"How was I supposed to know it wouldn't be as cold here as it was at home?" she muttered to herself angrily.

As a matter of fact, some persons she'd seen on the road had been wearing shorts. Luckily, soon enough everyone was jumping out of the truck. Swinging onto her shoulder her everything-but-military blue and orange duffel bag, she started to wonder if accepting this job offer was a so good an idea.

After showing her ID to what looked like a thousand different people, she was finally directed - alone - to a different hall than the others.

"What did that funny guy say again?" she once again asked herself. "Something like 'turn left, right, then right again, left, take the elevator, turn left and it's the first door on your right.' Easy, huh?"

Absolutely.

Not knowing where she was going, she entered backwardly an elevator, still looking around for signs or direction panels. She turned around as the sliding doors closed. She quickly eyed the two other occupants of the elevator, without really paying any attention. Sparky turned back and looked at the doors. She counted to ten and started to whistle. She immediately stopped. 'Am I hearing this?' she thought. She turned around and saw a man looking somehow uncomfortable but he had a twinkle in his eyes. He was old, hard-looking and neither handsome or awful.

"Excuse me, I'm just quite good at whistling in-tune with others. Un-purposfully, of course, ma'am." He smiled and there was a silence. "I'm sorry, I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill. And you are..."

Was he charming her or what? This gentle manner didn't seem to suit him very well, and from the way the other man acted (whom she saw only out of the corner of her eye), it wasn't an often used manner either.

"Oh, I'm...."

She couldn't finish her sentence as the elevator shook, stopped, and shook again. She dropped her duffel bag and reached for the wall. She saw the younger man of the two tumble and almost fall - but catch himself - while Colonel O'Neill slightly lost his footing.

And all the lights went out.

"Well, that sucks."

Why do I have the feeling he's used that line a lot? A familiar sounding line for his tongue? she thought amusedly. Well anyway, Sparky couldn't see anything.

"Uh...Jack?"

"What? You okay?"

"Yes, but there's something wrong. Isn't there supposed to be emergency lights?"

"That was exactly what I was going to call the Trouble-Shooters for."

There was a long silence and then a sigh.

"Don't they know I have to go to the bathroom?"

Sparky stifled a laugh as a scene of the colonel suddenly overwhelmed her mind. She was barely 'there' again when the lights came on again, much to everyone's relief. Emergency lights only.

"Well, looks like we're gonna be here a while!"

Still keeping silent, she stared at the wall until she saw, still by the corner of her glasses-framed eye, the younger man slumping to the floor with a sigh. When she turned and looked more carefully at the man, checking visually if he was okay, something about him reached to her deeply. Was it the eyes, or the distressed look on his face? Anyhow, he looked bored. He looked at her and smiled shyly.

"Being claustrophobic Danny?" Colonel O'Neill smiled mischievously, still with that twinkle in his eyes.

In one second Sparky was convinced she was surrounded by the two most beautiful persons she would ever meet in a place like this.

"We're gonna be late, Jack!"

"No crap."

There was another awkward silence.

"So, umm, ma'am, what are you doing in the SGC?" the lovely young man asked from the floor.

"Oh, I'm not really sure myself! They told me they needed my expertise...on something or the other, or something having to do with not much staff and needing me...and I was standing there, having good grades and good background, but sitting on my hands, so, uh, I was hit!"

Did that even made sense to them? I think there's been an encrypting process between me and their ears.

It was quite obvious she was nervous because both men smiled warmly at her.

"Oh...and I never got to hear your name..."

"Oh, yes! I'm sorry, I'm...."

And once again she was interrupted by a flicker in the lights and the elevator sprinted down the levels again. They were barely on their feet and talking again when they heard a call on the loudspeaker.

"SG-1 to the embarkation room immediately, SG-1!!"

The urgency in the voice calling left no place to argue and, with one gentle look, they left in a run as soon as the sliding doors were open enough for them to pass.

Frozen in a daze of love and admiration, she never thought of what kind of emergency they were going to, she didn't even think of what she was doing here anymore. The only thing she thought about was those two men, and maybe a casual "I guess I wasn't meant to say my name today..." out-loud as she stayed in place and watched the sliding doors close again.

The End

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