P3X 259, 24th December, 22:00 Earth time
Sam
Great. Just great. Who in his right mind would send a SG team off world on Christmas day? Obviously, General Hammond would. I'm soo mad at him! At SGC everyone is having fun right now at the party that was thrown in and here I am, leaning against a tree and thinking about...well...everything. Hammond did say that we'll be back until the evening, but surely he didn't count on the Gate dysfunction. I tried to repair the Gate and the DHD, but before I knew it, it was dawn and I couldn't see on my work properly, so this have to wait till morning. THE morning when I should be at home with my father or at least with my brother and his family. Maybe it's good I haven't stayed on Earth, because Dad is on some *really important* Tok'ra mission and my brother with his family left to go skiing. At last I'm with my friends, with my team-mates. But still, this isn't home. I see Colonel-or Jack, as he told me to call him at least at Christmas, striding towards me.
"Hey Carter, whatcha doin'?" he asks enthusiastically as he reaches me. I can't believe how happy he is. I found out from Daniel that Jack is spending all his Christmas alone in his house. He doesn't like all the cheer and happiness. He even doesn't have to tell me, I know he thinks a lot about Charlie at this time of the year, but I can't help but feel pity for him. I promised myself that I'll try to cheer him up in all circumstances.
"Just thinking, sir." I reply, looking at my shoes. "I'm sorry you have to spend Christmas off world. I'm sure you were looking forward to spending time with Jacob." "Yeah, I was, but he's on an important Tok'ra mission, anyway. And my brother with his family left to go skiing. So I'm spending Christmas alone." I look him in the eyes. "You're not alone. You have us." He grins widely. "And be alone at Christmas is the worst thing that can happen to anyone." "I agree, sir." He shoots me a warning glance. "...Jack." He's lost in his own thoughts, suddenly all serious. I study his face-the frown line between his eyebrows and the deep lines of worry along his mouth. I would do anything just to make him smile and erase the worry lines on his face.
"What about you, Jack? What were you going to do?" I ask him curiously. I want him to open up. "As usual...sit on my couch, drink beer and watch hockey or some crappy Christmas comedy." I reach out and touch his arm lightly. "This has to stop, Jack. Christmas are important. They're for family and friends." "I have no family." He interrupts me. "And as for friends, I never had many real friends." "You have us." I say and he grins lightly. At least. "Yeah." We fell into a comfortable silence.
"What do you say we head back to our camp? It's getting late." I offer and he nods.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jack
"What do you say we head back to our camp? It's getting late." She offers and I nod.
I always feel very tense when the Christmas time is coming, but when I talked to Sam, I started to relax. The camp is quiet except the cracking of fire and the sound of soft wind in the trees. Daniel and Teal'c have gone to sleep to their tent. Me and Sam settle close to the fire, sitting close to each other, her thigh brushing against mine. I can feel her heat through the thick material of my pants and I shiver involuntarily. She doesn't notice.
We sit like this in silence for it seems like hours until she starts rummaging through her rucksack. She pulls something out and hides it quickly behind her back.
"Jack...?" "Hmm...?" "For you." She hands me rather small, red-wrapped box with a gold ribbon on top of it. We've never exchanged presents, so I'm pretty much surprised. "Sam, you shouldn't have..." "But I wanted to." She interrupts me and I spin my head to look her in the eyes, I know she's honest. "Well, in that case...thanks." I smile at her. "You're very welcome. Aren't you going to open it?"
"Yeahsureyabetcha." I grin. I fish quite large, blue-wrapped box out of my bag and hand it to her. "What's this?" "It's for you." "Jack, you shouldn't have...." oh here we go again. "But I wanted to..." I mock her. "Aren't you going to open it?" "Alright, but you open yours." "'K."
I tear the wrapping off the box. I take off the lid and peek inside. "Oh wow!" I exclaim as I see the book inside. It's a book about stargazing. I notice a small note on a Post-it paper on top of the book. It says 'Your gift is waiting at home. Too big and heavy to bring it through the Stargate :) .' in Sam's handwriting. I see a paper under it and unfold it.
"You got me a new telescope??!!" I exclaim. "Yep. I saw that the one you have on your roof is 'out of date' so I bought you the newest model. Just wait till we get home." She smiles tenderly and I hug her with all my might. "Thank you." I say, kissing her cheek. She blushes lightly. "You're welcome."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sam
"You're welcome." I say, blushing slightly. He kissed my cheek ! "Now, open yours." He encourages me. "It's not as big and heavy as telescope but I hope you'll like it." I tear the wrapping off the box and peek inside. There is another box in it, covered in blue velvet, like the box that is used for jewellery...wait, ho got me jewellery? I open the box and gasp at surprise-there are two silver earrings, matching silver necklace with a locket and a silver bracelet. Oh my Gosh! "Oh my Gosh!" I voice my thoughts. "This is...this is soo beautiful! Thank you Jack!" "You're welcome. I'm glad you like it." He blushes slightly. "Oh, I LOVE it!" I hug him tightly.
I let go of him reluctantly several seconds later.
"Can you please help me?" I ask and he takes the necklace from my hands, our fingers brushing momentarily, causing a jolt of electricity course through both of us. He fastens it around my neck and I put the rest of the jewellery on my hand and in my ears. He looks at me and smiles at me. He reaches out and tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear.
"You look beautiful." He says admiringly, his eyes honest and clouded with...love? "Thank you." His hand lingers on my face and I take it into mine and our fingers intertwine. He smiles at me and I smile back.
Not a bad Christmas at all.
THE END (?)
Story Notes: Spoilers: none, I think
Feedback: Craved for. Thanks. :o)
Author's Note: This is a response to a 2003 Christmas challenge over at Sam and Jack group. The rules: 1) Sam/Jack holding hands
2) off-world
3) story summary is a lyrics from Christmas song
A/N 1: I don't own the song "I'll be home for Christmas".
A/N 2: Told from the Sam's and Jack's POVs. The story is not beta read. All typos and mistakes are mine.
Feedback: Craved for. Thanks. :o)
Author's Note: This is a response to a 2003 Christmas challenge over at Sam and Jack group. The rules: 1) Sam/Jack holding hands
2) off-world
3) story summary is a lyrics from Christmas song
A/N 1: I don't own the song "I'll be home for Christmas".
A/N 2: Told from the Sam's and Jack's POVs. The story is not beta read. All typos and mistakes are mine.
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]