Call Waiting
Rating: Teen and Up
Original/Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Pairings: Jack/Sam
Summary: The cabin, a lake full of fish, and Sam all to himself for the next four days.
Beta Thanks to: Zeph Ryder
Notes: written as a birthday present for
nymaeriaWord Count: 1000-ish
Jack gave a contented sigh as he opened up his beer. Life didn't get any better than this, he thought as he took a long swallow, then set the bottle down on the dock next to his chair and picked his fishing pole back up. The cabin, a lake full of fish, and Sam all to himself for the next four days.
Well, actually three days now, he thought with a grin as he remembered how they'd passed the first 24 hours or so of their vacation, starting with a leisurely breaking in of the new mattress that had just been delivered. The couch wasn't new, so Jack wasn't exactly sure what had prompted Round 2 this morning (not that he was complaining!), except that Sam just made him feel, if not quite a teenager again, at least significantly younger than his grey hair and two stars indicated.
He glanced over to where she sat beside him, immersed in some trashy novel that Vala had slipped into her bag. Sam, of course, only looked better as the years passed. There were maybe a few more lines around her eyes when she laughed, and he would just pretend that he never saw the bottle of hair dye in her bathroom cabinet. It just meant that, against all odds, they had survived and made it here.
As he watched, she reached over and lifted her phone from where it rested on the camp table behind them. She turned it on, looked at it, then put it back down. He frowned slightly. That was the third time she'd checked since that morning.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
She blushed a little as she looked at him. "Yeah. Everything is fine."
Not quite the answer he was looking for, but he decided to let it go. Until about 40 minutes later, when she did it again. He put down his fishing pole and turned to face her.
"What's going on, Sam?"
"Nothing, really," she answered with a slight grimace. "I was just making sure that the SGC wasn't trying to get in touch with me."
Jack nodded. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't these phones have some way of notifying you that someone is trying to contact you. Some sort of sound, maybe?"
"Funny, Jack. I just wanted to make sure I hadn't missed anything. I mean, I'm up here for four days."
"Yes, it's called a vacation. You asked for time off; I asked for time off. I know it's difficult for your work-a-holic brain to comprehend, but this is the time to forget about work. Maybe concentrate on something else." He leaned toward with a leer, only to pull back when she sighed heavily.
"It just feels wrong." She noticed his incredulous expression and made a slight O with her lips as she replayed her words. She gestured between them. "Not this, not us, wrong. No, just... when has a vacation ever worked out for us without some interruption?"
Jack relaxed a bit, now that he was sure that this was just about Sam having trouble remembering how to relax and not some end-of-the-world gut feeling. He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips.
"There's a first time for everything!"
She returned the kiss with a giggle that never failed to lighten his heart.
He pulled back and held out his hand. "However, in the interests of both our sanities, give me the phone."
"Ummm..." she stalled, her eyes cutting sideways to the lake.
"For crying out loud, I'm not going to toss it in. Jeez. Just give me the phone. Please." He did his best to keep his voice away from the command tone that was so natural for him. They had already run into problems a time or two, navigating the precarious line between command structure and personal relationship.
She reluctantly handed him the phone.
"Thank you." He put the phone in his pocket and started getting his fishing gear together. "Now, take some time to relax, read your book, whatever. Come on in, in about half an hour, okay?"
She was chewing on her lip even as she nodded. He dropped a quick kiss on her forehead and then headed inside.
Sam was walking through the cabin door exactly thirty minutes later. The living room was empty. "Jack?" she called.
"Back here," came his voice from the bedroom. She headed that way with a grin.
The late afternoon sunlight was augmented by several candles, spreading a muted, woody scent through the room. Jack was standing just inside the doorway, freshly showered and just wearing jeans. She wondered again at how lucky she was as his arms closed around her tightly, and his lips brushed along her jaw and neck, sending delicious tingles all along her skin.
"It seems you need some help relaxing," he murmured.
She brought her hands up to feel the warm skin of his back and leaned her head into his shoulder. "I guess, maybe I do."
"Well, fortunately, I have several ideas on how we might accomplish that." He led her to the bed. "Starting with the Jack O'Neill Signature Massage. Sound good?" he asked as he briefly kneaded her shoulders as if she could forget what his massages were like, then he started to tug her tee-shirt out of her jeans.
"Sounds very good."
Sam didn't see her phone again, didn't even think about it, until they were packing up a couple of days later. She turned around and there was Jack, holding the phone out to her.
Fully charged, no missed calls, no texts, no messages.
"Wow," she said. "It never works out this way."
He pulled her close again, trying to store away the feeling to keep him company for the weeks ahead. "Well, the way I figure it, this is just a down payment on what the galaxy owes us."
"Just a down payment, huh?" She smiled at him. "So, I guess this means, we get to do it again?"
"Many, many, many, many more times."