Oh, my love
We've had our share of tears
Oh, my friends
We've had our hopes and fears
Oh, my friends
It's been a long hard year
But now it's Christmas
Yes it's Christmas
Thanks God its Christmas
The Gate room is silent. Samantha Carter looks over the computers one more time, and turns to leave. The base is silent. Many of the personnel are on leave. A skeleton staff remains, and Sam Carter volunteered to be on it.
Someone, before leaving had draped some tinsel over the gate as a joke. Sam allowed herself a smile at that. The gate actually looked festive. She looked at the gate - really look at it - as she hasn't done is so long. Even now, after all her journeys through it, it still holds an aura of promise. The promise of exploration, places and people who they would never have encountered in her lifetime if the gate had never been activated.
If she had stayed at the Pentagon, never been transferred to the SGC, would her life have been the better for it? No, she thinks to herself. Her friends, how could she be without them? If she had never met Danny, dear sweet Danny, who always had a kind word and a shy smile. Teal'c, a silent, sturdy friend who could be trusted implicitly. And Jack. What about Jack?
"Your work, Major Carter?"
Startled out of her thoughts, Sam turns, wide-eyed. "Sir!" she said.
He was looking at the tinsel on the gate with a smile.
"No," she says, relaxing again. "I wish I had thought of it."
He stepped towards her, still looking at the gate. "Why aren't you off waiting for Santa?" he asks.
Turning to look at him she replies, "I guess I wanted to stay here and get some peace and quiet."
His brow wrinkles and he says, "Sorry, I'll leave you to it." As he turns to leave, Sam reaches out and touches his arm, causing him to freeze.
"I didn't mean it like that, Sir." She said.
"Sam, it's Christmas eve. Call me Jack."
"Stay, Jack."
He looks at her, a puzzled expression on his face, "Sure."
They stand together in a companionable silence, both lost in thought for a moment.
"It's been a hard year, hasn't it?" Sam says
"Would you take it back?"
"What?" it's her turn to look puzzled.
"Do you wish you'd never heard of the 'Gate?"
To his chagrin, she hesitates for a moment in thought. In her head she pictures Danny, Teal'c and then looks again to Jack "No, sir." She says, "Not for anything."
Finally, Sam walks back to the control room, and Jack follows. She hands him a present, wrapped neatly and tied with a ribbon. She's fighting a blush as she hands it to him. "Merry Christmas Jack."
Surprised, Jack stares at the present in his hand for a moment. "Th-thankyou."
He doesn't have a present for her. Well, not a bought one. Their eyes are locked and time seems to freeze as he leans forward slowly, bending down slightly to eye level. Her lips are parted and her eyes are closing, thinking this was going to be the best Christmas present she could ever imagine-
"Merry Christmas!" Daniel enters the room, causing his friends to jolt apart and preen self consciously - Sam ruffles her hair, Jack scratches his cheek.
Teal'c is not far behind, hauling a sack of presents like an offworld Santa and looking puzzled but interested. Obviously Daniel had been trying to explain Christmas to him. Neither realises what they have interrupted. Soon Sam finds herself laughing and exchanging presents with her friends. They have overcome many obstacles in the past year, some because of the 'Gate, others in spite of it. She had believed she would spend this Christmas alone, instead she was with her family. Sam and Jack glance at each other now and then, just a quick look, or a light touch. A promise of a future Christmas, together.
End
Story Notes: Set at the end of the first season. Roughly. It's pure fluff. That's the only warning I have. Hey I'm new at this, Xena/X-Files are my speciality, but I've recently become very interested in SG1 so I thought I'd give this a go. If I've made some huge blunder with something to do with the show, let me know. Vignette. Sorry, not much of a plot. But I'm willing to try. I was listening to the song and it just came to me...this picture of the Stargate with tinsel wrapped around it. I know I have the tenses and past tenses skew-ifed but hey...I'm on five hours sleep here, so forgives please.
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 ]