Chapter Text
As soon as Jack heard the familiar sound of the Rift alert, he was up from his chair in his office and hurrying to Calandria’s workstation. Callie was already tapping keys and staring at her screen.
“What have you got for us?” he asked, putting his hand on her shoulder and causing her to jump.
“Jack!” she exclaimed, clutching at her chest. Once she’d calmed down from her near-heart attack, she informed him that there had been what appeared to be a negative Rift spike in Canton.
Jack’s face darkened, but he didn’t explain why. He would tell her about negative Rift spikes when he thought she was ready – he hadn’t told Tosh and Gwen, and that had been a mistake. He didn’t want to make the same one with Calandria.
“Jack?” she asked when he hadn’t spoken after a full minute. “What is it? What does it mean?”
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Right now, he needed to be focussed, and deal with the situation. “Nothing for you to worry about,” he replied, forcing the grin he saved for when he was lying through his teeth, the one that said, How can you not trust me when I’m so charming? “I’ll go out there on my own, don’t even need any of the others.” He turned to go.
Huh, can’t be that important, she thought, and let it go. “Sweet as.” She turned back to her computer, closing one programme and starting up another. She had important research to do.
He stopped, and slapped his own bum. “Thanks-” this time his grin was genuine- “but don’t you have work to do?”
Absorbed in a new activity, Callie didn’t look away from her screen. “What?”
“You said I have a sweet ass.” He turned back to look at her, frowning in confusion. Short-term memory loss, or just not paying attention? he wondered.
“Eh?” This time, she shifted her gaze to meet his, and mimicked his frown. In her head, she replayed their conversation. Then she got it, and burst out laughing. “No, no, I didn’t say ‘sweet ass’! I said ‘sweet as’,” she explained with a snigger. “Although you probably do have a sweet ass, I just haven’t looked.”
“Now that is just insulting.” Jack pouted. “Don’t you know I have an ego that needs fuelling?”
She patted his arm in a very patronising way, trying to reassure him. “Don’t be offended, it’s not your fault I’m not interested.”
But everyone was interested in Captain Jack! He continued to pout, even as he went to get the SUV.