Sam's POV
I raised a tired hand above the bridge of my nose and attempted to rub away the persistent pounding. If it was possible to have war-drums beating in your head I'm confident I now know exactly how it would feel. New technology has always been fascinating to me and I'm not ashamed to admit that pulling it apart and playing with it is my definition of the word 'fun'. But staring at a seemingly solid box for twelve straight hours and receiving no signs of it being anything other than an oversized die is just infuriating. I'd watched the cube come to life before my very eyes on P3X 906 earlier that morning. I'd been handed the aforementioned item and told to keep it as it could teach us ways to defeat the Goa'uld. I guess I should have paid more attention to the 'could' part. After determining it was harmless and wouldn't suddenly pin me or anyone else to the wall, I had returned back to the base with it and accomplished nothing. I was adamant I would get somewhere with this device before I retired for the night if it killed me. The pounding in my head was telling me it might do just that.
"Don't you have a home to go to?" an all too familiar voice asked from the lab door and I couldn't help smiling, despite my headache.
"Yeah, I'm almost done here."
"Tell me you're not _still_ working on that thing" Colonel O'Neill raised his eyebrows at the silver cube. I let out a sigh louder than I'd expected and his eyebrows were once again raised, though this time he was looking at me.
"I know I can crack this. I just need more time."
"No, Carter. What you need is sleep. That thing will still be here in the morning."
He was right and I hated that. It wouldn't spontaneously combust over night and it wouldn't walk out of the base. At least to my knowledge it wouldn't. I gave the box a suspicious sideways glance. A silent warning to stay put and not pull a vanishing act.
"I'll finish up in a few more minutes." I was defeated and my voice told him that loud and clear. Jack nodded from the doorway. I had a feeling that even as defeated as I felt, he still expected to find me using my keyboard as a pillow later that day. I was shocked to glance at my watch and discover it was already 'tomorrow'.
"Night, Carter" Colonel O'Neill added before he turned and left me alone in the lab.
"Night, Sir" I replied even though I knew he wouldn't hear me.
Moving slowly through the lab, I packed the cube away for the night and began to clean up the cluttered desk in front of me. The base became deathly quiet at night. It wasn't deserted; I occasionally heard distant footsteps somewhere in the hall as a worker hurriedly moved from one section to another. Tonight the StarGate sat completely still in the gate room. Teams could return at anytime of the night, but it seemed the one team that was currently off-world was pulling an all nighter. I silently envied them and almost began praying to various gods for an urgent mission which would require SG-1's presence. This place was too quiet at night. Although I never need an excuse to do so, night always gives me more of a reason to think about whatever appears in my mind. I know, I think too much. It's almost a cliché around here. Sam thinks too much. No prizes for guessing who was on my mind tonight.
I love Jack just the way he is but I do occasionally, usually when he's throwing me a confused look, wish he could understand every sentence I speak instantly. I've been here for three years now and I know I could simplify my language if I tried hard enough. So is it wrong of me to wish Jack could expand his vocabulary and physics knowledge over night? I love Jack, I really do. But the man can be so damn infuriating sometimes...
My brain suddenly reminded me I needed sleep by attacking me with a jaw-cracking yawn. Just five more minutes. If I don't remove these papers from the desk now the mess will only become worse. The computer monitor could use a wipe down. That keyboard has never looked more comfortable...
THE END
Story Notes: E-MAIL: Becc_Carter@yahoo.co.nz
CATEGORY: Vignette. S&J Friendship.
SPOILERS: Message in a bottle
STATUS: Complete.
ARCHIVE: Heliopolis.
NOTES: My first SG fic. It's basically a short pointless Vignette. Plot? What's 'Plot'? *g* This is just a way for me to get into the flow of writing these characters. Ok so I focus on Sam... She's my fave character, I couldn't resist :-P Also the title is a line from a song by 'Vertical Horizon'. I was listening to the song while writing this. The line just seemed to fit.
CATEGORY: Vignette. S&J Friendship.
SPOILERS: Message in a bottle
STATUS: Complete.
ARCHIVE: Heliopolis.
NOTES: My first SG fic. It's basically a short pointless Vignette. Plot? What's 'Plot'? *g* This is just a way for me to get into the flow of writing these characters. Ok so I focus on Sam... She's my fave character, I couldn't resist :-P Also the title is a line from a song by 'Vertical Horizon'. I was listening to the song while writing this. The line just seemed to fit.
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 ]