Archive of Our Own

Jack was always the first to notice a certain downturn in Robby’s tone when he was about to deliver bad news, or at least unsavoury news. He’d smack his lips together, clap his hands together and then sigh. He didn’t even do that when delivering bad news to patients, he was always calm and collected. But his staff, well they were totally different.

Robby walked into the main station of the ER and looked at the staff he’d assembled. Whitaker and Mel looked nervous as all hell, not knowing what exactly was about to be said. Javadi had her trusty notebook at the ready. Everyone else looked bored. Collins and Langdon stood, elbows touching, probably taking bets on whatever Robby would say next.

Jack looked at Samira, stood a little apart from everyone else, but listening diligently. A smile threatened to upend his infamously stoic expression as he looked at her. God, she was beautiful. Always poised, face carved by the angels themselves. She folded her arms, not impatiently, but as something of a guarding mechanism, whether against her fellow doctors or the bad news itself. He absently remembered her losing her father pretty young and knew that that had to have messed with whatever comprehension of bad news she possessed.

Robby looked each one of them in the eye and sighed.

Bingo. Jack wanted to chuckle, but knew it wasn’t appropriate.

“Thanks everyone for taking a minute to step out for this. As you all know, Gloria’s been casing us for better times, better patient satisfaction scores, and more economical decisions. We’ve lost a little bit of our shining reputation lately and something needs to change. Now, you’re all doing incredible jobs and saving so many lives with all the resources at your disposal and I don’t want any of you changing a thing.

“That being said, in exchange for Gloria hiring a few more nurses, I’ve had to make a few concessions. Two of our own are going to be asked to do a teen abstinence and safe sex assembly at a few of the local high schools.”

Robby’s proclamation was met with a sea of resounding groans. Nobody wanted to do that, that was med student stuff. Jack himself frowned. Taking emergency medicine doctors away from their stations to teach some bratty kids about wrapping their junk up didn’t make sense to him. And it didn’t fly with anybody else either. He briefly heard Santos snort and Dana was on the verge of a laughing fit.

Robby’s jaw flexed. “This is not up for discussion. It’s quite an easy ask for what we’re getting in return, meaning more help on the floor when we’re backed up. You’re welcome, by the way. Any questions?”

Mel raised her hand. “Who will be going?”

Robby grinned. “That’s a great question, Mel. Unless we have any willing volunteers…” Robby paused and predictably nobody moved. “I thought we’d pick names out of a hat. Or a box since it’s all I could find thirty seconds ago. Everyone’s name is in here and if you get picked, you’re it. No swapping, that way it’s fair.”

Jack, along with everyone else, shrugged, conceding that to be true. Everyone had an equal chance of being picked for what was considered a nightmare job. Sure, their actual shifts could be hellish and they would routinely see things no human should ever see, but there was something about dealing with those rowdy little fuckers that made Jack want to make vasectomies mandatory for each and every one of those dipshits.

Robby shook the box he was holding and pulled the first name with a dramatic flourish.

Langdon snorted. “Jesus, it’s like the fucking Hunger Games.” Collins nudged him but couldn’t hide her smirk.

“Well, well, Dr. Abbott, guess it’s your lucky day.”

Jack rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips as everyone else laughed. “You gotta be fucking kidding me, Robby. You sure you didn’t stack the deck and write my name down like six times?”

Robby raised a brow. “You can come and see for yourself once I draw the second name.”

“I’ll do just that,” Jack said sharply. “You laugh now, but one of you fuckers is coming with me.”

As Robby drew out the process, Jack just really hoped it wasn’t fucking Langdon. Guy was a great doctor, that much was true, but these things needed a woman present. Two guys talking about using condoms was too much for some of those kids to handle for some reason.

Robby smiled as he pulled the next piece of paper. “I can only apologise for you having to spend the whole day with Dr. Abbott…Dr. Mohan.”

Suddenly, Jack could take on the world, never mind a bunch of arrogant teenagers. He met Samira’s eyes and gave her an encouraging smile.

Samira, calling her Mohan felt too professional, too clinical for the way that Jack regarded her. Everyone knew that she was a brilliant, formidable doctor, but nobody really seemed to understand just how special of a woman she was. Maybe Jack was biased, but she was perfect.

Always punctual, polite, and stalwart in her beliefs, he couldn’t fault her for even a second. People called her out for being too slow with patients and perhaps they had a point, but when she was delivering first-class care and was largely correct in her assessments, who could get down on her for that? He’d had several words with Robby about his views on the matter, leading both men into something of a stalemate.

“Great,” Samira intoned. “Because that’s never awkward and they always really appreciate it.”

Robby smiled at her and shook his head. “You’ll both be fine. You’ll be missing a few hours of your shifts tomorrow, so get a good night’s sleep. Thanks, everyone, let’s go save some lives, shall we?”

At Robby’s dismissal, Jack wasted no time in making his way over to Samira.

“Lucky us, huh?”

Samira smiled in her typical polite manner at him. “I guess the next generation of Pittsburgh’s in our hands now.”

“Those little idiots are gonna do what they’re gonna do. Least we can say we tried.”

Samira rolled her eyes and it only made Jack wonder what it would look like if she did that with him inside her. He forced himself to pay attention as she spoke. “You don’t even want to try and get through to them?”

“What’s the point? When has a halfwit teenager ever listened to someone older than them? Did you?”

“Well, I made it through high school without getting pregnant, so something must’ve gotten through.”

Jack raised a brow, an easy smile on his face. “Actually you don’t count, you’re far more sensible than everyone else.”

“I wasn’t always,” Samira grinned before taking off towards Trauma 1. “Carpool or meet there?”

Jack grinned back. “I’ll pick you up.”

“Sounds good,” she said casually, breezing into the small room to go and work her magic.

Jack nodded to himself. “Yeah. Sounds good.”

The next day came quite quickly, just like Jack had done in bed that night with his hand wrapped around his hard dick and Samira’s name on his lips. It had been the hardest he’d come in weeks, maybe months, always her face in his mind, the tone in her voice when she would constantly flex her superior intelligence over anyone in the vicinity. But she wasn’t arrogant about it like some were, she just knew her talents well and didn’t mind showing them off.

Jack had rolled out of bed, showered, and shaved all with a confounding spring in his step. He’d spent many hours in close quarters with Samira at The Pitt, so why did this feel different? For one, she’d never been in his car before. He’d had to thank his lucky stars that he’d had it cleaned just a few days ago. Maybe the Universe was watching out for him after all.

By the time Jack parked outside the address she’d texted him the evening prior, he was nervous. It’d be the first time he spent time with her outside of the hospital. No traumas to address, no blades in hand, just the two of them in an enclosed space.

“Oh good god,” Jack whispered to himself as he saw Samira leave her apartment building. She was dressed immaculately as she always did before changing into her scrubs, walking towards him like an angel.

Jack swore he needed beta blockers to regulate his heartbeat.

Jack leaned across the console and opened the passenger seat door for her as she approached. She climbed in and smiled across at him.

“Ready for this?” She said, immediately getting down to business.

“I was born for this, sweetheart. I’m the most paternal guy in the world.”

Samira scoffed. “So why didn’t you volunteer then?”

“Cause between being covered in blood and swore at and telling a couple of little deviants to wrap their shit up, I choose the former. A lot less agonising.”

“You sound like such an old man when you call them ‘little deviants’.”

Jack pulled out of the street and looked across at her. “Don’t push your luck, Mohan. We’ve got the whole morning to spend together. And then a half-shift after that.”

“Lucky me,” Samira shot back with a perfect roll of her eyes.

“Is that how you’re gonna choose to speak to your attending, Dr. Mohan?”

“We’re not in The Pitt right now, you’re not my attending, Jack.”

Jack’s grip tightened on the wheel, the resounding cadence of how she practically purred his name floating in his ear. He took a minute to imagine how it would sound if it was even breathier, and maybe he’d have his fingers inside her, working her open, other thumb brushing against her cheekbone as he really looked at her and saw how her eyes looked in the throes of pleasure—

It turned out Samira was talking this entire time and Jack had been entertaining thoughts of her on her back. He really was not a classy guy.

“Are you even listening to me?” Samira said challengingly.

“Sure.”

“Then what was I talking about?”

“Uh…suture technique?”

Samira scoffed. “Not a bad guess. Just keep concentrating on the road, okay?” Samira leaned forward and examined the music system. “I can’t believe you still have a CD player in here.”

“CDs are becoming a lost form of media and when fucking Spotify shuts down or whatever, all your generation are gonna be screwed when you realise you don’t own any music.”

Samira smirked. “Totally not helping with the whole ‘old man’ thing.”

“It’s true!”

“I have a pretty decent record collection, actually. Most of them were my dad’s. He collected so many that we had to donate a lot of them. But I held onto my favourites.”

Jack’s hands stiffened a little on the steering wheel, quickly realising that he was entering awkward territory with Samira, breaching a topic that they’ve never spoken about together before. “That’s nice that you kept some. Tell me some of ‘em.”

Samira looked to Jack with a curious look in her eye. He wasn’t using his bedside manner voice, but she had never really heard him sound so gentle when talking to someone who wasn’t a patient. But when she couldn’t detect any traces of falsity in his tone, she played along. “He would play Songs in the Key of Life almost every day.”

“Great record,” he nodded approvingly.

“What’s Going On, Tell Mama, and James Brown’s live album at the Apollo. If you couldn’t already tell, he was big into soul music.”

Jack chuckled softly. “He had great taste. And those were the ones you kept hold of?”

Samira nodded. “The ones that reminded me of him the most. Helps that they’re brilliant albums.”

Jack took a second to appraise her, and was once again reminded that there was far more to Samira Mohan than she would have you know. “Huh.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Samira scoffed. “You can’t just say ‘huh’ like that and then clam up. Are you surprised that I’m not just listening to Top 40?”

Jack stared ahead at the road, suddenly very aware of the distance or lack thereof between them. “It’s just sometimes easy to forget that people have lives outside of work. And that they’re not just doctors.”

Samira laughed, sitting up a little in her seat. “I get that. Sometimes, we spend all day every day with each other but there’s so much we don’t all know about each other.”

Jack nodded. “About time we changed that, wouldn’t you say, Dr. Mohan?”

Samira shrugged. “Only if you agree to call me Samira.”

Jack fought off the urge to bite his lip. Now that he could do. Samira. Samira. Samira. He’d chant it like a mantra, he’d whisper it under cover of darkness, her body pressed flush against his. It rolled off his tongue nicely, just like he imagined that she would. Whatever that meant.

From then until they reached the school, Jack was giving the steering wheel a death grip.

And Samira being Samira, well…she noticed.

Jack sighed as he looked back at the sea of mostly blank faces in front of him. The ones that weren’t blank were snickering between different friendship groups.

Yeah, Jack hated kids. He hated the self-righteousness, the insistence that they knew better even though they knew nothing about the world. It had all started when he’d foolishly agreed to tag along with a former army buddy to a pop-up stall at a high school, giving teenagers more information about the military. It had been their job to sell it to them, in turn withholding vital information about how you might get your foot blown off, or sometimes you’ll go days without sleep because you’re haunted by all of the things you saw.

But no, he’d had to sit there and rattle off the benefits to a career in the military, watching as these kids took life at face value with limited world experience and then preached like they knew everything.

Jack resented the staggering arrogance and these kids in front of him were going to be no different. They’d all been given The Talk and they all knew what was going on, but they still fucked around with no regard for consequence. Jack was’t going to pretend like he hadn’t been the same as a kid, but that was why he hated it, he had the hindsight to be able to let them know their mistakes, yet they would all just ignore everything. That was why this whole thing was fucking pointless.

If he hadn’t had Samira standing next to him, he would’ve strongly considered bailing. But the gentle scent of her floral perfume invigorated him, giving his body a reason to keep him rooted to the spot, in front of the bozos.

Samira took the lead, thankfully. She had no trace of distaste on her face, only serenity and the power of logic and being right on her side. Jack tried to be a calming presence, but he reckoned that she could feel his disdain for even being there in the first place. He tried to breathe through it, to maybe even smile a little bit, but he didn’t know if his face was co-operating.

“Now, obviously, the best way to avoid sexual health complications is through total abstinence. Not having sex will rule that out, but doctors are aware of how unlikely that is. Particularly when you take into account the way that puberty hormones affect your body and your libido.”

There are some snickers from their audience.

Samira sighed, a small smile on her face. “Look, guys, we’ve all been here once. We’ve all been your age, feeling the way you are now, being spoken to by adults about how you shouldn’t have sex and you should be careful, when your body is telling you to throw caution to the wind. But it’s extremely important to take precautions. Girls, if you’re having penetrative sex, make sure you figure out which method of birth control is right one for you. We have some pamphlets that you can grab on your way out which outlines the different options. Dr. Abbott?”

Jack cleared his throat, hopelessly lost just in the cadence of Samira’s voice. She could’ve been talking about anything and he would’ve been captive audience. He cast his eyes over the kids and shook his head. “Boys, make sure you’re wrapping it up. Every single time. There are no excuses for not using any.”

His eyes fell on a group of boys near the back of the herd whispering and cackling to each other where they think he can’t hear them. “Boys at the back, you wanna pay attention? Then again, I doubt any of you are actually getting any.”

He felt Samira’s disapproving eyes on him as he listened to the laughter of the rest of the room. He didn’t look at her, didn’t need to know what that particular gaze looked like.

“Whatever, man,” one of them calls back at him.

That did it. Jack took a seat. “Let’s really get into it, shall we? We all know that nothing we say is going to change your minds. If you’re gonna have sex, two people you don’t know aren’t going to change that. So why don’t we talk about what happens when you do. And let’s be honest, none of you are going to use protection. So boys, when you’ve got warts all over your junk and a girlfriend who’s pregnant and expecting you to pay for all the tests and supplies and everything she needs because you’re the one who didn’t listen and put on a god damn condom, you’ll probably wish you paid more attention when the doctors came to warn you about the risks.”

Samira put a hand on his arm and pushed him backwards slightly, moving in front of him. “I think what Dr. Abbott means to say is…this is really important for you all to know. Paying attention to this isn’t uncool. It just might save your life. So, with that in mind, why don’t we get the dreaded condom demonstration out of the way.”

One of the boys at the back of the class wolf-whistled. “You can come put it on me anytime, Doctor Sexy, damn.”

The boys laughed, the girls groaned in frustration.

Jack stepped forward. “Stand up. Right the hell now.”

Samira leaned into him. “Jack, it’s okay.”

“No the fuck it isn’t,” Jack hissed back, before turning his attention to the interrupter, who was standing and smirking at Jack. “You will speak to Dr. Mohan with the respect that she deserves. That’s not a suggestion. Got it?”

He was briefly aware of a teacher lingering in the back of the room, silent up to this point, probably just mortified at having to sit in on this in the first place. Jack couldn’t really blame her, but wished she’d control her students with a little more efficiency.

Jack had an idea. He smirked. “Well, since you’re eager to volunteer your thoughts, why don’t you come up to the front and roll the condom onto the model penis?”

The kid blushed now, all eyes on him, everyone chuckling under their breath. “Uh…no thanks.”

Jack’s eyes narrowed. “I wasn’t asking. Come on, don’t keep everyone waiting.”

The kid looked to the teacher, who shrugged, sending a grin Jack’s way. The kid trudged to the front of the room.

“What’s your name, kid?” Jack asked.

“Brendan,” the kid said quietly under his breath, suddenly embarrassed.

Jack slung an arm around his shoulders, really making a spectacle of him. “Well, Brendan, my man, why don’t you show everyone how to properly put on a condom?” Jack handed him a wrapped condom.

Brendan struggled even opening the wrapping, which amused the rest of the class.

Samira was even struggling with her professional poker face.

Jack clicked his tongue. “Ah, must be out of practice. So either you’re having sex unprotected or you’re not getting any at all. I hope for the sake of the world that it’s the latter cause the last thing we need is lots of little Brendans running around the place.”

Brendan’s face was bright red as his classmates continued to laugh at him.

Samira had stopped regarding Jack’s display as unprofessional and she tilted her head, trying to figure out what was going on behind Jack’s eyes.

She’d been wondering for a while now, ever since they’d spoken about her father in the car. She had figured then that he’d just been uncomfortable about the casual breeze under uncharted territory between them. Samira didn’t mind talking about her dad, some days it helped keep his memory alive. And Jack was nothing if not respectful at heart, as proven by the way he’d immediately gone to bat for her with the kids. It had been a little overkill in her opinion, but it hadn’t done anything to decelerate the furious beating of her heart as she regarded him. The sternness in his voice as he reprimanded the kid, the way he hadn’t even missed a beat. She’d always been a fan of his demeanour, the way he was sarcastic and jovial yet could be incredibly serious all in the same breath. It had fascinated her.

And yeah, she couldn’t lie and say she hadn’t thought about it.

When she’d noticed his grip tighten on the steering wheel, her brain gave her a brief imaginary glimpse at what it might be like if that was her neck. Or how his voice would lower as he pressed into her, switching between whispered reassurances and gentle praise.

Samira wondered what kind of lover he was. Was he like she imagined he would be? Was he dominant, was he romantic? Was he interested in her at all?

Sometimes she thought yes, but sometimes she wondered whether he was just being a good teacher and trying to get the best out of her. Either way, she was curious.

She was curious about a lot of things, it seemed.

When Samira shook herself back into lucidity, Brendan was tomato-red and rolling the condom onto the penis, just the way that Jack had been telling him to. Except his instructions were barked in a military way, as though Brendan was a member of the squadron.

Jack stared out at the cackling audience. “I’m glad you all found that so amusing and I hope we learned something from this. Brendan, go sit down and think twice before you disrespect a woman.”

Brendan ducked his head and trudged back to his seat, where his friends immediately mocked him for his display.

Samira stepped forward and put a hand on Jack’s arm again, a gentle touch that allowed her to feel the strength he held in his body, but not enough to linger and get her mind thinking about what that strength could do to her, for her. She addressed the students. “There will come a time when this isn’t such a big deal. But it’s always good to be informed about the risks and the things you can to minimise them. So with that in mind, we’re going to finish out the session with a little Q&A.

“We know it’s awkward to talk about this stuff in front of your peers, so Dr. Abbott’s going to hand out some slips of paper for you to write questions on anonymously and we’ll talk through as many as we have time for. If you feel comfortable voicing it aloud, then great. If not, the paper’s there.”

After Jack handed out the cue cards, the students started to slowly write down their questions, covering them with their hands. Jack returned to her, an easy smile on his face.

“Well, this is fun, don’t you think?”

Samira bit her lip. “God, I wish I was intubating someone.”

Jack shrugged, leaning closer to her. “Pick someone out of the crowd, I’m sure they’d be happy to help.”

Samira was caught off guard for a moment, an instant scent hitting her. Jack smelled incredible. She hadn’t really noticed it in the car over all the leather seats, but up close and personal it was almost intoxicating. But she pushed through it and centred herself, ignoring the heat that flooded through her. 

“You wanna take the Q&A portion?” Samira asked.

“Fuck no. Rock, paper, scissors?”

Samira nodded and then watched as Jack curled his hand into a tight fist. Well, that certainly wasn’t helping her concentration. She presented her own fist and splayed her hand into a flat line: paper.

She smirked as Jack’s fist remained as such. Rock.

With a slight quirk of her brow and a dance of her lips, she covered his fist with her palm, feeling the warmth of his skin on hers, the rough callouses of his hand scratching against her smooth skin. Part of her wanted to recommend a moisturising routine, the other part wanted to feel his sandpaper touch on the rest of her body. Coarse, thick fingers that would slide inside her and—

“Well, looks like you get to sit this one out, princess.” Jack was obviously put out, but kept his grin unwavering.

Samira blinked herself back to reality and realised she was still grabbing his fist. She let go and put her hand behind her back, taking a seat as Jack went to get the container of cue cards. She crossed one leg over the other, giving up the ghost of professionalism as she waited for Jack to start rifling through them.

“Don’t suppose anyone wants to ask a question out loud?” Jack said to begin.

No hands were raised.

“Perfect. Let’s get this over with, then. Ah, here’s one. ‘Can I get pregnant from sucking?’ Actually quite a common question. The short answer is no. It’s impossible. But you can still acquire all kinds of STD’s through oral sex. Next. ‘Can I do anything to make my dick bigger?’ I’m so sorry to whoever wrote this down, unfortunately you’re just not blessed and that’s okay. Not everybody is.”

Samira kept her face composed, but now she was certainly wondering whether Jack was blessed or not. It didn’t really matter, but it didn’t stop a girl from wondering. The way he said it betrayed a known confidence, as though he was speaking from personal experience.

As though Jack knew what she was thinking, he turned to her briefly and winked.

What did THAT mean?

Samira’s lips closed tightly and she crossed her legs even harder, trying to focus on her breathing.

She lost him somewhere around the question ‘I’m gay, can I get pregnant?’. She surrendered to her wry curiosity, her imagination that seemed to start and end with Jack Abbott’s big dick.

She was so fucking screwed.

An hour and almost forty ridiculous questions later, Jack and Samira were sat back in his car, letting out some deep sighs and trying to forget everything they just witnessed and heard.

Well, Jack was, Samira was coming down from her wonderfully detailed fantasy of riding Jack. She hadn’t known where it had come from necessarily. She’d always found him attractive and the more she got to know him, the more she liked him, but she’d never been so taken with him as she was today.

He was being himself, he hadn’t been acting super different or anything, but something about the day had charmed her. And now she was in a sticky situation, and not the one she would’ve liked to be in.

She was actively entertaining and encouraging sexual thoughts about her attending. Her hot, charismatic attending. This wasn’t supposed to happen to smart, sensible girls like her. Was it?

Jack looked across the car at her. “You okay?”

Samira met his gaze and immediately felt a warm, lurching feeling spin in her gut. Oh, this was bad. “Yeah. Just, you know, psyching myself up to head back to The Pitt.”

And then Jack Abbott fucking smirked. “I was thinking.”

“Now I’m officially worried.”

He shook his head fondly. “Why don’t we take our time heading back in? Say there’s traffic or one of the kids had a heart attack or something.”

Samira grinned. “One kid almost did when you explained periods to the boys, in depth.”

Jack shrugged. “They need to know. Nothing worse than a guy who doesn’t know what his girlfriend is going through every month.”

Samira felt dizzy. It might’ve been bare minimum feminism, but it was more than she’d ever really experienced with a guy she’d dated. They never understood periods, or took the time to even sympathise. They’d just say ‘Aw, I’m sorry babe’ and subtly ask for a blowjob. So for Jack to sit here and care about it, yeah that was something Samira hadn’t been ready for.

“That’s…good of you.”

“You sure you’re alright, Samira?”

Say my name one more fucking time, Jack, I dare you, Samira thought, more angry at herself for feeling so vulnerable in the face of her boss.

“Yeah, I’m good. Promise.”

Jack nodded. “Alright. Then I’m taking us for lunch, my treat. We deserve something nice after having to deal with that.”

“You did the hard part,” Samira said fairly.

“I never win Rock, Paper Scissors, I don’t know why I even suggested it. Stupid of me, really.”

She smiled. “Maybe deep down you wanted to take one for the team.”

“Hell no. I’d rather jump on an IED.”

“That’s a little far, don’t you think?”

Jack shrugged. “I really fucking hate kids.”

“Yeah…I’m starting to get that impression,” Samira said with a grin. 

“Anyway, I’m fucking starving.” As Jack drove off through town, his hands found the wheel with the exact same amount of grip as they had earlier.

Jack was absolutely going the fuck through it.

He didn’t know what in the world was going on with Samira, but she’d been making the most indecent faces throughout the entire demonstration. Biting her lip, licking them, pouting, smirking at him in that way she did.

Fuck. It all made Jack feel tingly and not in a way that he liked.

When she sat down during the Q&A and crossed her legs, Jack thought he might have passed out. While he most definitely was not happy about leading the Q&A, Samira was at least a little right that he would have rather done it than make her suffer through it. At heart, Jack was a protector. He healed people, he saved lives, he looked out for those he cared about.

And it was becoming increasingly apparent that he really fucking cared about Samira Mohan.

If analysed, it would’ve been clear to see that he was driving a little above the speed limit, adrenaline searing through him at the continued close proximity with a woman who for Jack’s money, might have been the most beautiful walking the Earth. He studied the strands that dangled softly and framed her face, and god forbid he caught sight of her warm brown eyes, always brimming with curiosity and knowledge.

And…desire?

At least that was what Jack had figured when he’d last looked into them, brutally careful not to become absorbed into them and lose all sense of place. They were slightly widened and unblinking, pupils convulsing gently in the centre. Jack thought he knew the signs pretty well by this point, but he wasn’t about to overestimate the situation and chance ruining it all. So what if her eyes were wide?

But what if you’re right, Jack? His inner voice breathed in his ear.

He shook his head and slowed the car down a hair, feeling his grasp on the leather loosen a little too.

“A good, deep breath will do more for you than he realise in a lot of instances where you feel you need to resume control.” his therapist often told him. So Jack did exactly that; he inhaled and exhaled, feeling himself deflate physically and mentally as he did. He felt a sudden, random ache where his prosthetic met his flesh. He ignored the urge to scratch at it as he turned down the street with the lovely café he went to sometimes.

It was then he remembered he was likely being held watched.

He turned his head and saw Samira looking out of the window and not at him.

Thank god for that.

Samira stepped out of the car and appraised the place with typically curious eyes. It was small, yet a little rustic, and not somewhere she would’ve associated with someone like Jack.

But he was just full of surprises today wasn’t he?

“You been here before?” He asked, voice rough.

Samira shook her head.

“I come here once a week. It’s a nice spot to read.”

Samira wanted to screech. Just who is this man?

Jack smiled, skin crinkling around his soft eyes. “I know, you didn’t know I could do that.”

Samira chuckled, coming to stand shoulder to shoulder with the older man. “It has been an ongoing mystery. You know, it just keeps me up at night.”

Jack side eyed her, their elbows gently brushing together. “You been thinking about me at night, Samira Mohan?”

Samira did not know what to say to that, but she knew she had less than twenty seconds to come up with something, and not have her voice quiver at all when she did. “You’d enjoy that wouldn’t you, Jack?”

Oh yeah, one thing Samira knew about men is that when they challenged her with innuendo, the best thing to do was to blindside them and play them at their own game. She was smart, quick, and unashamed of her sexuality as a woman. She could play and win any man. So she lowered her head just a fraction, looked up at Jack through her lashes, and purred his name like they’d been lovers for years. It worked every time.

Unfortunately this time, she had underestimated her opponent.

Jack, the little fuck that he was, put the tip of his tongue between his teeth when he grinned at her.

“I sure would, baby girl. Why don’t we make that detour a little longer?”

They stared at each other, eyes searching for any hint of a backpedal. Neither of them gave in.

“Well, this escalated quickly,” Samira breathed. They were stood chest to chest, her eyes still gazing into his.

Jack tilted his head. “Samira…what are we doing right now?”

Samira realised just how piercing his eyes were up close. Something about the way he stared…it transfixed her. It made her question everything about herself, wondering what it was exactly that Jack was looking at. She knew it wasn’t just her, he looked at everyone that way. But a special glint in his eye was reserved just for her and she was recognising this in the moment. It was hard to resist just kissing him right then and there.

So that was what Samira did.

Jack gasped quietly as Samira’s lips pressed against his and, well…holy shit.

He’d certainly thought about this moment a million times over, but the thing about situations like that was that they were never how you expected them to go. He expected maybe months of tension, some back and forth flirting, maybe a drunken almost-something which would lead an undeniable moment of passion and lust. Not a post-sex-ed talk game of chicken and Samira impulsively deciding to kiss him.

He always thought he would be the one to make the first move, out of a sheer incapacity to hold out any longer. All the complex medical procedures shared together, all the curious glances, the back and forth banter, the way Samira held herself, the way she looked at him. All the evidence stacked up to suggest that Jack would have to be the one to present himself to Samira and let her call the shots. But the fact that she was kissing him now with absolutely no hesitation, no real beckoning forth on his part…that was magic.

Her lips were softer than even he’d imagined in his wildest fantasies. They were exactly like her; soft but not fragile. His hand slid down to her waist, curling around her back as he pulled her in closer, flush against his chest. The kiss deepened, feverish and desperate as they clung to the reality of all those thoughts, all those forbidden fantasies. She was his resident. He was her attending. It was almost fated in the stars.

Or something less stupid.

Jack’s free hand moved up Samira’s arm, back down along, and then back up once again, his cracked, calloused skin ghosting up the smoothness. The hand found her jaw and cupped it firmly. Jack couldn’t help but let out a little whine he felt Samira’s body against his. She pushed him and he fell back against his car.

Samira pulled back, eyes searching his. “Did I hurt you?”

Jack caught his breath, thumb stroking her warm cheeks. “Not one bit. Pretty sure it was the opposite.”

Samira took a step back, a crooked finger on her lips. Her breathing was ragged, like she’d just run a marathon. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I did that.”

“I think I could take a good guess.”

He didn’t miss how her eyes flickered between his lips and his eyes.

“Jack…”

“Yeah?”

Samira sighed. “I don’t know where that came from.”

“And you hate not knowing things,” Jack said calmly, as though it was common knowledge.

Samira couldn’t help but smile at how casually he said it. “You’re right. I do.”

Jack walked slowly towards her. “So what do you say we figure it out?” His voice adopted a husky tone, his lips playing at a smirk. “We’ve clearly got something here and I’d hate for you to be up all night thinking about it.”

Samira took in a breath as Jack tucked her hair behind her ears. “I think…I might like to be up all night thinking about it.”

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful,” Jack whispered without really meaning to. Not that he didn’t mean it, he just hadn’t made for it to be so direct and out there.

It wasn’t that Samira had never heard those particular words strung together like that before, but it sounded different coming from Jack. From someone who very clearly said it because he thought it was true, not because he was trying to get in her pants. He’d get there regardless, as far as Samira was concerned, so the smile on her face was entirely genuine.

Jack loved that he’d been the one put it there. Something so radiant it made him want to keep it happening again and again. 

And, Jack being Jack, he knew a couple of ways he could do that. Alongside some other very beautiful facial expressions.

“Can I kiss you again? Properly this time.”

Samira’s smile stayed put. “That wasn’t properly?”

Jack’s smug grin returned to his face. “Oh, sweetheart, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

“Then show me,” Samira said, sounding a little more confident than she felt.

Jack cupped her face and rather than go for her lips, pulled her head down and kissed her forehead. “Not like this. This ain’t the way you deserve.”

Samira shook her head. “I’m not some kind of elusive Princess, Jack.”

Jack took one of her hands between his. “I know. You’re not a princess.”

“Then what am I?”

“You ever play poker?”

Samira frowned. “Maybe once or twice in college. I don’t get why you’re asking.”

He shrugged. “Every Jack needs his Queen.” Somehow, Jack made the cringiest words ever strung together sound so effortlessly charming and sexy. Samira almost wanted to launch a case study into how the fuck that worked on her.

Their foreheads fell together as they laughed. Jack’s eyes fell shut.

“I’m really hoping you forget I ever said that.”

Samira lifted her head and their noses brushed against together. “Oh, I’ll be holding onto that one for a while.”

Jack’s lips spread into a sincere smile. “A while sounds good to me.”

She kissed his cheek. “I guess we’d better get back to work before they send a search party.”

Jack groaned. “Let ‘em.”

She stared pointedly. “You know you enjoy the work just as much as I do.”

“You saying you’d rather be putting in a chest tube than standing here kissing me?”

“I think if I said yes, you’d think it was hot,” Samira guessed.

“Sweetheart, you could do just about anything and I’d think it was hot. And I think we’re gonna have a lot of fun figuring this thing out.”

“This thing?”

Jack snorted. “I don’t know what the kids call it these days.”

“Sounds about right, old man.”

“Hey, you kissed this old man,” Jack shot back.

“Just trying to get into your will.”

“Hey, you want my record collection and beaten up police scanner, you go right ahead. I’ll also leave you my prosthetic just to remember me by.”

Samira shrugged. “I’ll take the record collection.”

“Signed, sealed, and delivered, baby girl.”

Samira suppressed a shudder that threatened to derail her composure at the term of endearment. She knew that Jack was already reading her body language and was filing that away for future reference.

All Samira knew at this point was that whatever was about to happen with her and Jack, it was going to, at the very least, be fun.

“What happens now?”

They were back in the car, still unmoving, just trading coy glances and the occasional handholding. It was all very middle school in practice, but not middle school at all in theory.

Jack sighed, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. “We could just feel it out, see where things lead us. Or we could talk about what we want…or not talk at all.”

Samira sat back in her seat, her knees pressed tightly together. “It might be good to be open. How about we get through the rest of this shift and then get together and grab a drink or something, talk about how we’re feeling?”

“That sounds…good.”

“You don’t sound sure,” Samira inferred.

“No, it does sound good. I just…I’m not the greatest at talking about how I’m feeling.”

Samira put a hand on his knee. “That’s okay. We’ll just take it as it comes and go from there.”

Jack nodded in agreement. “Okay.”

“And you can tell Robby whatever you want.”

“What makes you think I’m gonna tell Robby anything?”

Samira breathed out a laugh through her nose. “You guys can’t hide anything from each other. I don’t mind.”

“Maybe I wanna keep you all to myself for a little while.”

Samira smiled over at him. “Maybe I’d like that.”

“Good. Then I guess we should head back.”

Samira nodded as Jack started the car, taking the familiar bends towards the hospital.

Jack was driving slower than usual, just so he could spend a little more time just him and Samira without the other doctors around. He still felt the grooves of her kiss tingling on his lips, the kind of kiss that he’s not sure he’s ever had in his life. He’d been married and still never been kissed the way Samira kissed him. Like he was wanted, desired even.

“You know, it wasn’t such a bad start to the day,” Samira said, her arm out the car window as she looked over at him.

Jack chuckled. “Honestly, Samira, if you’d told me two days ago that I was going to come out the other side of a fucking sex-ed talk with a dumb grin on my face, I’d have admitted you for a Psych consult.”

Samira smiled. “I’m glad that stupid ballot made this happen.”

Jack nodded. “I gotta say, though…”

Samira stared at him as he trailed off.

“I’m really looking forward to you showing me how you put on a condom.”