Downtime
Title: Downtime
Summary: Jack and Sam spend their interrupted downtime together.
Timeframe: Slight AU twist on the Fireman-verse from Season 6, “The Changeling.”
Characters/Pairing: Sam/Jack friendship, Cassie, Janet
Genre: AU, Gen, Friendship
Rating: PG.
Note: Sam and Jack are both members of the fire/rescue crew with the rank of firefighter. In other words, neither is a Lieutenant, Captain, or Chief.
Note2: This was written for the jacksamfriends ficathon, using the prompt: "Here kitty, kitty."
Downtime
The bunk room was quieter than usual that night, aside from the sounds of heavy breathing and snoring while half the crew of Engine One slept. Sam stared up at the ceiling in the dark, her arms resting behind her head. Sighing and cursing her insomnia, she raised her left wrist and squinted at the face of her watch, barely able to make out the time. It was nearly 04:00. Close enough to morning.
Sitting up slowly, Sam quietly got up off her cot, careful not to wake the rest of her bunkmates. She crept toward the locker room, figuring she’d take her shower now, before the other guys got up. The firehouse only had one locker room, and being the only girl, she was at a disadvantage when it came to shower time. The guys had thoughtfully made a pink ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign to put on the outside doorknob when she was in there, hopefully preventing any embarrassing encounters.
Opening the door and stepping softly into the locker room, Sam was surprised to find it occupied. She found Jack at his locker, half-dressed and pulling a navy-blue Engine One t-shirt over his head, his silver hair still damp from the shower. He looked over, noticing her standing there and smiled crookedly.
“Hey, Carter.” He straightened his shirt, fastened his belt, and closed his locker. “I’ll be out in a second.”
She nodded and resisted rolling her eyes at his use of her last name. They‘d been on the same fire crew and good friends for nearly five years, and he STILL called her Carter half the time. Sam didn’t take it personally, though; half the guys in the house called each other by their last names. “Couldn’t sleep either, huh Jack?”
“Hmph.” He snorted and shook his head. “Nope.”
Making her way over to her locker, Sam grabbed a fresh towel off the shelf. “How long you been up?” Jack O’Neill was notorious for having a whacked out sleep cycle, but she was probably one of the only ones who knew that it was usually due to nightmares circling his shady military past.
Jack shrugged. “Just an hour or two. I was down in the weight room.”
She nodded, knowingly. That’s where he usually slunk off to when he couldn’t sleep. Either that or he plopped himself in front of the TV in the rec room and dug out the Simpsons tapes. She, on the other hand, usually slept like a baby. When insomnia occasionally struck, Sam normally just showered and then went to the kitchen to get coffee.
Without saying anything more on the reasons for either of their insomnia, Jack went to the door, plucking the pink door knocker from the nail on the wall and hooking it to the knob on the outside. “I’ll go get a pot of coffee on.”
Sam smiled at him appreciatively for both the doorknob tag and the coffee. “Thanks.”
-
Jack passed Sam a cup of coffee when she came down and sat at the table. He poured himself a mug and then pulled a banana out of the refrigerator. Reaching for the newspaper in the middle of the table, he flipped straight to the sports section. “Damn,” he muttered as his eyes roved the paper.
“What?” Sam looked at him curiously, then smirked as she realized what section of the paper he was currently glaring at.
“The Blackhawks tanked the game against the Maple Leafs last night,” he muttered, shaking his head. He hadn't been able to watch the game at the station because they'd gotten called to an accident at the time.
Sam laughed, ignoring further mutterings under his breath as she leaned forward and snatched the front page from him.
Jack checked his watch. “At 12:00 this afternoon, we will officially be off-duty for the following forty-eight hours.” He grinned with boyish enthusiasm.
Snorting, Sam smiled at him. They’d been on call for the last three days and couldn’t have been more eager for the Engine Three crew to come in and take over. Even though their work was exhausting and dangerous, it was well worth it. Otherwise, what was the point? They saved lives for a living. No one in their company would say there was anything more rewarding than the grateful looks and sentiments of those they rescued.
Sam realized how lucky they’d truly been recently. They hadn’t been on a call in nearly three months where there’d been a fatality. That was how they liked it. They cherished those times and tried to think of the good things when the bad stuff happened.
Tilting her head and sipping her coffee, Sam asked, “Got any plans?”
Folding up his piece of newspaper, Jack grinned lopsidedly and shook his head. “Nah, not really. Probably just beer and pizza in front of the TV, watchin’ a game.” He chuckled. “How ‘bout you, Carter? Any home projects you been working on lately?”
She rolled her eyes. After knowing each other for five years, Jack was well aware of Sam‘s peculiar hobbies involving science experiments and mechanical futzing. “Not unless you count rewiring my toaster so it actually doesn’t burn everything that’s put into it.”
Jack smirked and waved a finger at her, taking a bite of his banana. “You can probably blame Ferretti for that.”
Sam vaguely recalled one poker night at her place where Ferretti got very drunk and was shoving random non-food objects in her toaster. “Yeah, probably,“ she muttered in agreement. “I’ll get him back for that, even though he doesn’t know it yet.” An evil, mischievous glint flashed briefly in her steel blue eyes.
Jack grinned. Their moment of camaraderie was short-lived, however, as the alarm went off, alerting them that they were about to be sent on a call. He sighed with a wry smile. “Here we go.”
Sam and Jack abandoned their seats as one while the bell continued to ring, and above, in the bunk room, they heard the rest of the guys scrambling out of their racks.
-
Having been unable to leave the fire house until quarter past one due to a fire in the warehouse district, Jack took off as soon as he could, eager to get away. He loved his job, he really did, but he also loved his downtime just as much. Some weeks it seemed he spent more time on the job than at home. He supposed that was why he never bothered to start up a family again after his son died and his wife left him. Well, that was part of it anyhow.
Not wanting to dwell on morbid past thoughts, Jack swaggered over to his refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of Guinness. He popped off the cap and took a long swig, standing right there in front of the fridge with the door still open. Ah, that hit the spot. Closing the door, Jack turned and made his way down to his lounge to sink into the cushiony couch that awaited him.
Jack had just fallen asleep in front of the TV when his cell rang. Even with the full intention of ignoring it, he heaved a sigh and sat up, then snatched the buzzing, ringing phone off his coffee table. He flipped it open, holding it to his ear and growling an annoyed, “What?” without even checking to see who was calling.
“Uh, hi Jack, it’s me.”
He blinked at the unexpected, familiar voice. “Sam?” Jack hadn’t expected her to call. He figured she’d be busy doing something on her off time, maybe having a girl’s day out with Janet or something; whatever else she did when she wasn’t hanging with him or their other friends from the station.
She must have heard the sleepy gravel of his voice, because next she asked, “Sorry, did I wake you?”
Jack scratched the back of his head and leaned into the overstuffed cushions. “Uh, sorta.” He yawned and shook his head, blinking at the TV and trying to clear the cobwebs. Damn did he need a good sleep. “What’s up?”
“I need a favor…” Sam said in a hesitant voice.
An eyebrow climbed Jack’s forehead slowly. “What kinda favor?”
“Well, actually, it’s more for Janet really.”
“Yeah?” His tone urged her to get on with it already.
“Well, Janet’s throwing a last minute birthday party for Cassie tomorrow and needs help organizing and shopping. I was sort of hoping that you could give me a hand?”
Jack cocked his head, brows furrowing in confusion. “I thought Cassie’s birthday wasn’t ’till next week? The doc already told me about it on Wednesday.”
“It is. And the party was supposed to be next week too, but Janet’s shift at the hospital got switched and now she has this week off instead. So now Janet‘s decided to make the party a surprise and have it a week early.”
“Ah. I see.” Jack nodded slowly to himself, seeing as Sam wasn’t around to see it.
“So… First, can you come to the party tomorrow, and second, could you give me a hand preparing for it?”
“Yeah, what the hey,” Jack muttered with a shrug. Cassie was like part of their family ever since Janet adopted her four years earlier. The little girl had been eight-years-old at the time. The foster home she’d been staying in had caught fire and the crew had been sent on the call. The foster parents hadn’t survived, but Sam had heard the child’s cries, and he and Sam found little Cassie nearly suffocating in her bedroom, terrified and hiding under her bed. Janet had volunteered to foster her afterwards, and the doctor had fallen in love with the child. Soon after that Janet filed for adoption and Cassie had been her daughter ever since.
“Great. I’ll be by your place in an hour.”
-
Jack had been outside getting the mail when Sam pulled into the driveway and parked beside his truck. He rose his hand in a wave as she got out of the vintage Volvo and strode up to him, smiling. “Hey Sam.” He flapped the mail in his hand. “Let me just drop this off inside and I’ll be right out.”
“Okay. We’re gonna take your truck, right?” She asked, already striding toward his Ford and locking her car up.
“Yeah.” Jack nodded with a lopsided grin and went inside the house quickly. He dropped his mail off on the table just inside the door and grabbed his truck keys before meeting Sam back outside.
“So,” he said as they both got in his truck, “What are we supposed to get for this shindig anyhow?” He had no idea what was needed for a twelve-year-old’s birthday party.
Sam shrugged, buckling her seatbelt as Jack backed his Ford out of the driveway. “Um, food mostly. That’s what Janet said she needs the most help picking up.”
Jack grinned, shifting into drive and taking off. “Sweet. Food; that I can do.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his friend shake her head as she laughed.
-
Jack sunk into his sofa cushions with a heavy sigh, glancing over at Sam as she flopped down on the armchair. The two of them were wiped out from work and all the food shopping, and Jack was still tired from being unable to finish his nap earlier.
“Wanna order Chinese?” Sam mumbled tiredly from her spot in the armchair.
“Don’t care,” Jack muttered in return, kicking off his shoes and taking care to sprawl more comfortably across every inch of available sofa space. He realized that his stomach was growling and it was about dinner time. They’d completely skipped lunch. Or at least he had. He didn’t know if Carter had eaten before coming to his place.
Sam yawned. “Toss me the phone, will you?”
Jack raised his head off the cushion and glared at the phone that seemed just too far out of his reach. He didn‘t feel like moving. “You’re closer,” he grumped. He knew he was starting to feel pretty grouchy now, due to the long day and his interrupted nap, but he didn‘t care.
Sighing with a roll of her eyes, Sam heaved herself off the chair and grabbed for the phone on the coffee table before flopping back again. “Just for that, you’re paying,” she teased, feigning true annoyance.
Snorting, Jack waved a hand of dismissal and reached for the blanket draped over the back of the couch. He turned on his side and pulled it over himself, mumbling, “Wake me when the food’s here.”
-
Sam shoved Jack’s shoulder again when he didn’t wake up. “C’mon Mister Grumpy Bear, rise and shine!” she sing-songed, her own tiredness barely hidden in her voice.
“Food here?” came the sleepy mumble.
Sam smiled. “Nope. Not yet.” When Jack seemed to snuggle deeper into the couch, ignoring her, she gave his shoulder yet another shove.
“Go. Away,” Jack growled, shoving his face into the crease between the back of the couch and the cushions.
“Cassie’s on the phone, and she wants to talk to you,” Sam told him, parking her butt on the coffee table and smiling with deliberate annoyance as Jack rolled onto his back and snatched the phone out of her hand. She tried not to laugh. Really, she couldn’t expect Jack to be anything but grouchy when he’d only been asleep for fifteen minutes. Sam hadn’t been too happy at the wake-up call either, as she‘d fallen asleep herself. And they were still waiting for their food to arrive.
Heaving a sigh, Jack groaned and put the phone to his ear. “Hullo?” His voice was gravelly with sleep.
“Hi, Uncle Jack,” Cassie said cheerfully.
“Hey, kiddo, what’s up?” Jack said, and Sam just knew he was forcefully injecting warmth into his tone. He was still grouchy about being woken up, after all.
“I already asked Sam, but she told me to ask you,” the little girl began.
Able to hear Cassie’s voice coming from the phone Jack held, Sam deliberately looked away when her friend shot her a pointed glare. She ducked her head and snickered.
“Ask me what, Cass?” Jack questioned carefully.
“Umm…if you could come over and rescue my friend, Amy’s, kitty outta the tree.”
Jack groaned, and Sam just looked back at him with a shrug. He slapped his left hand over his face. “I’m sure the cat will come down on it’s own, sweetheart.”
“I don’t think so, Uncle Jack. He’s really little and he’s meowing a lot like he’s scared.” Cassie paused, then, “Puh-leeeeze Uncle Jack?”
Sam could imagine the little girl pouting, and evidently, so could Jack. Oh yeah, they were going on a rescue mission alright.
-
When Jack and Sam arrived just outside Cassandra’s friend’s house, the two girls were immediately visible in the yard, staring up an old oak tree and looking at what had to be the stranded kitten.
Jack parked on the curb near the tree, and he and Sam had barely gotten out of the truck before Cassie was squealing and running over to them.
“Sam! Uncle Jack! You came!” The little girl ran over excitedly and hugged them each in turn.
Jack couldn’t help but grin, tossing a look Sam’s way. The soon-to-be twelve-year-old dragged them by the hands towards the tree. It was starting to get dark, and Jack was still tired and hungry. They’d had to leave as soon as the food arrived, and didn’t get a chance to eat. It would certainly be cold by the time he and Sam got back to it.
With a sigh, Jack looked up the old, gnarly branches of the oak tree, peering between leaves to see the frightened, mewing kitten. He grimaced, then glanced toward Sam, seeing a similar look on her face. “Damn. It’s a lot higher up then I expected,” he muttered quietly.
Sam made a face. “We’re not going to reach that with a ladder, Jack.”
“Can you get him down?” Cassie’s friend, Amy, asked in a quiet, pleading voice.
Heaving a sigh as he knew what would have to happen next, Jack nodded to the little brown-haired girl. “Yeah, we’ll get him.” He had no doubts that he would have to climb the old tree.
-
Sam kept an eye on Jack as he grabbed at the highest branch he could reach and hoisted himself up into the tree. She was silently both amused and amazed at his spider monkey climbing abilities. He’d always been pretty quick getting up the ladder during work, but she’d never imagined seeing Jack scale a tree. It was quite amusing, and Sam couldn’t help but smile and decided to tease him a little. Hell, what were friends for?
“Had much practice climbing trees, Jack?” she called up to him.
Without looking down, or missing a beat, he said, “Sure! My mother can attest to that!”
Sam felt a tugging on her sleeve and looked down to see Cassie pulling at her arm. She smiled at the little girl and put her hand atop her head. “It’s okay, Cassie. Jack will get him down.” She had a feeling Jack was already wishing his nap earlier was never interrupted.
-
“This is why I’m a dog person,” Jack muttered to himself as he finally climbed up on a branch that got him closer to reaching the frightened kitten.
Securely holding onto a branch with one hand, he stood to his full height and stretched out as far as he could. Frustratingly, he couldn’t quite reach. Knowing he had to step further out on the branch he was precariously perched on, Jack shifted his feet slowly and moved his anchoring hand further out as he reached. “Here, kitty, kitty!” he beckoned toward the wailing kitten.
There was a sudden, ominous creaking sound coming from the branch Jack’s feet were planted on, and from below he heard Cassie’s concerned voice saying, “Be careful, Uncle Jack!”
“Don’t worry, Cass, I got him!” Jack took another step out and managed to snag the kitten by the scruff of his neck. A second later there was a loud crack, and the branch Jack had been standing on was no longer solidly beneath him. His last thought was a sudden curse as he fell, kitten still secure in hand as he landed flat on his back on the grass seconds before darkness claimed him.
-
“Jack!” Sam yelped, and at the same time, Cassie screamed, while her friend Amy screeched, “My kitty!”
The little kitten looked shaken, but was unharmed, having landed on Jack’s chest. Sam plucked the little kitten off him gently and handed him off to his distraught young owner before checking on Jack. His eyelids fluttered open as he sucked in a gasping breath.
“Uncle Jack!” Cassie cried with concern.
“I’m okay,” he wheezed automatically, already trying to sit up.
Sam placed a restraining hand on his chest. “Lie still and let me check you out for a second,” she instructed calmly, then examined his pupils, ribs, neck, arms, and legs before saying softly, “Alright, I think you can sit up now. Slowly.”
Jack sat up with her help and blinked in a daze, looking around and then up at the two little girls staring at him. “Cat okay?”
The little girl clutching the kitten in her arms nodded. “Thank you for saving my kitty.”
“You’re welcome, Amy.” Sam smiled at Cassie’s friend the same time Jack managed a smile as well. She looked over at Cassandra and said, “Sweetie, how ‘bout Jack and I take you home now so your mom can make sure Jack’s okay, alright?”
“I’m fine,” Jack insisted grumpily, rubbing the back of his head.
Cassandra looked at Jack and nodded, then waved a hand at her friend’s house. “I’ll go tell Amy’s mom you guys are bringing me home.”
Sam turned to Jack as the two girls ran into the house. “Hurt anywhere else besides your head?” she asked him with a grimace.
“No,” he muttered, trying to stand up.
Pulling Jack up the rest of the way, Sam steadied him and walked him toward the passenger side of his truck, ignoring her friend’s protests.
-
Sitting on Janet’s couch, Jack was holding an icepack to the back of his head and scowling.
“How’s the head?” Janet asked him with a smile, tolerant of his bad mood and ignoring it.
“Fine,” he growled, eyes narrowing in Sam’s direction, “But I’m tired and I’m still hungry.”
Sam looked at Janet and laughed. “I’ll take him home.”
When they got back to Jack’s house, the two of them settled down in the living room with the Chinese food they hadn’t been able to eat earlier. Sam smiled as she watched Jack shove a forkful of fried rice in his mouth, finally looking satisfied. The food was cold, but they were both well past caring, Jack especially.
“Tomorrow,” he muttered with his mouth still full of food, waving a fork at Sam, “I expect a real day off.”
Sam laughed in acquiescence. “You got it.”
-The End-
Summary: Jack and Sam spend their interrupted downtime together.
Timeframe: Slight AU twist on the Fireman-verse from Season 6, “The Changeling.”
Characters/Pairing: Sam/Jack friendship, Cassie, Janet
Genre: AU, Gen, Friendship
Rating: PG.
Note: Sam and Jack are both members of the fire/rescue crew with the rank of firefighter. In other words, neither is a Lieutenant, Captain, or Chief.
Note2: This was written for the jacksamfriends ficathon, using the prompt: "Here kitty, kitty."
Downtime
The bunk room was quieter than usual that night, aside from the sounds of heavy breathing and snoring while half the crew of Engine One slept. Sam stared up at the ceiling in the dark, her arms resting behind her head. Sighing and cursing her insomnia, she raised her left wrist and squinted at the face of her watch, barely able to make out the time. It was nearly 04:00. Close enough to morning.
Sitting up slowly, Sam quietly got up off her cot, careful not to wake the rest of her bunkmates. She crept toward the locker room, figuring she’d take her shower now, before the other guys got up. The firehouse only had one locker room, and being the only girl, she was at a disadvantage when it came to shower time. The guys had thoughtfully made a pink ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign to put on the outside doorknob when she was in there, hopefully preventing any embarrassing encounters.
Opening the door and stepping softly into the locker room, Sam was surprised to find it occupied. She found Jack at his locker, half-dressed and pulling a navy-blue Engine One t-shirt over his head, his silver hair still damp from the shower. He looked over, noticing her standing there and smiled crookedly.
“Hey, Carter.” He straightened his shirt, fastened his belt, and closed his locker. “I’ll be out in a second.”
She nodded and resisted rolling her eyes at his use of her last name. They‘d been on the same fire crew and good friends for nearly five years, and he STILL called her Carter half the time. Sam didn’t take it personally, though; half the guys in the house called each other by their last names. “Couldn’t sleep either, huh Jack?”
“Hmph.” He snorted and shook his head. “Nope.”
Making her way over to her locker, Sam grabbed a fresh towel off the shelf. “How long you been up?” Jack O’Neill was notorious for having a whacked out sleep cycle, but she was probably one of the only ones who knew that it was usually due to nightmares circling his shady military past.
Jack shrugged. “Just an hour or two. I was down in the weight room.”
She nodded, knowingly. That’s where he usually slunk off to when he couldn’t sleep. Either that or he plopped himself in front of the TV in the rec room and dug out the Simpsons tapes. She, on the other hand, usually slept like a baby. When insomnia occasionally struck, Sam normally just showered and then went to the kitchen to get coffee.
Without saying anything more on the reasons for either of their insomnia, Jack went to the door, plucking the pink door knocker from the nail on the wall and hooking it to the knob on the outside. “I’ll go get a pot of coffee on.”
Sam smiled at him appreciatively for both the doorknob tag and the coffee. “Thanks.”
-
Jack passed Sam a cup of coffee when she came down and sat at the table. He poured himself a mug and then pulled a banana out of the refrigerator. Reaching for the newspaper in the middle of the table, he flipped straight to the sports section. “Damn,” he muttered as his eyes roved the paper.
“What?” Sam looked at him curiously, then smirked as she realized what section of the paper he was currently glaring at.
“The Blackhawks tanked the game against the Maple Leafs last night,” he muttered, shaking his head. He hadn't been able to watch the game at the station because they'd gotten called to an accident at the time.
Sam laughed, ignoring further mutterings under his breath as she leaned forward and snatched the front page from him.
Jack checked his watch. “At 12:00 this afternoon, we will officially be off-duty for the following forty-eight hours.” He grinned with boyish enthusiasm.
Snorting, Sam smiled at him. They’d been on call for the last three days and couldn’t have been more eager for the Engine Three crew to come in and take over. Even though their work was exhausting and dangerous, it was well worth it. Otherwise, what was the point? They saved lives for a living. No one in their company would say there was anything more rewarding than the grateful looks and sentiments of those they rescued.
Sam realized how lucky they’d truly been recently. They hadn’t been on a call in nearly three months where there’d been a fatality. That was how they liked it. They cherished those times and tried to think of the good things when the bad stuff happened.
Tilting her head and sipping her coffee, Sam asked, “Got any plans?”
Folding up his piece of newspaper, Jack grinned lopsidedly and shook his head. “Nah, not really. Probably just beer and pizza in front of the TV, watchin’ a game.” He chuckled. “How ‘bout you, Carter? Any home projects you been working on lately?”
She rolled her eyes. After knowing each other for five years, Jack was well aware of Sam‘s peculiar hobbies involving science experiments and mechanical futzing. “Not unless you count rewiring my toaster so it actually doesn’t burn everything that’s put into it.”
Jack smirked and waved a finger at her, taking a bite of his banana. “You can probably blame Ferretti for that.”
Sam vaguely recalled one poker night at her place where Ferretti got very drunk and was shoving random non-food objects in her toaster. “Yeah, probably,“ she muttered in agreement. “I’ll get him back for that, even though he doesn’t know it yet.” An evil, mischievous glint flashed briefly in her steel blue eyes.
Jack grinned. Their moment of camaraderie was short-lived, however, as the alarm went off, alerting them that they were about to be sent on a call. He sighed with a wry smile. “Here we go.”
Sam and Jack abandoned their seats as one while the bell continued to ring, and above, in the bunk room, they heard the rest of the guys scrambling out of their racks.
-
Having been unable to leave the fire house until quarter past one due to a fire in the warehouse district, Jack took off as soon as he could, eager to get away. He loved his job, he really did, but he also loved his downtime just as much. Some weeks it seemed he spent more time on the job than at home. He supposed that was why he never bothered to start up a family again after his son died and his wife left him. Well, that was part of it anyhow.
Not wanting to dwell on morbid past thoughts, Jack swaggered over to his refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of Guinness. He popped off the cap and took a long swig, standing right there in front of the fridge with the door still open. Ah, that hit the spot. Closing the door, Jack turned and made his way down to his lounge to sink into the cushiony couch that awaited him.
Jack had just fallen asleep in front of the TV when his cell rang. Even with the full intention of ignoring it, he heaved a sigh and sat up, then snatched the buzzing, ringing phone off his coffee table. He flipped it open, holding it to his ear and growling an annoyed, “What?” without even checking to see who was calling.
“Uh, hi Jack, it’s me.”
He blinked at the unexpected, familiar voice. “Sam?” Jack hadn’t expected her to call. He figured she’d be busy doing something on her off time, maybe having a girl’s day out with Janet or something; whatever else she did when she wasn’t hanging with him or their other friends from the station.
She must have heard the sleepy gravel of his voice, because next she asked, “Sorry, did I wake you?”
Jack scratched the back of his head and leaned into the overstuffed cushions. “Uh, sorta.” He yawned and shook his head, blinking at the TV and trying to clear the cobwebs. Damn did he need a good sleep. “What’s up?”
“I need a favor…” Sam said in a hesitant voice.
An eyebrow climbed Jack’s forehead slowly. “What kinda favor?”
“Well, actually, it’s more for Janet really.”
“Yeah?” His tone urged her to get on with it already.
“Well, Janet’s throwing a last minute birthday party for Cassie tomorrow and needs help organizing and shopping. I was sort of hoping that you could give me a hand?”
Jack cocked his head, brows furrowing in confusion. “I thought Cassie’s birthday wasn’t ’till next week? The doc already told me about it on Wednesday.”
“It is. And the party was supposed to be next week too, but Janet’s shift at the hospital got switched and now she has this week off instead. So now Janet‘s decided to make the party a surprise and have it a week early.”
“Ah. I see.” Jack nodded slowly to himself, seeing as Sam wasn’t around to see it.
“So… First, can you come to the party tomorrow, and second, could you give me a hand preparing for it?”
“Yeah, what the hey,” Jack muttered with a shrug. Cassie was like part of their family ever since Janet adopted her four years earlier. The little girl had been eight-years-old at the time. The foster home she’d been staying in had caught fire and the crew had been sent on the call. The foster parents hadn’t survived, but Sam had heard the child’s cries, and he and Sam found little Cassie nearly suffocating in her bedroom, terrified and hiding under her bed. Janet had volunteered to foster her afterwards, and the doctor had fallen in love with the child. Soon after that Janet filed for adoption and Cassie had been her daughter ever since.
“Great. I’ll be by your place in an hour.”
-
Jack had been outside getting the mail when Sam pulled into the driveway and parked beside his truck. He rose his hand in a wave as she got out of the vintage Volvo and strode up to him, smiling. “Hey Sam.” He flapped the mail in his hand. “Let me just drop this off inside and I’ll be right out.”
“Okay. We’re gonna take your truck, right?” She asked, already striding toward his Ford and locking her car up.
“Yeah.” Jack nodded with a lopsided grin and went inside the house quickly. He dropped his mail off on the table just inside the door and grabbed his truck keys before meeting Sam back outside.
“So,” he said as they both got in his truck, “What are we supposed to get for this shindig anyhow?” He had no idea what was needed for a twelve-year-old’s birthday party.
Sam shrugged, buckling her seatbelt as Jack backed his Ford out of the driveway. “Um, food mostly. That’s what Janet said she needs the most help picking up.”
Jack grinned, shifting into drive and taking off. “Sweet. Food; that I can do.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his friend shake her head as she laughed.
-
Jack sunk into his sofa cushions with a heavy sigh, glancing over at Sam as she flopped down on the armchair. The two of them were wiped out from work and all the food shopping, and Jack was still tired from being unable to finish his nap earlier.
“Wanna order Chinese?” Sam mumbled tiredly from her spot in the armchair.
“Don’t care,” Jack muttered in return, kicking off his shoes and taking care to sprawl more comfortably across every inch of available sofa space. He realized that his stomach was growling and it was about dinner time. They’d completely skipped lunch. Or at least he had. He didn’t know if Carter had eaten before coming to his place.
Sam yawned. “Toss me the phone, will you?”
Jack raised his head off the cushion and glared at the phone that seemed just too far out of his reach. He didn‘t feel like moving. “You’re closer,” he grumped. He knew he was starting to feel pretty grouchy now, due to the long day and his interrupted nap, but he didn‘t care.
Sighing with a roll of her eyes, Sam heaved herself off the chair and grabbed for the phone on the coffee table before flopping back again. “Just for that, you’re paying,” she teased, feigning true annoyance.
Snorting, Jack waved a hand of dismissal and reached for the blanket draped over the back of the couch. He turned on his side and pulled it over himself, mumbling, “Wake me when the food’s here.”
-
Sam shoved Jack’s shoulder again when he didn’t wake up. “C’mon Mister Grumpy Bear, rise and shine!” she sing-songed, her own tiredness barely hidden in her voice.
“Food here?” came the sleepy mumble.
Sam smiled. “Nope. Not yet.” When Jack seemed to snuggle deeper into the couch, ignoring her, she gave his shoulder yet another shove.
“Go. Away,” Jack growled, shoving his face into the crease between the back of the couch and the cushions.
“Cassie’s on the phone, and she wants to talk to you,” Sam told him, parking her butt on the coffee table and smiling with deliberate annoyance as Jack rolled onto his back and snatched the phone out of her hand. She tried not to laugh. Really, she couldn’t expect Jack to be anything but grouchy when he’d only been asleep for fifteen minutes. Sam hadn’t been too happy at the wake-up call either, as she‘d fallen asleep herself. And they were still waiting for their food to arrive.
Heaving a sigh, Jack groaned and put the phone to his ear. “Hullo?” His voice was gravelly with sleep.
“Hi, Uncle Jack,” Cassie said cheerfully.
“Hey, kiddo, what’s up?” Jack said, and Sam just knew he was forcefully injecting warmth into his tone. He was still grouchy about being woken up, after all.
“I already asked Sam, but she told me to ask you,” the little girl began.
Able to hear Cassie’s voice coming from the phone Jack held, Sam deliberately looked away when her friend shot her a pointed glare. She ducked her head and snickered.
“Ask me what, Cass?” Jack questioned carefully.
“Umm…if you could come over and rescue my friend, Amy’s, kitty outta the tree.”
Jack groaned, and Sam just looked back at him with a shrug. He slapped his left hand over his face. “I’m sure the cat will come down on it’s own, sweetheart.”
“I don’t think so, Uncle Jack. He’s really little and he’s meowing a lot like he’s scared.” Cassie paused, then, “Puh-leeeeze Uncle Jack?”
Sam could imagine the little girl pouting, and evidently, so could Jack. Oh yeah, they were going on a rescue mission alright.
-
When Jack and Sam arrived just outside Cassandra’s friend’s house, the two girls were immediately visible in the yard, staring up an old oak tree and looking at what had to be the stranded kitten.
Jack parked on the curb near the tree, and he and Sam had barely gotten out of the truck before Cassie was squealing and running over to them.
“Sam! Uncle Jack! You came!” The little girl ran over excitedly and hugged them each in turn.
Jack couldn’t help but grin, tossing a look Sam’s way. The soon-to-be twelve-year-old dragged them by the hands towards the tree. It was starting to get dark, and Jack was still tired and hungry. They’d had to leave as soon as the food arrived, and didn’t get a chance to eat. It would certainly be cold by the time he and Sam got back to it.
With a sigh, Jack looked up the old, gnarly branches of the oak tree, peering between leaves to see the frightened, mewing kitten. He grimaced, then glanced toward Sam, seeing a similar look on her face. “Damn. It’s a lot higher up then I expected,” he muttered quietly.
Sam made a face. “We’re not going to reach that with a ladder, Jack.”
“Can you get him down?” Cassie’s friend, Amy, asked in a quiet, pleading voice.
Heaving a sigh as he knew what would have to happen next, Jack nodded to the little brown-haired girl. “Yeah, we’ll get him.” He had no doubts that he would have to climb the old tree.
-
Sam kept an eye on Jack as he grabbed at the highest branch he could reach and hoisted himself up into the tree. She was silently both amused and amazed at his spider monkey climbing abilities. He’d always been pretty quick getting up the ladder during work, but she’d never imagined seeing Jack scale a tree. It was quite amusing, and Sam couldn’t help but smile and decided to tease him a little. Hell, what were friends for?
“Had much practice climbing trees, Jack?” she called up to him.
Without looking down, or missing a beat, he said, “Sure! My mother can attest to that!”
Sam felt a tugging on her sleeve and looked down to see Cassie pulling at her arm. She smiled at the little girl and put her hand atop her head. “It’s okay, Cassie. Jack will get him down.” She had a feeling Jack was already wishing his nap earlier was never interrupted.
-
“This is why I’m a dog person,” Jack muttered to himself as he finally climbed up on a branch that got him closer to reaching the frightened kitten.
Securely holding onto a branch with one hand, he stood to his full height and stretched out as far as he could. Frustratingly, he couldn’t quite reach. Knowing he had to step further out on the branch he was precariously perched on, Jack shifted his feet slowly and moved his anchoring hand further out as he reached. “Here, kitty, kitty!” he beckoned toward the wailing kitten.
There was a sudden, ominous creaking sound coming from the branch Jack’s feet were planted on, and from below he heard Cassie’s concerned voice saying, “Be careful, Uncle Jack!”
“Don’t worry, Cass, I got him!” Jack took another step out and managed to snag the kitten by the scruff of his neck. A second later there was a loud crack, and the branch Jack had been standing on was no longer solidly beneath him. His last thought was a sudden curse as he fell, kitten still secure in hand as he landed flat on his back on the grass seconds before darkness claimed him.
-
“Jack!” Sam yelped, and at the same time, Cassie screamed, while her friend Amy screeched, “My kitty!”
The little kitten looked shaken, but was unharmed, having landed on Jack’s chest. Sam plucked the little kitten off him gently and handed him off to his distraught young owner before checking on Jack. His eyelids fluttered open as he sucked in a gasping breath.
“Uncle Jack!” Cassie cried with concern.
“I’m okay,” he wheezed automatically, already trying to sit up.
Sam placed a restraining hand on his chest. “Lie still and let me check you out for a second,” she instructed calmly, then examined his pupils, ribs, neck, arms, and legs before saying softly, “Alright, I think you can sit up now. Slowly.”
Jack sat up with her help and blinked in a daze, looking around and then up at the two little girls staring at him. “Cat okay?”
The little girl clutching the kitten in her arms nodded. “Thank you for saving my kitty.”
“You’re welcome, Amy.” Sam smiled at Cassie’s friend the same time Jack managed a smile as well. She looked over at Cassandra and said, “Sweetie, how ‘bout Jack and I take you home now so your mom can make sure Jack’s okay, alright?”
“I’m fine,” Jack insisted grumpily, rubbing the back of his head.
Cassandra looked at Jack and nodded, then waved a hand at her friend’s house. “I’ll go tell Amy’s mom you guys are bringing me home.”
Sam turned to Jack as the two girls ran into the house. “Hurt anywhere else besides your head?” she asked him with a grimace.
“No,” he muttered, trying to stand up.
Pulling Jack up the rest of the way, Sam steadied him and walked him toward the passenger side of his truck, ignoring her friend’s protests.
-
Sitting on Janet’s couch, Jack was holding an icepack to the back of his head and scowling.
“How’s the head?” Janet asked him with a smile, tolerant of his bad mood and ignoring it.
“Fine,” he growled, eyes narrowing in Sam’s direction, “But I’m tired and I’m still hungry.”
Sam looked at Janet and laughed. “I’ll take him home.”
When they got back to Jack’s house, the two of them settled down in the living room with the Chinese food they hadn’t been able to eat earlier. Sam smiled as she watched Jack shove a forkful of fried rice in his mouth, finally looking satisfied. The food was cold, but they were both well past caring, Jack especially.
“Tomorrow,” he muttered with his mouth still full of food, waving a fork at Sam, “I expect a real day off.”
Sam laughed in acquiescence. “You got it.”
-The End-