[Moments of Adoration]

I've always wanted Sam to call his bluff...

Cassandra: "I just... thought it. I thought I wanted a knight and it just... flew into my hand. Jack calls them horses."
Carter: "Yeah, well that's Colonel O'Neill for you."
Cassandra: "He always pretends he's not as smart as he really is."
Carter: "You know, if you take a close look, they really are horses."

*taptaptap*

*taptaptapta-

"Damn it, Jonas!" Jack O'Neill snatched the pencil from Jonas' hand and flung it into the campfire.

His now-empty hand hovering over the clipboard on his lap, Jonas blinked. "Uh, sorry, Colonel." He pulled another pencil from the pocket of his field jacket, then, almost as an afterthought, got up and walked around to the other side of the fire before settling back down to resume his translations.

His glare lost on the Kelownan, Jack looked for other things to toss in the fire. Turning the pencil into kindling had made him feel marginally better. Much better than continually checking his watch. Within ten minutes he had cleared the area immediately surrounding the campfire of anything flammable, and was foraging further afield. Near the tents he found Jonas' bag. The side pocket hung open, and inside...

Jonas didn't need that many pencils.

"Colonel?" Jack started guiltily, shoving the handful of pencils he'd just procured behind his back.

"Yeah, Jonas?"

"Can you take these to Major Carter?"

Letting the pencils slip unobtrusively from his hand, he walked back to the campfire and took the pages Jonas held out to him.

"Sure thing."

"You think she'll figure it out?"

"It's Carter," Jack said as he tucked the translations under his arm and left their camp.

"How's she doing?"

Teal'c, who had established himself at the entrance after Carter had kicked the Hosdian "scientists" out, looked into the temple for a long moment. "She has been very quiet."

"That's... good?"

Teal'c appeared to think it was not. "It is a great deal of pressure, being expected to save an entire civilization. Again. I imagine Major Carter might be affected by it."

"It's Carter, Teal'c. You know, 'She who does five impossible things before breakfast'."

One eyebrow went up. "Perhaps, but someone should speak with her." Teal'c's hand settled gently between Jack's shoulder blades, and then not so gently propelled him through the arched entry.

Stumbling into the temple, Jack found Sam sitting on the floor, eyes closed, leaning against the source of their current crisis. The tall stone stelae sat about fifteen feet from the Gate, backlit by the blue glow of the still-active wormhole.

On their arrival, the stone spire had appeared perfectly harmless (which should have been their first clue something would go horribly wrong). The stereotypical "bad feeling" had crawled down Jack's spine when the Gate didn't shut off behind them. Then the previously harmless looking hunk of rock started to blink and whine. By the time they made contact with the local populace, Jack didn't need to hear the story. He knew they were screwed. Again.

"Hey Carter, you awake?"

She opened one eye. "Yes, sir."

"Everything okay?"

"Just fine, sir." Both eyes were open now. Watching him.

"Good. Teal'c was worried."

"Teal'c."

"Yup." Jack could see the corner of her mouth twitch. Biting back his own grin, he sat down next to her and handed her the translations. "Really. He thinks you're cracking under the pressure."

"He said that?"

"Well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration..."

Sam snorted and set the translations in a neat pile next to her tools. "Thanks for bringing these, sir."

"No problem. So... Watchya thinkin' about?"

Her head fell back against the stone with a soft thud. "Nothing."

That was not what he'd expected to hear. "Huh?"

"Nothing," Sam repeated. "I'm not thinking about anything."

"Uh, what about..." Jack thumped the stelae. "You know, imminent doom?" Above him, the panel Jonas had discovered was open, revealing lots of wires and tiny colored blinking lights.

"I'm aware of the situation, sir," Sam said dryly. "But I've been running in circles for the last hour, so I thought I'd try to come at it from a different angle."

"By... not thinking about it."

"Exactly. You're always telling me I think too much."

Okay, point to Carter. "Yeah, but there are times it's appropriate, like when facing imminent doom!"

Sam sighed. "We still have four hours until it goes critical, Colonel."

"I understand we've been through this sort of mess a lot, Carter, but do you think it's a good idea to be so blasé about it? Besides, Hammond didn't sound too happy about what this is doing to our electric bill."

"You want to give it a go, sir?"

Oh, he knew that tone. Jack always wondered how she could sound utterly respectful, yet at the same time make it very clear he was treading dangerously close to getting his ass kicked.

"Uh, no. I know my place in the scheme of smart, Carter. Fools and angels, you know." Wait, why was she smiling? "What?"

"You're doing it again."

"Doing what?"

The smile threatened to become a full-fledged smirk. "Playing dumb."

Jack blinked. How'd she...? "I have no idea what you're talking about, Carter."

Propping her elbows on her knees, Sam rested her chin on her clasped hands and pinned him with those wide blue eyes. "Yes, you do, Colonel."

Damn. She really could read him like an open book. Ignoring the warm little tingle in the pit of his stomach, he assessed his options. Pleasant realizations aside, he was not going down without a fight.

"Still doing that 'not thinking' thing, are we, Carter?"

"Nice try, sir, but flattery will get you nowhere."

Hmm. Antagonizing her didn't work as well as it used to. Next option. Ah! Redirection. "Aren't you supposed to be saving the day, not mocking your superiors?"

Sam just held him with that steady gaze, one eyebrow arching slightly. She was obviously spending too much time around Teal'c. Picking up bad habits. Okay, Jack thought, time to review. Antagonism, no go. Redirection, unsuccessful.

Obviously, there was no recourse other than a direct challenge.

"Prove it."

Sam did smirk now, and Jack realized he'd made a critical error in his tactical evaluation of the situation. Ticking points off on her fingers, Sam started listing. "Accretion disks, magnetic chess pieces, subspace fields, geomagnetic storms, Latin translations-"

Jack swore under his breath. Stupid time loops. "That doesn't count!"

"Why not?"

A very good question. Very good. "Because... "

She didn't give him the chance to make something up. "Sir, you learned a dead language in the effective space of a couple of months. Now I might buy an 'idiot savant' argument but..."

"Okay, okay!" Jack threw up his hands. "You win. I may, on occasion, project an image of diminished mental capacity. But jeez, Carter, don't let this get out. I've got a reputation to protect."

"Of course, Colonel. " The smirk had faded into a small, serene smile. "But I should warn you, Cassie's on to you, too."

"Crap."

"She says you're way smarter than you look."

"That's nice of- wait, Cassie said that? Talk about backhanded compliments..."

"Well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, sir."

Damn, she was good. Her gaze was clear and guileless, her features schooled into a mask of perfect professionalism. And he knew she was laughing at him.

"Don't worry, sir. Your secret's safe with me."

That warm little tingle in his stomach got just a bit warmer.

Levering himself up, Jack shoved his hands in his pockets and made his way to the archway. "Well, I think I'll leave you to your little moral victory, Carter. Now get back to work before we all end up vaporized. If I miss the hockey game because my component atoms have become one with the universe, I'm going to make a note of it at your next performance review."

"Yes, sir." Prim, proper, professional. And still laughing at him.

God, he loved that.

"Colonel?"

Jack looked back. She was already elbow-deep in the panel. "Yeah, Carter?"

"Sometimes I do, too."

"What?"

"Hate being smart."

Huh. "This 'saving the world' crap really gets old after a while, doesn't it?"

"It certainly does, sir." But she'd do it anyway. He loved that, too.

"Well, I'll talk to Hammond about rescheduling some of these apocalyptic situations that keep coming up."

"Greatly appreciated, sir."

"Anytime, Carter. Anytime."