The Optimist
by Suz suzvoy@tesco.net

Disclaimer - MGM/Gekko/Double Secret own them.

An episode addition for 'Chimera', based on spoilers. An answer to Sel's challenge.

I started this a couple of days ago, and then when Joe's Mallozzi's latest interview came online, it was like he'd been reading my mind...or me stealing from his. Heh.

Sam/Other, Sam/Jack. PG. Very short. Nice to *both* men. If you don't like that idea, you should probably stop reading now *g*.

*

He made the realisation somewhere between watching Pete nibble her ear, and seeing Carter giggle like she was dating a jock in high school.

He wasn't jealous.

Seeing them like this had been completely unintentional. Sure, so he might have been curious (downright fascinated) when he'd heard she was seeing someone (Pete Shannon, detective, introduced by her brother, not particular grotesque looking), but he hadn't meant to hunt them down on a night that he just happened to know (Daniel told him where and when) that they'd be out together.

Really.

Complete coincidence.

And as he watched them snuggle (there was no other term for it) in the corner of the bar, he actually realised that more than anything he was...happy for her.

Wow. Who knew he could be so selfless?

Jack had to admit; he'd often thought that if she ever started actually seeing someone (as opposed to being the object of some nice but somewhat dull alien's adoration) he wouldn't be particularly happy. He wouldn't say anything of course, sticking with that stiff upper lip-edness and pretending that it really didn't bug the hell out of him even while acknowledging that yes, in some way he was happy for her.

Apart from the last thing, none of that'd happened.

Was that right? Given the...feelings he had for her, wasn't he supposed to be rampagingly jealous? Wasn't he supposed to be secretly wishing the guy was an ass and then beating him to a pulp when he discovered he was? Wasn't he supposed to be aching with jealousy that 'Pete' could touch, talk and taste in a way he never could?

Jack took another sip of his beer, feeling decidedly relaxed.

Or maybe, he mused, this was exactly how he was supposed to feel. Maybe there was no right or wrong way.

Maybe he was just supposed to be him.

He tried not to show it very often (especially in his line of work; not to mention his position) but there were a lot of things he wasn't sure about - yet this wasn't one of them. Maybe it was ego, bravado or blind faith; all he knew was that some day, everything was going to work out.

It wouldn't be now and it wouldn't be soon, but it would *be*. Jack didn't know at what point he'd started believing in all that stuff - it wasn't usually his style (and God forbid Daniel ever found out what a sap he was) - but it didn't really bother him that he believed it, either.

Sure, he'd still have his hard days; especially considering their work wasn't the most typical of jobs. When she died or cried and he couldn't say the things he really wanted to say in the way he wanted to say them. When he was jealous (and he had to face it - if he was having a bad enough day, it was gonna happen). When it was just *too* *damn* *much*.

But today wasn't one of those days. Today, he was feeling pretty damn good.

A woman he didn't know sidled up to him at the bar, introducing herself as Rebecca, quite clearly only there for one thing. She was attractive; with long, dark curly hair (he'd always had a thing for long curly hair. It was just so...curly) and one heck of a beautiful smile.

He knew he was under no obligation not to speak to her; he and Carter had never had any kind of discussion about 'waiting' and quite frankly such a discussion would have been ridiculous.

But in some respects, Jack considered himself - and only himself - an old fashioned guy.

So he talked to her for a while, bought her a drink...and then he went home.

Alone.

Because life was pretty damn good the way it was.

~FINIS

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