind.”
“Carter,” he cajoled.
“Well, with all due respect, sir… do you even like oatmeal?”
His gaze shifted slightly before he sighed. “Not really.”
“Then why –”
“We’ve been over this already,” he interrupted tiredly. “And it’s because all I’ve eaten for three months, Carter, is Froot Loops. Even that is too much for me to handle.”
“OK,” she said, nodding slowly. “I can understand that, but –”
“What?”
“I just find it strange that from the choices you have, you’d select the oatmeal.”
“It’s bland and boring,” he shrugged. “And I’ve had enough excitement in my life for a while, thanks to those damn time loops.”
At his words, Sam straightened in her seat. “Really? What kind of excitement?”
Jack paused, a spoonful of oatmeal halfway to his mouth, when he carefully set it back in the bowl.
“Nothing,” he answered a little too defensively, then winced. “OK, so maybe I made a... discovery.”
“Your report said you helped Daniel translate the text on the altar.”
He nodded and he tried not to fidget when Sam pursed her lips and narrowed her gaze. “But that’s not what you’re talking about.”
Suddenly, she leaned in closer as realization dawned. “You did something during the loops, didn’t you?”
“What makes you think that?”
“I know you, sir. Do you really expect me to believe that translating some Ancient text was exciting?”
He pulled a face at her question, and then he caught the glint in her eye, right before she started grinning.
“What did you do?”
“That,” he said airily. “Would be classified, Carter.”
“Are you serious?”
He lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug.
“You aren’t going to tell me?”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
Jack couldn’t help but smirk at her indignant tone. He leaned back in his seat and let his gaze roam over Carter’s face. Her eyes were wide and blue, just like they were during the loop he’d resigned and let his hands cup her face before he leaned in and –
“That’s another thing,” Sam said, unwittingly interrupting his thoughts. “Why do you keep smiling at me like that now?”
His smile momentarily faltered as panic settled in his stomach, but it was quickly replaced with an entirely different feeling, so he decided to take a risk. Pushing his tray aside, he mirrored Sam's position and grinned as he recalled the way her lips felt against his. With his face now just inches from hers, he lowered his voice so only she could hear.
"Because it was you, Samantha Carter, who helped me make my exciting discovery."