Title: Octopus Desire

tainted4life

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"Another beer, Sam?" Daniel's words were slurred as he eased himself out of the booth.

Sam didn't think he could manage to carry two classes across the bar. "I'm good, Daniel." She gave him a reassuring smile and he stumbled off.

"Do you believe he needs assistance?" Teal'c said from the other side of the table.

Sam watched Daniel take careful, measured steps. "I think he's fine."

Teal'c nodded.

"Goddamn motherfucker Goa'uld's tit!" The curse was followed by a loud thump. Sam, Teal'c, and half the bar patrons turned to see a grey-haired man in the back corner kicking an unassuming plastic machine. He finished his tirade with, "Ow."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow.

Sam put her chin on her folded hands and watched as the man pulled out another handful of change and slipped it into the machine. The back area of the bar was an arcade area with three forlorn machines--Ms. Pacman, a Buck Rogers version of Pinball, and a plastic box filled with stuffed animals and a metallic hook hanging down, maneuverable on a basic rail system. She said, "Maybe we should help him, Teal'c."

"Do we break the glass and withdraw the innards?"

"No, we--" A thud and a shriek to her left distracted her. She looked over to see Daniel Jackson sitting on the floor, cradling a precariously-grasped beer in his hands. "Maybe you should help Daniel, and I'll help the Colonel."

"Very well."

Sam left the booth and made her way to Jack's side. He noticed her and kicked the machine again, and then stuck his chest out. "I'm making progress," he said.

"Would you like some help, sir?"

"I don't need help, Carter." Jack put his hands back on the controls.

"I am a physicist, and this device is a matter of physics."

Jack shook his head. "This is not physics, Captain. This is about man dominating machine. Proving that we're still in control of the planet."

Sam pursed her lips. "Which little fuzzy animal are you going after?"

"The octopus."

"Good choice, sir." Sam leaned against the game machine and watched him pour money into the slot, and then carefully maneuver the controls. The claw descended, brushing one lone, purple arm of the octopus, before snapping at air. Jack exhaled, clenching his fist around the joystick.

Sam grinned. "You almost had it, sir."

He ignored her comment. "Do you have any money, Carter?"

She sighed and dug in her pockets. "Quarter?"

"Two."

"Two? Highway robbery."

"Not if you actually get the damn thing."

She raised her eyebrow.

"Which I will do."

"Yes, sir." Sam watched him fail again. "You know, sir..."

"Damnit, Carter."

"Are you afraid I'll show you up? Because I'm a woman?"

Jack turned his head and glowered. "I told you before, it's the damn science."

"Takes science to fly a fighter jet."

"Nope, takes balls."

Sam grinned.

"Oh, hell. Have at it." Jack stepped back a foot, and Sam slipped between him and the console. She dropped two quarters into the machine and listened to the spring as the hoist moved into position.

"Watch the master," she said.

He put his hands on either side of her waist, leaning against her back as he held onto the console. "I'm watching."

She swallowed, and carefully maneuvered the claw arm, sucking in her cheeks as she concentrated. At the precise angle, she hit the button that sent the claw descending. The metal collided with the octopus head, and clamped. Sam smirked. Then the claw closed, and the talons slipped off the fuzzy animal and snapped at open air. Sam sighed and said, "Well, shit."

Jack grinned. "Maybe we should team. Your brains, my brawn."

Sam looked over her shoulder. "Sir..."

"Your brawn, my brains? Okay, but I'm not sure that'll work as well." He leaned into her. "Feed the machine, Carter."

Sam shoved her last two quarters into the slot. "Now or never."

He put his hands over hers on the controls. The bar started to move along its track.
"Your youth, my expertise...We can do this."

"Youth? I'm a long way from my butter bar days, sir."

Jack chuckled. His breath tickled her ear. "What were you doing in those days, Carter?"

"Hot shot pilot." Sam chuckled. In the glass reflection, she could see the two of them standing together, their movements in tandem as the octopus was targeted. Like soldiers. She smiled.

"Why am I not surprised?" He said squeezed her hand. "On three. One..."

"Two..." She said.

"Three!"

Sam hit the button, and Jack craned his head past her shoulder to stare at the glass. The claw descended, and missed the octopus by a good three inches. A stuffed eel was caught by one of the metal talons and swept into the air, and Sam and Jack held their breath, but the eel caught on the edge of the chute. Sam pressed her forehead against the machine.

Jack was the first to speak. "Maybe this'll be easier when we're more drunk."

"Are you offering to buy me a drink, sir?" Sam straightened, aware that the movement pushed her body back into Jack's chest. He smelled like beer and Old Spice, and it almost reminded her of her father.

His voice was loud and slurred against her ear. "Isn't that what I just said?"

"Right."

He stepped back, and led the way to the bar. She followed, with one last backward glance at the octopus, forlorn with its stuffed legs pressed against the glass. Jack, by contrast, was smiling as he settled into a barstool. At his direction, the bartender poured whiskey into two shot glasses. "Tell me, Carter, about the days when you had a real job, flying a jet. Before you started wearing so much damn polyester."

"Sure, sir. And then you can tell me when you went gray."

Jack lifted his shot glass to her.

At the booth, Daniel watched them with vague curiosity. He said, "You know, Teal'c... They really are cute."

Teal'c blinked.