Year one
Jack limped down the hall, a week's worth of practice allowing him to navigate fairly well on the aluminum crutches. It was definitely better than the last time he'd broken his leg and all the VA had given him was heavy wooden crutches. Now those had been a bitch to use.
He settled down into his recliner and laid the crutches on the floor, within easy reach. He twisted the top off of his bottle of beer and took a deep drink then reached for the remote, turning on the TV.
Fighting boredom, he sighed and flipped through the channels, finding nothing that looked entertaining. TV was normally boring, that was to be expected, but right now it was even more unappealing thanks to the ceaseless barrage of holiday ads.
It did not seem like the week before Christmas. The last thing Jack remembered was making plans for his team to come over for a potluck Thanksgiving feast/Football marathon that was supposed to happen two days after their mission to P4A771.
Of course, three days trapped in a glacier had pretty much shot those plans to hell. And three weeks in the Academy Hospital finished killing the month of December, leaving Jack finally home on December twentieth riding the waves of euphoria at being alive while trying not to be overwhelmed by the knowledge that anything he might have planned for the holidays probably wasn't going to happen and that bitching would be bad form considering that he and Carter could very well be popsicles right about now.
He may be doing pretty well maneuvering on his crutches but he sure as hell wasn't up to driving. And even if he was, he definitely didn't have the fortitude to battle a store or mall to do any shopping. His ribs and chest were still tender and a bit painful and those three weeks flat on his back had definitely left him a bit weak in the knees.
Jack shook his head and took another drink of his beer. This was definitely going to be one of those laid back holidays unless...A thought crossed his mind and Jack grinned, refusing to acknowledge that his mood might have a bit to do with the combination of alcohol and ibuprofen.
He picked up the phone and punched the speed dial, the fingers of one hand drumming on the armrest of the chair until Daniel answered. "Daniel, are you busy?" Jack asked, cutting straight to the chase.
"Would it matter if I was?"
"Look, I need a favor?"
"Jack, it's Sunday. The liquor stores are closed."
"I need a ride to the mall." Jack ignored Daniel's dig and resisted the desire to remind his friend of his three pot a day habit.
"Why?"
"I need to do some Christmas shopping," Jack said, losing the levity. "Can you help me out here?"
Jack heard silence and was afraid that maybe he'd pushed too hard. "Ok, fine," Daniel finally relented. "Can you give me an hour? I'm kinda in the middle of something."
"Sure," Jack agreed. "Not a problem. I'll see you when you get here."
Jack hung up the phone and set it back down on the table. His cheerful mood faded a bit and he stared at the bulky Sunday paper lying over on the coffee table. Now all he had to do was think up something to get his friends.
/////
Daniel walked beside Jack doing his best to help his friend navigate the crowds while playing packhorse and carrying Jack's sacks. "Let's take five," he said, noting the pinched look on Jack's face. He knew that this was a bad idea, that Jack wasn't quite up to a shopping expedition, but he also didn't know how to tell his friend no. His suspicions were confirmed when Jack took him up on the offer, making his way over to a bench and sinking down onto it.
Daniel sat beside him, arranging the sacks to be out of the way but still within reach. "Thanks," Jack said. "Never realized this place was this big."
"At least we're almost done," Daniel said. "I'm presuming that the extra, extra large sweatshirt is for Teal'c and that coffee gift set you didn't think I saw you buy is for me." Jack grimaced. "All that's left is Sam."
Jack shrugged. "I dunno. Women are hard to shop for."
"I thought they were easy," Daniel said. "A sweater, chocolates, perfume..."
Jack glared at him. "Women you're involved with sure. But can you see Carter using any of those?" he asked, eyeing a woman that walked past clad in a bright red sweater.
"Besides, there are complications."
"Complications?"
"You know."
"No, I don't know."
Jack sighed. "There's appearances to consider." Daniel raised his eyebrows. "There are always folks that only want to see the worst. You can't give them any ammunition. Nothing could screw Carter's career up faster than for someone to think that there's anything going on. She's smart enough to know that."
Daniel frowned, his friend's comments striking him as odd. "Jack, what the hell are you talking about?" Since when did Jack worry about appearances? Besides, it wasn't like he was buying her lingerie or jewelry.
Jack looked around, like he was trying to avoid the subject. "Why else haven't I seen her in weeks?" he said, his tone sounding embarrassed. Sam's absence had been something he hadn't noticed at first. Both the drugs and his own injuries occupying much of his time and concentration. Then, after a couple of weeks, when he'd started to feel better, he'd been worried that something was wrong with Sam that he hadn't been told about. That maybe she hadn't gotten off as unscathed as he'd hoped.
"Ah," Daniel said, finally getting what Jack was talking about. "Jack, there's a very good reason for that."
"I'm sure there is." He'd offended her or pushed her too hard. It was a miracle that he hadn't gotten her killed sending her off to traverse a glacier for crying out loud.
"She picked up a nasty cold a couple of weeks ago," Daniel said, interrupting Jack's thoughts.
Jack looked at him sharply. "A cold? Why didn't someone say something?"
"You were kinda unconscious at the time," Daniel said. "She had a hard time shaking it and Janet didn't want her accidentally giving it to you so...Sam was told to stay home." Daniel didn't add that the doctor had also worried about the cold getting worse, maybe turning into bronchitis or pneumonia. He had a feeling that Jack didn't need anything else to fret over.
Jack sighed. "Well, that explains it." He was glad that she was ok and he was ashamed to admit just how much he'd missed her. He'd learned a lot about his captain in those few chilly days. She had a hell of a head on her shoulders, but also a defeatist streak a mile wide. He'd have to work on that, work on getting her a little attitude adjustment. She certainly had the skills to be a good team leader; she just needed to develop the finer points, like knowing when to push and when to fall back.
Daniel stared at the shoppers passing by, debating whether or not to say anything. If things were normal, he'd have talked to Jack earlier. Of course, if things were normal then there might not be a problem. "What's wrong?" Jack asked.
"What?"
"You're thinking so loud I'm surprised that mall security hasn't come to check things out.
What's going on?"
"I think there's something wrong with Sam," Daniel said.
"Wrong? What do you mean wrong? You just said that she was fine."
"I'm not talking physically," Daniel said. "Teal'c and I tried to take dinner over but she wouldn't let us. Said she wanted to be alone."
"Daniel, some people are like that. Not everyone is a social butterfly like Teal'c."
"Jack, this is serious," Daniel said, annoyed at his friend's flippancy. "It's like she's depressed or something. The only thing she's shown any enthusiasm about is taking the Field Medic training."
"Daniel, it happens. It sucks to get hurt; it sucks even more when it happens during the holidays. She'll...she'll go visit her family or something and be fine next week."
"Does she even have any family to go visit?" Daniel asked. "She's never said anything to me. She's always at work or at home."
"That's her business, I doubt she wants us prying in her private life."
"Maybe we need to pry," Daniel said. "You've been in the hospital, Teal'c and I have been going out with SG-4, and Sam's sorta been off on her own. She's obsessed with this field medic bit and taking classes. Janet's been to visit her a couple of times and says that she doesn't even have any decorations up."
"Decorations?"
"You know, holiday stuff. Her house is totally empty."
"Daniel..."
"Come on, Jack. That's what you can get her."
"Christmas decorations?" Jack raised his eyebrows.
Daniel shrugged. "Why not? Surely that's non-personal enough. Maybe she lost them in the move and hasn't had time to go get anything. You can kill two birds with one stone. We can cheer her up and you can get her something at the same time." Daniel smiled, liking his idea more and more as he thought about it. He felt a more than a little guilty about him and Teal'c kinda forgetting about Sam. They hadn't meant to but so much had been going on in the past few weeks that Sam had just slipped his mind.
Since Jack's injuries had been worse, it'd been easier to focus on him, and Sam had encouraged them, seeming to be content for him and Teal'c to pay more attention to Jack than to her.
"Fine," Jack agreed. "But just a tree. A SMALL tree. We're not going to clutter up her whole damned house."
/////
Sam pulled her car to the curb and turned off the ignition, her frustration still eating at her gut. She didn't know what kind of games Daniel was playing but her teammate was going to get a very large piece of her mind.
She didn't mind getting called into work if there was a good reason but she had some serious issues with having her studies interrupted then dragged into the mountain to take care of some emergency...that didn't exist once she got there. And since Daniel was conveniently out of contact and not answering his cell or telephone, it had taken her several hours to realize that she'd been the victim of some odd prank.
Now half of her afternoon was gone and she had nothing to show for it other than just having a few less hours in front of her TV set or her computer. She got out of her car and reached back in, picking up the cup of coffee she'd picked up on the way home.
She made her way up the walk, shivering slightly in the cold wind. It hadn't really snowed yet down in the Springs but she could see a thick white layer up on the surrounding mountains. The air was chill and damp promising that snowfall in the city wasn't far off. That promise had been enough to have the local weathercasters prattling on and on about the potential for a white Christmas. She sighed, conceding that she did owe Daniel that much. He'd gotten her away from the ceaseless Christmas stuff on TV.
Sniffling a bit, she dug in her pocket, pushing past the Kleenex to pull her keys out. She shoved them into the door lock, stopping when the door opened freely. This was wrong. She had definitely locked the door. Damnit, and her sidearm was inside, right where it'd do her no good.
"Hey, what took you so long?" Daniel stepped out of her living room. "I expected you back a couple of hours ago."
"I got sent on a wild goose chase. What are you doing in my house?" she demanded giving into her ire. What was he doing here? And why had he broken into her house?
"Don't blame him," she heard another voice say. "Well, actually, if you're as pissed as I think you are, go ahead and blame him."
Sam walked into her living room and stared at the odd sight before her. The colonel and Teal'c were standing there, the colonel balancing on one crutch while he held a box of ornaments in one hand while Teal'c stood on the other side of a Christmas tree, a rope of tinsel held in his hands.
"Merry Christmas," Daniel said, smiling weakly. "Sorry, we hoped to be done by now but Teal'c thought we needed a real tree and the only lot was on the other side of town and..."
Sam stared, her eyes riveted on the green shape in the corner of her living room. The tree was about five feet tall and was filling the air with a sharp pine scent. It was wrapped with red tinsel and gold and silver glass ornaments hung from the branches. Her furniture was pushed over into a corner, rearranged to make room for the tree in front of her window.
"We're almost done. Do you want the honor of plugging it in?" the colonel asked.
"What are you doing?" she demanded, tearing her gaze from the tree. They were in her house. What were they doing in her house? Moving in and rearranging like they owned the place.
"Carter?" The colonel frowned at her.
"Captain Carter, have we committed an insult?" Teal'c asked.
"Look, Sam, I know it's kinda weird, but we couldn't think of something to get for you and we noticed that there weren't any decorations and—"
"You just thought you'd step in and decorate my house for me?" Sam asked, her voice rising in anger. "Without even asking." They had no right. This was her house, her sanctuary. Who the hell did they think they were to just stroll in and--
"Wouldn't be much of a surprise if we did ask," Daniel said.
"Take it down!" Sam ordered, setting her coffee down on the coffee table.
"What?"
"Carter?"
"Get that thing out of my house! And you with it!"
She turned on her heel and stalked through the kitchen, pushing her way through the sliding glass door and onto her deck. Anger and violation making her heart pound, she didn't sit down but started to pace. How dare they! Stupid egotistical sons of bitches—
"Carter?" She spun at the sound of the colonel's voice. "Hey, I'm unarmed." He held up his hands, balancing on the crutches. "What just happened in there?" he asked. She shook her head, remaining silent. "Sam, come on." He sat down on the steps and waved her over.
"This is my house," she said.
"The name on the mailbox sorta gives that away."
She glared at him. "There's one place in this whole city that's mine," she said. "Where I don't have to follow any regulations or put up with security cameras or..." She sighed, realizing that she'd overreacted. "I'm a little possessive about my space," she said. "And I spend so much time around other people that sometimes I just want to be alone."
"Ok," he nodded. "I can understand that. I'm the same way. But I still don't get your reaction to the tree."
"Sir?"
"The tree. I thought we did a pretty decent job on it and all."
She reluctantly stepped forward, sitting beside him. "I don't do Christmas," she said softly.
"Everybody does Christmas," he said. "Well, except for Goldman on SG-2 but..."
"Colonel, I don't do Christmas. I don't put up a tree or hang stockings or wrap tinsel around every single thing I can find. I don't do Christmas," she repeated.
"Sam, why not?" Jack asked softly.
"My mother was killed on December twenty-second. General Kensington's wife hosted the wake. She was big into Christmas. Trees in every room, lights, tinsel. Nutcrackers on the tables." Sam took a shaky breath. "I'm kinda surprised that they didn't put blinky lights on the coffin."
"You don't do Christmas," he said. Sam nodded. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"How could you? It's not exactly something I advertise. The good thing about the military, someone always has to work, which is what I usually do."
Jack nodded, accepting her boundaries. "How's your cold?" he asked, changing the subject.
She shrugged. "Getting better, thanks. How's your leg?"
"Getting better. You know, the doc didn't even have to re-set it." She cringed, the memory of his anguish cry, the sickening snap of the bone settling into place sending a chill down her spine. "Hey," he prompted when she didn't answer. "You ok?"
"Fine," she said, aware that she didn't sound very fine at the moment.
He stared at her for a second then shifted position, reaching into his pocket to pull out his wallet. He pushed some bills into her hand. "I'm gonna go get Daniel. Why don't you and him go get some dinner while Teal'c and I take all that crap down."
"Colonel, you don't have to."
"I want to. You'll be doing me a favor."
"A favor?" She looked at him, trying to reason out his logic.
"If we don't eat here, they'll end up at my place and then I'll have to clean and...you know it's a real pain in the ass. Besides, I'm not used to sharing my house either. I kinda counted the hours until Daniel moved out and got his own place."
Sam chuckled, a bit of her bad mood sliding away. "Any preferences?"
"Your house, you choose." He got to his feet. "But if you get pizza, do not get supreme. The olives do a number on Teal'c's stomach."
Three hours later Sam shut the door behind her friends, feeling better than she had in quite some time. She hadn't realized just how left out she'd felt during the past few weeks, cut off and excluded from everything, first by her own time in the infirmary, then quarantined by her cold. She'd had a little too much time to think and to brood.
It felt good to be with them again, to have someone to talk to who she didn't feel like was diagnosing her every movement and sniffle.
She moved through her house, checking the doors and windows before she turned off the lights and made her way back to her bedroom. She turned on the lamp and stopped dead at the sight of a small white box on her pillows.
She picked it up and opened it. Inside was a folded piece of paper and a small porcelain figurine. She unfolded the paper and held it up.
To my snow angel
Thanks for keeping me alive
She laid the paper down and carefully took the delicate figurine out of the box, holding it in both hands. The little figure wore a long dress and had translucent wings along with a gilded halo set atop curly blond hair.
Sam carefully traced the edges of her wings before setting the figurine down on her nightstand. She changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed, her eyes settling on the angel one last time before she turned off the lights and fell into a dreamless sleep.
~Fin~
Heliopolis Main Archive
A Stargate: SG-1 Fanfiction Site
Trinkets
by DeniseSite Navigation
Support Heliopolis