Because I get too many emails about this one....
Ok - kallanna got an email today asking about a fic I wrote several years ago, which was archived on the Sam and Jack archive.
I get such emails periodically, because it wasn't archived properly, and so various parts of it get hidden due to html coding problems. The error is probably my fault, if anything, because I used angle-brackets inside the story - and anyone familar with HTML will know this isn't a good idea.
So here it is, as I don't currently have a website set up. Any further queries can be diverted here.
Title: Calennig
Author: Sammi-Jayne
Genre: Stargate SG-1
Pairing: Sam and Jack
Summary: Sam goes on holiday with her father for Christmas, and Jack misses her deeply
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret Productions, etc etc.
Author's notes: The Author and her talented, witty, yet spellcheckingly challenged partner-in-insanity, do hereby reserve the O'Neill-given right to poke fun at the people living in the country just to the West of England, but before you hit Ireland. (known locally as Wales)
Why do we reserve this right...? Well the only people who can safely poke fun at the Welsh are the Welsh themselves!!! ... and maybe the Scot's... and the Irish...?
Mae hen wlad fyn hadau... @:-)
Feedback: Warmly recieved - but please, no grammer quibbles. We're just having some fun here!
*~*~*~*~*~*
Calennig
By Sammi-Jayne
(Jack O'Neill Sarcasm advisor - Kallanna)
May 2001
Rated PG
'The festive season comes but once a year, thankfully!' The Colonel thought to himself as he headed towards Carters Lab. She and Danny were due to shipout at 1400 to join Jacob across the Atlantic in a little ol' place called Wales. Why anyone would want to live in a place named after aquatic mammals was quite beyond him.
He arrived at her lab to see her hunched over her laptop, looking rather sullen.
"Hey Carter, ya packed yet?" he asked, leaning against the door frame
Sam shot him a dirty look.
"Oww. What'cha look at me like that for, I could have melted." He said, waggling his eyebrows.
This caused Sam's mouth to curl up a little at the edges, as she forced herself not to laugh. Jack grinned back in triumph,
"I saw ya, you smiled! Come on Sam it's not that bad - only two weeks way from your doohickies"
"You mean two weeks away from ANY 'doohickies'." Sam pouted
Jack looked amused. "Don't ya mean any 'TECHNOLOGY'. Thought you were taking your laptop?"
Sam looked up at him as a scolded child would to a parent. "Can't, sir," she muttered in a hurt tone, "I've been banned from playing with anything scientific for the whole holiday,and that includes my computer. I'm not even allowed to say anything scientific or I'm grounded!" She looked indignant at the thought, "Dad says it's a family trip and I'm supposed to have 'fun'. Had to practically beg him to let me keep my cell phone and that was only because the base might need to contact me."
"And he's right! Don't you and Space Monkey be worrying about us here at the Base, we'll manage without *Major* Carter for a few weeks while *Sam* Carter has has some much-needed FUN!!!" Jack laughed as he impulsively pulled her into a bear-hug, realising that he was going to miss her.
To his surprise, Sam snuggled into his shoulder before reluctantly pulling away. "Thanks Jack" She smiled. He did his best to smile back, wondering why her close proximity was setting his heart racing.
"Jack? What happened to Sir?" he managed.
"It's 1401 hrs - I'm officially on down time. And as I recall, I was ordered to 'lose the Sir' when off-duty, Jack." Sam giggled as Jack gathered her bags together.
"Hey no giggling." Jack grinned as he escorted topside.
*~*~*~*~*~*
'This is ridiculous! I nag Carter for months to take a vacation, and as soon as she's gone I want her to come back again!' Jack sighed to himself, irritated by his selfishness. Teal'c had gone to visit his son, leaving Jack all alone on base, on stand-by should any Goa'ulds cause trouble. Jack suspected that Teal'c's departure was partly an attempt to escape from him - even General Hammond was threatening to send for Dr Fraiser if Jack didn't quit bothering him.
It wasn't so much that he missed the company of his teamates, he mused, though that was certainly true. What he really missed was the ability to pop into Carter's lab any time he wanted, to talk to her, watch her - even just to see her smile at one of his god-awful jokes. He missed Sam Carter...and that frightened the hell out of him.
It was even more depressing that it just happened to be Christmas. There was tinsel and all manner of decorations hanging around the halls of the SGC, and he had no-one to share it with. Janet had hung misteltoe over the door to the infirmary, insisting that all visitors abide by the tradition, and she and Siler had also sneaked into the Gateroom late one night and strung tinsle and fairly lights up and down the ramp leading up to the Stargate. They'd wanted to decorate the Gate itself, but Jack - who'd been in on this plan - had been forced to deny them that request, incase it caused problems with the Gate's operation.
With nothing else to do, he headed to his office. There was always that new 'Quake' game Sam had installed for him last month...
He smiled at how his thoughts once again drifted back to Carter. He shook his head whistfully and booted up his computer. Upon logging into the network, he was very surprised to see a pop-up appear on his screen stating:
'You have new mail'.
"Who could possibly be writing to me?" he wondered aloud, knowing that governmental email accounts didn't tend to receive junk-mail. Intrigued, he fired up the mail-retrieval software. There was one message waiting for him;
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
To: Col. J. O'Neill,
From: Sam Carter
Subject: Hi Sir!
Hi Colonel!
After a dangerous covert-operation, I managed to find a computer I could access my email from, and couldn't resist sending you a quick note to say hi!
It's fun so far, here in Wales. I don't know what possessed Dad to want to come see his cousin Graham, but I'm sure glad he did 'cause frankly I think I needed the break. I love my work, but I'm really enjoying this downtime.
Daniel's having a blast too - they speak a language here he's not familiar with! Welsh is very gutteral, and apparently the grammer's nearly the reverse of English, but he seems to be picking it up fairly easy from the television. Unfortunately (Fortunately?) there's no-one around he can practise on, 'cause here in Cardiff everyone speaks English. Or one of the Asian languages.
Anyway, I better go. I have to go and meet Daniel in a few minutes - he's dragging me around Cardiff Castle. It's right here in the city centre, surrounded by shops! How handy is that!
Bye!
Sam
Jack sat back in amazement - she was thousands of miles away, on vacation, and she still wanted to check her email? He really didn't know what to make of it, but he couldn't help but grin, secretly pleased she thought to write him while she was at it. Maybe she was missing him as much as he missed her?
He shook his head, laughing at himself for thinking such crazy thoughts, and then clicked on reply. She was obviously intent on keeping up with her mail, and he liked talking to her, so....
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
To: Sam Carter
From: Col. J. O'Neill,
Subject: Re:Hi Sir!
Hey Carter! Last thing I expected when I got into work this morning was to find a little note from you! Have Daniel and your father not managed to keep you away from those, what do they call them, cybercafes? For shame! And what's with the email address, huh? I laughed so hard when I saw it I got a funny look from an airman in the corridor! 595 indeed....
Still, it was nice to here that you're enjoying yourself! It's fairly quiet out here - no bad guys to fight, no missing teams to go rescue...you picked a good time to take your vacation. Teal'c's gone to see his kid, and me - I'm just hanging around, finishing my paperwork - which I have to actually finish now I haven't got you to go bug....
Anyway, since they can't keep you away from your email, tell me all about the castle and whatever else you did that day. No doubt you'd tell it better than Danny-boy would - well, in fewer words anyway!
Jack
*~*~*~*~*~*
Next morning, he headed into work earlier than usual - surprising several SFs - and immeadiately headed for his computer to see if Carter had responded. He grinned triumphantly apon recieving a new message from her;
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
To: Col. J. O'Neill,
From: Sam Carter
Subject: Re:Re:Hi Sir!
Hi Sir!
No, they haven't managed to keep me away from the cybercafe - it's right across the street from the castle, which if you recall is in the middle of town. So therefore whenever we're in town - which is every day - I find some way to lose them so I can pop in here! Great, huh!
The castle was nice - very small as castles go, but very lavishly decorated. Daniel couldn't get over the tour-guide's accent or speech-patterns; nothing like the way the locals speak, and he kept dragging out the last syllable of every sentence! Very odd.
We took the whole tour, from the tower, through the bedrooms and the conservatory to the dining room and library. And what a library! None of the books were authentic, but there was wooden shelving everywhere - it was the kind of library I want in my own house one day!
After that, we climbed up to the keep, and had a great view of the city - it stretches for miles, yet by our standards it's a tiny place!
We also went into their little military museum - which might have interested you. There were displays of uniforms and weaponry, and pictures of old battles. Daniel was quickly bored, and Dad wasn't with us at the time, so I took pity on him and only had a quick look around before we headed for a walk around the battlements. They don't go all the way around the castle, so we found ourselves at a dead-end. Daniel had the bright idea of heading down the grass embankment that goes around the inside of the castle grounds, and ended up sliding down to the bottom! I laughed so hard I got stitches!
Anyway, my time's nearly up and we're meeting Dad to go to the movies tonight. They're about six months or so behind us, so we have the choice of either going to see one we missed, or rewatching one we liked!
Bye!
Sam
Jack grinned, picturing Daniel in a military museum; hands in pockets, bored look on his face.... Jack would have taken great pleasure at examining each exhibit and discussing them in detail with Carter, just to annoy him. And he could just see her with her own personal library-room - the shelves crammed with physics text books, the odd science-fiction novel, and maybe one or two of those slushy romances he'd caught her reading a few times during down-time visits to her apartment.
He pondered how to reply to this latest email. There was nothing really for him to tell her, but he had this overwhelming urge to answer it, regardless. Shrugging, he clicked on reply and began to type;
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
To: Sam Carter
From: Col. J. O'Neill,
Subject: Re:Re:Re:Hi Sir!
Hey Sam!
So what film did you go to see? Please don't tell me it was some crazy chick-flick! Though I quite liked Charlie's Angels - I hear that's out over there at the moment....
What plans do you guys have for christmas then? I don't really have any, 'cause there's only Hammond, Janet and Cassie around that I tend to spend any amount of time with. And how soon after New Years do you get back? The lack of activity around here is killing me!
Well, seeing as I have nothing interesting to tell you, I'll leave it there and hope to hear from you again tomorrow. I'm telling ya Carter, I'm getting the oddest looks around here! So what if I get into work early for once! Or twice.... And is it really so odd to see me at my desk tapping away at the computer? On second thoughts, don't answer that one....
See ya 'round, Sam!
Jack
*~*~*~*~*~*
For the rest of the day, Jack was constantly checking the clock on his wall, trying to calculate what time it was on the other side of the pond. Wales was seven hours ahead of Colorado, so it had to be at least evening over there. Sam was probably either at the movies, having dinner with Jacob and Daniel, or asleep. It was gonna be a long time before she could sneak out to the cybercafé again.
He sighed in frustration. It was really surprising him just how much he missed her - and it was Christmas, dammit! Why were most of the people he considered to be his family suddenly a minimum of a few thousand miles away, for crying out loud!
The next day - which was Christmas Eve - he arrived at the base early again, eager to check for a new message, but to his surprise there wasn't one. Checking his watch, Jack saw that it was 0830 hours, which would make it 1530 in Wales. So why hadn't Sam responded yet? Were Daniel and Jacob keeping her too busy? Had her 'covert-ops' mission been discovered and she was now grounded, as her father had threatened?
He tried his best to carry on as normal at the base, only really voicing his concerns to his kitchen wall when he got home, but after two days without a word from Carter, General Hammond was starting notice that Jack was behaving strangely.
"What's on your mind, son?" he asked, his tone fatherly. He knew that his maverick 2IC was extremely bored, but it wasn't like him to mope around the base like he'd lost his best friend.
"Sir?" Jack looked puzzled
"You've been rather distracted these past few days, Jack. First you start coming in much earlier than you need to, spend most of your time in your office glued to your computer, and now you seem to be worried about something. I'd like to know what that is."
Jack sighed, "It's Carter, sir," he admitted, "Daniel and Jacob banned her from anything work-related, or tech-related for the duration of the holiday, but she still managed to get to one of those cybercafés to check her email. She was writing to me for a couple of days, but now she's gone silent."
"That's what's bothering you, Jack?" Hammond was incredulous, "Did it occur to you that maybe she's simply decided to kick back and enjoy her vacation?"
"Of course it has, General, but this is Carter we're talking about. She'd have *told* me that was what she was gonna do - not go silent on me."
Hammond smiled indulgently at him, "I think you just need to get some perspective, Jack." he told him, "I know you're bored, but don't you think this is getting ridiculous? And don't forget that today is Boxing Day - this cybercafé is probably closed."
Jack looked like he wanted to say more, but decided it wasn't worth it. "Yes sir. Point taken."
"Good," Hammond turned to leave, "Find something to do, Jack, before you go stir-crazy."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Jack busied himself for the rest of the day with exercises in the base gymnasium. It did wonders as a distraction from thoughts of Sam, and also worked up a monster of an appetite. He was just changing into some clean BDUs following his shower, when his cell-phone beeped. Frowning, he glanced at it and noticed that the text-message icon was visible. He opened up the menu to discover it was from the cellular Sam had taken with her incase the base needed to get hold of her. He laughed to see that the message was
'She remembered about my 'Wacky Races' ring-tone!' he smiled to himself as he began to key in a reply, softly cursing each time he scrolled past the letter he needed.
he sent back, grinning. Finishing dressing, he pocketted his phone and headed to the commisary for some food.
He was half way there when his phone beeped again;
he paged back
came the reply,
They continued talking all the way through Jack's meal, earning Jack even more odd looks from the airmen at the sight of him laughing at his cellular. When he was finished, he headed back to his office to finish up some left-over work, and continued to chat to Sam, who was covertly paging him every chance she got.
Jack grinned,
He laughed. Sam had told him how she'd sneaked out to the cybercafé as usual on the day before christmas eve, only to be cut off at the pass by a very irritated looking Jacob Carter. So now she was grounded unless she had a chaperone; the prospect of wandering around the museum every day with Daniel didn't appeal to her, and Jacob and Graham were spending most of Graham's free time down the pub, playing pool. As a result, she was extremely bored. Even her cellular was against her, as her phone was malfunctioning and only allowed her to send text messages internationally.
Jack paused, a strange feeling coming over him at her 'words'. Did he miss her? She would be horrified to learn the extent to which he missed her. In a matter of a week, her absence from him had turned his whole world around, and he was astounded. He'd never realised how much he'd come to depend on her in the past four years.
was all he dared key in. Jack's heart raced as he pressed send. What would she say? Would she laugh at him?
came her response, after a while. He caught himself grinning like a teenager.
he responded,
He'd meant that as a joke, even though he did want to hear her voice again, but was pleasantly surprised when her next message just contained a set of numbers. They made up a british telephone number, which Jack immeadiately dialed. He barely heard the first ringing tone before the phone was picked up at the other end.
"Jack?"
There it was. The voice he'd been missing for the past week. He sighed happily,
"Yeah, it's me. Hi Sam."
"Hi Jack," he pictured the 1,000 kilowat smile her tone suggested was lighting her face, "How are you?"
"I'm good. Why are you talking so quietly?"
"It's midnight here - everyone's in bed."
Jack glanced at his clock, which read 1700. "Jeez, that's right! So why aren't you in bed yet?"
"Couldn't sleep," she sounded coy, like she was hiding something.
"Missing me too much, were ya?" Jack couldn't help baiting her. But, truth to tell, he'd not been sleeping that well for the past week himself.
"What's to miss?" she quipped, "No doubt you've been pestering some other poor soul to keep you entertained while I've been away."
Jack coughed in embarrasment, "Actually, Teal'c decided to go see his son after a couple of days..."
Sam laughed, and Jack's heart swelled at the sound, "Now I wonder why he did that." He could hear that she was grinning again. Then she sighed, "I have been missing you," she confessed, "I keep thinking 'Oh, Jack would like that', or 'I must tell Jack about this'. And, if you listen to Daniel, I haven't stopped mentioning you all week!"
He didn't know what to say to that, but Sam was too nervous about having admitted that to notice his lack of response anyway. "I bet you've been having a whale of a time, though," she continued, "Always some new planet to go explore."
"Nah, I'm on stand-by incase of emergencies, that's all. I actually got a visit from Hammond after you had to stop mailing me, telling me to quit moping around the base and find something to do."
Sam laughed again, "Are you telling me that Colonel Jack O'Neill has been sitting around the base feeling sorry for himself, just 'cause the rest of his team are on vacation?"
'No Sam, not the rest of my team - just you.' he thought, but aloud he chuckled, and said "Something like that."
They talked for almost an hour, discussing anything and everything that came to mind, until Sam started yawning.
"I'd better let you get some sleep, Sam." Jack sighed, sadly
"I suppose." came the reluctant reply, "It's been great to hear your voice again, Jack. I didn't realise just how much I missed hearing you."
"You too, Sam." Jack agreed, "How many days till you fly home?" he asked, trying not to sound too desperate
"We fly out on Tuesday, so seven..." Sam sounded as though that felt like an eternity. To Jack, it very nearly did.
"I'll see you in seven days then. Goodnight Sam, sleep well!"
"Yeah, you too. Goodnight Jack."
With herculean effort, Jack put the phone down. He was overcome with a mixture of feelings; happiness at having spoken to Sam, and sadness that it was still another week before she'd be home.
*~*~*~*~*~*
That night, Jack's dreams were filled with images of Sam - some real, some created by his fantasies. He dreamed of kissing her as he had done during that time-loop incident, safe in the knowledge that she'd remember this time around. He dreamed of taking her hand in the Gate room and telling her he loved her, in front of all the soldiers stationed around the Gate. He rather enjoyed dreaming about making love with her up on his roof, underneath the stars, but the dream he enjoyed most of all was the final one, where she was walking towards him in a beautiful white dress, being escorted down the aisle by her proud father.
He woke up just as the minister was getting to the "You may now kiss the bride." part, happy yet frustrated. One thought was foremost in his mind: he was going to have to talk to Hammond.
*~*~*~*~*~*
He paused at Hammond's door, wondering if he hadn't perhaps gone mad. 'Am I doing the right thing?' he wondered. Sighing, he told himself that it was now or never, and knocked the door.
"Come in."
His heart in his throat, he pushed open the door to the office and went in. Hammond looked up from a report he was reading - obviously not one of Jack's, since he didn't seem to have a headache. The General smiled at him,
"What can I do for you, Jack?"
"It's a matter of a... personal nature, sir." Jack hesitated, his resolve disappearing. Hammond's eyes narrowed,
"Does this matter involve Major Carter, Colonel?" he asked, putting deliberate emphasis on Jack's rank. Jack hung his head slightly, feeling ashamed.
'Why am I doing this?' he asked himself for the millionth time, 'And what's more, why am I dragging Carter down with me?'
"I wish it didn't," he sighed, finally, "The last thing I want is to hurt her, or her career. That's why I've come to ask your advice, really."
"My advice?" Hammond was puzzled now,
"I need to know if there's some kind of loophole we can work around, or if I have to retire," Jack couldn't help a slight grin as he added, "Again."
Hammond also chuckled, but then turned serious again, "What are you telling me, Jack? Are you and Major Carter in a relationship?"
Jack shook his head, "No sir, we're not. I respect Sam too much to risk her career like that." He could see the relief in the General's face, "But I can't carry on like this anymore, sir - knowing that I love her, and being unable to do anything about it." he sighed, "General, it's killing me!"
Hammond was surprised by this emotional confession, "You're certain she feels the same way?"
Jack shook his head, "Not certain, no. But we both admitted our feelings when Anise retested us to see if we were Zay'tarcs or not. That was what we were unconciously hiding - not some damn Goa'uld mind-print. We agreed to keep it in the room, but I can't any longer. I have to tell her how I feel about her."
General Hammond regarded Jack with thoughtful eyes for a while, then sighed. "Go do something to take your mind off this for an hour, son. I need to make a few phonecalls."
*****
Jack was paged to return to Hammond's office forty-five minutes later, his stomach in knots. What sort of calls had the General made? Had he been trying to help, or was he reporting Jack for misconduct?
Upon rentering the room, a glance at Hammond's face gave no clue. He wore the most neutral expression possible.
"Sit down, Jack." he ordered. Jack did as he was bid, "I've just spoken to the President," Hammond told him, "I can tell you he was not pleased to hear that my second-in-command is on the verge of leaving this program."
"I'll do it if I have to, sir." Jack told him with conviction.
"I don't doubt that, son, and I told him as much. He asked me what could be done to prevent you leaving, and I explained the non-fraternisation regulations to him. At first, he wanted me to re-assign Major Carter to another SG unit, but then he realised the damage that would do to our flagship team."
"So what did he decide?" Jack's heart was racing,
"He decided it was time for a review of those regulations, and their application at the more high-security bases, starting with the SGC." Hammond couldn't resist a smile, "He decided that a base such as this is too classified to prevent personnel from forming strong emotional bonds - after all, we all need someone we can kick back with and discuss what happened at work."
Jack nodded, grinning as the realisation slowly sank in. God knows it had been hard not talking to Sara about some of his missions. And if it meant there was a green light for him and Carter....
"So does this mean the regulation doesn't apply to us?" he asked, needing to hear it spoken plainly before he could dare believe it.
"That's exactly what it means, Jack." Hammond smiled openly at him.
Jack's mind was a whirl, "I gotta go see Sam..." he muttered to himself, "Permission to take some leave time General?"
"Granted, Colonel. But you're going to have a job finding a seat on a plane to the UK this week. They'll all be booked up already." Jack's face fell, but then Hammond grinned again, "I had a word with a friend of mine in the British RAF, whose been stationed near here for the past few months. He's travelling home on Sunday, and is willing to take you with him and drop you off at RAF St Athan. From there, it's a short drive to Cardiff."
Jack resisted the urge to hug his commanding officer. "Thank you sir, I appreciate all the trouble you've gone to."
"No need to thank me. Just treat Sam right, Jack."
"I will, sir."
Hammond nodded, "He leaves at noon on Sunday. Don't be late. Dismissed."
*****
The flight to RAF St Athan was a long and nerve-wracking one. Jack had to fight the urge to pace back and forth across the cabin of the small jet, he was so tense. He had no idea what he was going to say to Sam when he found her, and his traitorous brain kept whispering to him that maybe she didn't feel the same way as him.
What was really killing him was the fact he couldn't have his cellular phone on at any point during the ten-hour flight, so there was no way he could talk to Sam. They hadn't been out of contact for more than a few hours all week - despite the huge bills they were probably running up. Just the night before, Jack had called Sam on Jacob's cousin's number, needing to hear her voice again. She had been very happy to hear from him, and admitted that despite the fun she was having, she missed him.
Jack smiled as he remembered how she had giggled when she told him that neither Daniel nor her family knew how they were keeping in contact. "Our little secret," she had whispered conspiratorially, "It makes it all the more exciting!"
After what seemed like an eternity, yet still much too soon, they arrived at the air-force base. Hammond's friend had kindly agreed to drop Jack off at the Carter residence in Cardiff on his way home to his family. The minute they were off the plane, Jack turned his cellular back on, and was greeted by the arrival of several text messages - all from an increasingly fretful Sam, with 'where are you???' the main theme.
He keyed in,
came the reply a few moments later,
Jack smiled softly, he asked, remembering it was New Year's Eve.
Jack checked his watch; it was nearly eleven PM.
"Any chance you could drop me off near the Festival?" he asked the RAF Officer, "Sam's headed there."
"Calennig? Sure!" the man grinned, "I'll be passing it en route anyway." He gave Jack an appraising glance, "She must be pretty special for you to be going to this much effort to reach her."
"She is!" Jack grinned proudly, "She's smart, funny, beautiful...I could talk your ear off about her!"
The officer laughed, "Then best of luck to you both."
*****
It was twenty to midnight by the time they reached the Calennig festival in the city centre. There were hundreds of people milling around the City Hall building, and somewhere a band was playing.
"I'll never find her in these crowds!" Jack fretted as he bid a grateful farewell to the RAF Officer. Then he had an idea....
he sent to her as he followed the crowds through the carnival rides that ran past City Hall and all around the small parkland behind it.
came the reply.
So...duck fishing. He hurried along the path towards the stalls. In the distance he could see a Big Wheel.
he asked
Damn! They were on the other side! And the clock ontop of the City Hall was moving towards midnight.
In a perfect world, he would have been able to cut through the patch of parkland behind the building, but it had been closed off so they could set up fireworks. So, he had no choice but to try and get through the crowds and around the park to the other side.
It seemed to take forever, but, at five minutes to midnight he finally spotted what was unmistakably the back of the heads of Sam, Daniel and Jacob in a clear stretch of path, headed for the stage.
He picked up his pace and headed after them. Just as he got within shouting distance, the countdown to Midnight began;
"FIVE!"
'Just a few feet more, O'Neill!'
"FOUR!"
A crowd came out of nowhere, and got inbetween him and his objective. Jack growled in frustration and did his best to barge through.
"THREE!"
He pulled his way through, landing just behind Sam. He tapped her shoulder, a grin creeping across his face.
"TWO!"
Sam spun around, and froze in shock at the sight of him. "J-Jack?" At that moment, Daniel and Jacob also turned and saw him.
"ONE!"
Jack wrapped his arms around Sam, pulling her towards him and capturing her lips with his - silently vowing never to let her out of his sight again. Sam came out of her shock and began returning the kiss wholeheartedly, her hands running through his hair.
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!!" yelled the crowd
With extreme reluctance, Jack broke off the kiss. Sam blinked at him, half-dazed. "Happy New Year, Sam." he whispered.
"Happy New Year, Jack," Sam was still in shock, "But Jack - how....?"
"Let's just say I hitched a lift." Jack winked at her.
"From Colorado?" Daniel spoke up
"No, Space-Monkey, from Bora Bora." Jack held Sam close to him, savouring the feel of her in his arms. She didn't seem in much of a hurry to pull away either, "Let's just say I missed you guys too much." he said, gazing at Sam so as to leave her in no doubt just who it was he'd truly missed.
It wasn't lost on Daniel and Jacob either, who shared knowing smiles.
"Does this mean Sam's gonna stop running off every couple of minutes to play with her cell-phone?" Jacob chuckled at his daughter's astonished face, "Don't think I didn't notice, kiddo. And those late night phone-calls that kept you downstairs till the early hours."
Jack had to look a little ashamed at that....
"But Jack," Sam turned to him with a puzzled frown, "What are you doing here?"
"I missed you," he told her. She blushed, "I missed your voice, your laugh, your smile..." he sighed, "I missed you, Sam, and couldn't wait till you got home to tell you...."
"Tell me what?" she asked, her voice as small as a child. Daniel and Jacob looked on at this publicly private moment, enthralled.
"That I love you."
He whispered it so quietly that only Sam heard it clearly. Her heart was doing backflips as she cuddled in closer to him, elated at his words.
"I love you too, Jack, but what about the regs?" she asked, burying her head in his neck. Jack brought his hand up to caress her hair.
"They've been suspended for SGC personnel." he told her, grinning as she pulled her head back to stare at him in disbelief, "We can be together now - that is, if you still want me...." he added, his eyes betraying his uncertainty. Sam's answer was to take his head in her hands and kiss him soundly - leaving him in no doubt whatsoever.
Diwedd (The End)
I get such emails periodically, because it wasn't archived properly, and so various parts of it get hidden due to html coding problems. The error is probably my fault, if anything, because I used angle-brackets inside the story - and anyone familar with HTML will know this isn't a good idea.
So here it is, as I don't currently have a website set up. Any further queries can be diverted here.
Title: Calennig
Author: Sammi-Jayne
Genre: Stargate SG-1
Pairing: Sam and Jack
Summary: Sam goes on holiday with her father for Christmas, and Jack misses her deeply
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret Productions, etc etc.
Author's notes: The Author and her talented, witty, yet spellcheckingly challenged partner-in-insanity, do hereby reserve the O'Neill-given right to poke fun at the people living in the country just to the West of England, but before you hit Ireland. (known locally as Wales)
Why do we reserve this right...? Well the only people who can safely poke fun at the Welsh are the Welsh themselves!!! ... and maybe the Scot's... and the Irish...?
Mae hen wlad fyn hadau... @:-)
Feedback: Warmly recieved - but please, no grammer quibbles. We're just having some fun here!
*~*~*~*~*~*
Calennig
By Sammi-Jayne
(Jack O'Neill Sarcasm advisor - Kallanna)
May 2001
Rated PG
'The festive season comes but once a year, thankfully!' The Colonel thought to himself as he headed towards Carters Lab. She and Danny were due to shipout at 1400 to join Jacob across the Atlantic in a little ol' place called Wales. Why anyone would want to live in a place named after aquatic mammals was quite beyond him.
He arrived at her lab to see her hunched over her laptop, looking rather sullen.
"Hey Carter, ya packed yet?" he asked, leaning against the door frame
Sam shot him a dirty look.
"Oww. What'cha look at me like that for, I could have melted." He said, waggling his eyebrows.
This caused Sam's mouth to curl up a little at the edges, as she forced herself not to laugh. Jack grinned back in triumph,
"I saw ya, you smiled! Come on Sam it's not that bad - only two weeks way from your doohickies"
"You mean two weeks away from ANY 'doohickies'." Sam pouted
Jack looked amused. "Don't ya mean any 'TECHNOLOGY'. Thought you were taking your laptop?"
Sam looked up at him as a scolded child would to a parent. "Can't, sir," she muttered in a hurt tone, "I've been banned from playing with anything scientific for the whole holiday,and that includes my computer. I'm not even allowed to say anything scientific or I'm grounded!" She looked indignant at the thought, "Dad says it's a family trip and I'm supposed to have 'fun'. Had to practically beg him to let me keep my cell phone and that was only because the base might need to contact me."
"And he's right! Don't you and Space Monkey be worrying about us here at the Base, we'll manage without *Major* Carter for a few weeks while *Sam* Carter has has some much-needed FUN!!!" Jack laughed as he impulsively pulled her into a bear-hug, realising that he was going to miss her.
To his surprise, Sam snuggled into his shoulder before reluctantly pulling away. "Thanks Jack" She smiled. He did his best to smile back, wondering why her close proximity was setting his heart racing.
"Jack? What happened to Sir?" he managed.
"It's 1401 hrs - I'm officially on down time. And as I recall, I was ordered to 'lose the Sir' when off-duty, Jack." Sam giggled as Jack gathered her bags together.
"Hey no giggling." Jack grinned as he escorted topside.
*~*~*~*~*~*
'This is ridiculous! I nag Carter for months to take a vacation, and as soon as she's gone I want her to come back again!' Jack sighed to himself, irritated by his selfishness. Teal'c had gone to visit his son, leaving Jack all alone on base, on stand-by should any Goa'ulds cause trouble. Jack suspected that Teal'c's departure was partly an attempt to escape from him - even General Hammond was threatening to send for Dr Fraiser if Jack didn't quit bothering him.
It wasn't so much that he missed the company of his teamates, he mused, though that was certainly true. What he really missed was the ability to pop into Carter's lab any time he wanted, to talk to her, watch her - even just to see her smile at one of his god-awful jokes. He missed Sam Carter...and that frightened the hell out of him.
It was even more depressing that it just happened to be Christmas. There was tinsel and all manner of decorations hanging around the halls of the SGC, and he had no-one to share it with. Janet had hung misteltoe over the door to the infirmary, insisting that all visitors abide by the tradition, and she and Siler had also sneaked into the Gateroom late one night and strung tinsle and fairly lights up and down the ramp leading up to the Stargate. They'd wanted to decorate the Gate itself, but Jack - who'd been in on this plan - had been forced to deny them that request, incase it caused problems with the Gate's operation.
With nothing else to do, he headed to his office. There was always that new 'Quake' game Sam had installed for him last month...
He smiled at how his thoughts once again drifted back to Carter. He shook his head whistfully and booted up his computer. Upon logging into the network, he was very surprised to see a pop-up appear on his screen stating:
'You have new mail'.
"Who could possibly be writing to me?" he wondered aloud, knowing that governmental email accounts didn't tend to receive junk-mail. Intrigued, he fired up the mail-retrieval software. There was one message waiting for him;
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
To: Col. J. O'Neill,
From: Sam Carter
Subject: Hi Sir!
Hi Colonel!
After a dangerous covert-operation, I managed to find a computer I could access my email from, and couldn't resist sending you a quick note to say hi!
It's fun so far, here in Wales. I don't know what possessed Dad to want to come see his cousin Graham, but I'm sure glad he did 'cause frankly I think I needed the break. I love my work, but I'm really enjoying this downtime.
Daniel's having a blast too - they speak a language here he's not familiar with! Welsh is very gutteral, and apparently the grammer's nearly the reverse of English, but he seems to be picking it up fairly easy from the television. Unfortunately (Fortunately?) there's no-one around he can practise on, 'cause here in Cardiff everyone speaks English. Or one of the Asian languages.
Anyway, I better go. I have to go and meet Daniel in a few minutes - he's dragging me around Cardiff Castle. It's right here in the city centre, surrounded by shops! How handy is that!
Bye!
Sam
Jack sat back in amazement - she was thousands of miles away, on vacation, and she still wanted to check her email? He really didn't know what to make of it, but he couldn't help but grin, secretly pleased she thought to write him while she was at it. Maybe she was missing him as much as he missed her?
He shook his head, laughing at himself for thinking such crazy thoughts, and then clicked on reply. She was obviously intent on keeping up with her mail, and he liked talking to her, so....
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
To: Sam Carter
From: Col. J. O'Neill,
Subject: Re:Hi Sir!
Hey Carter! Last thing I expected when I got into work this morning was to find a little note from you! Have Daniel and your father not managed to keep you away from those, what do they call them, cybercafes? For shame! And what's with the email address, huh? I laughed so hard when I saw it I got a funny look from an airman in the corridor! 595 indeed....
Still, it was nice to here that you're enjoying yourself! It's fairly quiet out here - no bad guys to fight, no missing teams to go rescue...you picked a good time to take your vacation. Teal'c's gone to see his kid, and me - I'm just hanging around, finishing my paperwork - which I have to actually finish now I haven't got you to go bug....
Anyway, since they can't keep you away from your email, tell me all about the castle and whatever else you did that day. No doubt you'd tell it better than Danny-boy would - well, in fewer words anyway!
Jack
*~*~*~*~*~*
Next morning, he headed into work earlier than usual - surprising several SFs - and immeadiately headed for his computer to see if Carter had responded. He grinned triumphantly apon recieving a new message from her;
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
To: Col. J. O'Neill,
From: Sam Carter
Subject: Re:Re:Hi Sir!
Hi Sir!
No, they haven't managed to keep me away from the cybercafe - it's right across the street from the castle, which if you recall is in the middle of town. So therefore whenever we're in town - which is every day - I find some way to lose them so I can pop in here! Great, huh!
The castle was nice - very small as castles go, but very lavishly decorated. Daniel couldn't get over the tour-guide's accent or speech-patterns; nothing like the way the locals speak, and he kept dragging out the last syllable of every sentence! Very odd.
We took the whole tour, from the tower, through the bedrooms and the conservatory to the dining room and library. And what a library! None of the books were authentic, but there was wooden shelving everywhere - it was the kind of library I want in my own house one day!
After that, we climbed up to the keep, and had a great view of the city - it stretches for miles, yet by our standards it's a tiny place!
We also went into their little military museum - which might have interested you. There were displays of uniforms and weaponry, and pictures of old battles. Daniel was quickly bored, and Dad wasn't with us at the time, so I took pity on him and only had a quick look around before we headed for a walk around the battlements. They don't go all the way around the castle, so we found ourselves at a dead-end. Daniel had the bright idea of heading down the grass embankment that goes around the inside of the castle grounds, and ended up sliding down to the bottom! I laughed so hard I got stitches!
Anyway, my time's nearly up and we're meeting Dad to go to the movies tonight. They're about six months or so behind us, so we have the choice of either going to see one we missed, or rewatching one we liked!
Bye!
Sam
Jack grinned, picturing Daniel in a military museum; hands in pockets, bored look on his face.... Jack would have taken great pleasure at examining each exhibit and discussing them in detail with Carter, just to annoy him. And he could just see her with her own personal library-room - the shelves crammed with physics text books, the odd science-fiction novel, and maybe one or two of those slushy romances he'd caught her reading a few times during down-time visits to her apartment.
He pondered how to reply to this latest email. There was nothing really for him to tell her, but he had this overwhelming urge to answer it, regardless. Shrugging, he clicked on reply and began to type;
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
To: Sam Carter
From: Col. J. O'Neill,
Subject: Re:Re:Re:Hi Sir!
Hey Sam!
So what film did you go to see? Please don't tell me it was some crazy chick-flick! Though I quite liked Charlie's Angels - I hear that's out over there at the moment....
What plans do you guys have for christmas then? I don't really have any, 'cause there's only Hammond, Janet and Cassie around that I tend to spend any amount of time with. And how soon after New Years do you get back? The lack of activity around here is killing me!
Well, seeing as I have nothing interesting to tell you, I'll leave it there and hope to hear from you again tomorrow. I'm telling ya Carter, I'm getting the oddest looks around here! So what if I get into work early for once! Or twice.... And is it really so odd to see me at my desk tapping away at the computer? On second thoughts, don't answer that one....
See ya 'round, Sam!
Jack
*~*~*~*~*~*
For the rest of the day, Jack was constantly checking the clock on his wall, trying to calculate what time it was on the other side of the pond. Wales was seven hours ahead of Colorado, so it had to be at least evening over there. Sam was probably either at the movies, having dinner with Jacob and Daniel, or asleep. It was gonna be a long time before she could sneak out to the cybercafé again.
He sighed in frustration. It was really surprising him just how much he missed her - and it was Christmas, dammit! Why were most of the people he considered to be his family suddenly a minimum of a few thousand miles away, for crying out loud!
The next day - which was Christmas Eve - he arrived at the base early again, eager to check for a new message, but to his surprise there wasn't one. Checking his watch, Jack saw that it was 0830 hours, which would make it 1530 in Wales. So why hadn't Sam responded yet? Were Daniel and Jacob keeping her too busy? Had her 'covert-ops' mission been discovered and she was now grounded, as her father had threatened?
He tried his best to carry on as normal at the base, only really voicing his concerns to his kitchen wall when he got home, but after two days without a word from Carter, General Hammond was starting notice that Jack was behaving strangely.
"What's on your mind, son?" he asked, his tone fatherly. He knew that his maverick 2IC was extremely bored, but it wasn't like him to mope around the base like he'd lost his best friend.
"Sir?" Jack looked puzzled
"You've been rather distracted these past few days, Jack. First you start coming in much earlier than you need to, spend most of your time in your office glued to your computer, and now you seem to be worried about something. I'd like to know what that is."
Jack sighed, "It's Carter, sir," he admitted, "Daniel and Jacob banned her from anything work-related, or tech-related for the duration of the holiday, but she still managed to get to one of those cybercafés to check her email. She was writing to me for a couple of days, but now she's gone silent."
"That's what's bothering you, Jack?" Hammond was incredulous, "Did it occur to you that maybe she's simply decided to kick back and enjoy her vacation?"
"Of course it has, General, but this is Carter we're talking about. She'd have *told* me that was what she was gonna do - not go silent on me."
Hammond smiled indulgently at him, "I think you just need to get some perspective, Jack." he told him, "I know you're bored, but don't you think this is getting ridiculous? And don't forget that today is Boxing Day - this cybercafé is probably closed."
Jack looked like he wanted to say more, but decided it wasn't worth it. "Yes sir. Point taken."
"Good," Hammond turned to leave, "Find something to do, Jack, before you go stir-crazy."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Jack busied himself for the rest of the day with exercises in the base gymnasium. It did wonders as a distraction from thoughts of Sam, and also worked up a monster of an appetite. He was just changing into some clean BDUs following his shower, when his cell-phone beeped. Frowning, he glanced at it and noticed that the text-message icon was visible. He opened up the menu to discover it was from the cellular Sam had taken with her incase the base needed to get hold of her. He laughed to see that the message was
'She remembered about my 'Wacky Races' ring-tone!' he smiled to himself as he began to key in a reply, softly cursing each time he scrolled past the letter he needed.
he sent back, grinning. Finishing dressing, he pocketted his phone and headed to the commisary for some food.
He was half way there when his phone beeped again;
he paged back
came the reply,
They continued talking all the way through Jack's meal, earning Jack even more odd looks from the airmen at the sight of him laughing at his cellular. When he was finished, he headed back to his office to finish up some left-over work, and continued to chat to Sam, who was covertly paging him every chance she got.
Jack grinned,
He laughed. Sam had told him how she'd sneaked out to the cybercafé as usual on the day before christmas eve, only to be cut off at the pass by a very irritated looking Jacob Carter. So now she was grounded unless she had a chaperone; the prospect of wandering around the museum every day with Daniel didn't appeal to her, and Jacob and Graham were spending most of Graham's free time down the pub, playing pool. As a result, she was extremely bored. Even her cellular was against her, as her phone was malfunctioning and only allowed her to send text messages internationally.
Jack paused, a strange feeling coming over him at her 'words'. Did he miss her? She would be horrified to learn the extent to which he missed her. In a matter of a week, her absence from him had turned his whole world around, and he was astounded. He'd never realised how much he'd come to depend on her in the past four years.
was all he dared key in. Jack's heart raced as he pressed send. What would she say? Would she laugh at him?
came her response, after a while. He caught himself grinning like a teenager.
he responded,
He'd meant that as a joke, even though he did want to hear her voice again, but was pleasantly surprised when her next message just contained a set of numbers. They made up a british telephone number, which Jack immeadiately dialed. He barely heard the first ringing tone before the phone was picked up at the other end.
"Jack?"
There it was. The voice he'd been missing for the past week. He sighed happily,
"Yeah, it's me. Hi Sam."
"Hi Jack," he pictured the 1,000 kilowat smile her tone suggested was lighting her face, "How are you?"
"I'm good. Why are you talking so quietly?"
"It's midnight here - everyone's in bed."
Jack glanced at his clock, which read 1700. "Jeez, that's right! So why aren't you in bed yet?"
"Couldn't sleep," she sounded coy, like she was hiding something.
"Missing me too much, were ya?" Jack couldn't help baiting her. But, truth to tell, he'd not been sleeping that well for the past week himself.
"What's to miss?" she quipped, "No doubt you've been pestering some other poor soul to keep you entertained while I've been away."
Jack coughed in embarrasment, "Actually, Teal'c decided to go see his son after a couple of days..."
Sam laughed, and Jack's heart swelled at the sound, "Now I wonder why he did that." He could hear that she was grinning again. Then she sighed, "I have been missing you," she confessed, "I keep thinking 'Oh, Jack would like that', or 'I must tell Jack about this'. And, if you listen to Daniel, I haven't stopped mentioning you all week!"
He didn't know what to say to that, but Sam was too nervous about having admitted that to notice his lack of response anyway. "I bet you've been having a whale of a time, though," she continued, "Always some new planet to go explore."
"Nah, I'm on stand-by incase of emergencies, that's all. I actually got a visit from Hammond after you had to stop mailing me, telling me to quit moping around the base and find something to do."
Sam laughed again, "Are you telling me that Colonel Jack O'Neill has been sitting around the base feeling sorry for himself, just 'cause the rest of his team are on vacation?"
'No Sam, not the rest of my team - just you.' he thought, but aloud he chuckled, and said "Something like that."
They talked for almost an hour, discussing anything and everything that came to mind, until Sam started yawning.
"I'd better let you get some sleep, Sam." Jack sighed, sadly
"I suppose." came the reluctant reply, "It's been great to hear your voice again, Jack. I didn't realise just how much I missed hearing you."
"You too, Sam." Jack agreed, "How many days till you fly home?" he asked, trying not to sound too desperate
"We fly out on Tuesday, so seven..." Sam sounded as though that felt like an eternity. To Jack, it very nearly did.
"I'll see you in seven days then. Goodnight Sam, sleep well!"
"Yeah, you too. Goodnight Jack."
With herculean effort, Jack put the phone down. He was overcome with a mixture of feelings; happiness at having spoken to Sam, and sadness that it was still another week before she'd be home.
*~*~*~*~*~*
That night, Jack's dreams were filled with images of Sam - some real, some created by his fantasies. He dreamed of kissing her as he had done during that time-loop incident, safe in the knowledge that she'd remember this time around. He dreamed of taking her hand in the Gate room and telling her he loved her, in front of all the soldiers stationed around the Gate. He rather enjoyed dreaming about making love with her up on his roof, underneath the stars, but the dream he enjoyed most of all was the final one, where she was walking towards him in a beautiful white dress, being escorted down the aisle by her proud father.
He woke up just as the minister was getting to the "You may now kiss the bride." part, happy yet frustrated. One thought was foremost in his mind: he was going to have to talk to Hammond.
*~*~*~*~*~*
He paused at Hammond's door, wondering if he hadn't perhaps gone mad. 'Am I doing the right thing?' he wondered. Sighing, he told himself that it was now or never, and knocked the door.
"Come in."
His heart in his throat, he pushed open the door to the office and went in. Hammond looked up from a report he was reading - obviously not one of Jack's, since he didn't seem to have a headache. The General smiled at him,
"What can I do for you, Jack?"
"It's a matter of a... personal nature, sir." Jack hesitated, his resolve disappearing. Hammond's eyes narrowed,
"Does this matter involve Major Carter, Colonel?" he asked, putting deliberate emphasis on Jack's rank. Jack hung his head slightly, feeling ashamed.
'Why am I doing this?' he asked himself for the millionth time, 'And what's more, why am I dragging Carter down with me?'
"I wish it didn't," he sighed, finally, "The last thing I want is to hurt her, or her career. That's why I've come to ask your advice, really."
"My advice?" Hammond was puzzled now,
"I need to know if there's some kind of loophole we can work around, or if I have to retire," Jack couldn't help a slight grin as he added, "Again."
Hammond also chuckled, but then turned serious again, "What are you telling me, Jack? Are you and Major Carter in a relationship?"
Jack shook his head, "No sir, we're not. I respect Sam too much to risk her career like that." He could see the relief in the General's face, "But I can't carry on like this anymore, sir - knowing that I love her, and being unable to do anything about it." he sighed, "General, it's killing me!"
Hammond was surprised by this emotional confession, "You're certain she feels the same way?"
Jack shook his head, "Not certain, no. But we both admitted our feelings when Anise retested us to see if we were Zay'tarcs or not. That was what we were unconciously hiding - not some damn Goa'uld mind-print. We agreed to keep it in the room, but I can't any longer. I have to tell her how I feel about her."
General Hammond regarded Jack with thoughtful eyes for a while, then sighed. "Go do something to take your mind off this for an hour, son. I need to make a few phonecalls."
*****
Jack was paged to return to Hammond's office forty-five minutes later, his stomach in knots. What sort of calls had the General made? Had he been trying to help, or was he reporting Jack for misconduct?
Upon rentering the room, a glance at Hammond's face gave no clue. He wore the most neutral expression possible.
"Sit down, Jack." he ordered. Jack did as he was bid, "I've just spoken to the President," Hammond told him, "I can tell you he was not pleased to hear that my second-in-command is on the verge of leaving this program."
"I'll do it if I have to, sir." Jack told him with conviction.
"I don't doubt that, son, and I told him as much. He asked me what could be done to prevent you leaving, and I explained the non-fraternisation regulations to him. At first, he wanted me to re-assign Major Carter to another SG unit, but then he realised the damage that would do to our flagship team."
"So what did he decide?" Jack's heart was racing,
"He decided it was time for a review of those regulations, and their application at the more high-security bases, starting with the SGC." Hammond couldn't resist a smile, "He decided that a base such as this is too classified to prevent personnel from forming strong emotional bonds - after all, we all need someone we can kick back with and discuss what happened at work."
Jack nodded, grinning as the realisation slowly sank in. God knows it had been hard not talking to Sara about some of his missions. And if it meant there was a green light for him and Carter....
"So does this mean the regulation doesn't apply to us?" he asked, needing to hear it spoken plainly before he could dare believe it.
"That's exactly what it means, Jack." Hammond smiled openly at him.
Jack's mind was a whirl, "I gotta go see Sam..." he muttered to himself, "Permission to take some leave time General?"
"Granted, Colonel. But you're going to have a job finding a seat on a plane to the UK this week. They'll all be booked up already." Jack's face fell, but then Hammond grinned again, "I had a word with a friend of mine in the British RAF, whose been stationed near here for the past few months. He's travelling home on Sunday, and is willing to take you with him and drop you off at RAF St Athan. From there, it's a short drive to Cardiff."
Jack resisted the urge to hug his commanding officer. "Thank you sir, I appreciate all the trouble you've gone to."
"No need to thank me. Just treat Sam right, Jack."
"I will, sir."
Hammond nodded, "He leaves at noon on Sunday. Don't be late. Dismissed."
*****
The flight to RAF St Athan was a long and nerve-wracking one. Jack had to fight the urge to pace back and forth across the cabin of the small jet, he was so tense. He had no idea what he was going to say to Sam when he found her, and his traitorous brain kept whispering to him that maybe she didn't feel the same way as him.
What was really killing him was the fact he couldn't have his cellular phone on at any point during the ten-hour flight, so there was no way he could talk to Sam. They hadn't been out of contact for more than a few hours all week - despite the huge bills they were probably running up. Just the night before, Jack had called Sam on Jacob's cousin's number, needing to hear her voice again. She had been very happy to hear from him, and admitted that despite the fun she was having, she missed him.
Jack smiled as he remembered how she had giggled when she told him that neither Daniel nor her family knew how they were keeping in contact. "Our little secret," she had whispered conspiratorially, "It makes it all the more exciting!"
After what seemed like an eternity, yet still much too soon, they arrived at the air-force base. Hammond's friend had kindly agreed to drop Jack off at the Carter residence in Cardiff on his way home to his family. The minute they were off the plane, Jack turned his cellular back on, and was greeted by the arrival of several text messages - all from an increasingly fretful Sam, with 'where are you???' the main theme.
He keyed in,
came the reply a few moments later,
Jack smiled softly, he asked, remembering it was New Year's Eve.
Jack checked his watch; it was nearly eleven PM.
"Any chance you could drop me off near the Festival?" he asked the RAF Officer, "Sam's headed there."
"Calennig? Sure!" the man grinned, "I'll be passing it en route anyway." He gave Jack an appraising glance, "She must be pretty special for you to be going to this much effort to reach her."
"She is!" Jack grinned proudly, "She's smart, funny, beautiful...I could talk your ear off about her!"
The officer laughed, "Then best of luck to you both."
*****
It was twenty to midnight by the time they reached the Calennig festival in the city centre. There were hundreds of people milling around the City Hall building, and somewhere a band was playing.
"I'll never find her in these crowds!" Jack fretted as he bid a grateful farewell to the RAF Officer. Then he had an idea....
he sent to her as he followed the crowds through the carnival rides that ran past City Hall and all around the small parkland behind it.
came the reply.
So...duck fishing. He hurried along the path towards the stalls. In the distance he could see a Big Wheel.
he asked
Damn! They were on the other side! And the clock ontop of the City Hall was moving towards midnight.
In a perfect world, he would have been able to cut through the patch of parkland behind the building, but it had been closed off so they could set up fireworks. So, he had no choice but to try and get through the crowds and around the park to the other side.
It seemed to take forever, but, at five minutes to midnight he finally spotted what was unmistakably the back of the heads of Sam, Daniel and Jacob in a clear stretch of path, headed for the stage.
He picked up his pace and headed after them. Just as he got within shouting distance, the countdown to Midnight began;
"FIVE!"
'Just a few feet more, O'Neill!'
"FOUR!"
A crowd came out of nowhere, and got inbetween him and his objective. Jack growled in frustration and did his best to barge through.
"THREE!"
He pulled his way through, landing just behind Sam. He tapped her shoulder, a grin creeping across his face.
"TWO!"
Sam spun around, and froze in shock at the sight of him. "J-Jack?" At that moment, Daniel and Jacob also turned and saw him.
"ONE!"
Jack wrapped his arms around Sam, pulling her towards him and capturing her lips with his - silently vowing never to let her out of his sight again. Sam came out of her shock and began returning the kiss wholeheartedly, her hands running through his hair.
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!!" yelled the crowd
With extreme reluctance, Jack broke off the kiss. Sam blinked at him, half-dazed. "Happy New Year, Sam." he whispered.
"Happy New Year, Jack," Sam was still in shock, "But Jack - how....?"
"Let's just say I hitched a lift." Jack winked at her.
"From Colorado?" Daniel spoke up
"No, Space-Monkey, from Bora Bora." Jack held Sam close to him, savouring the feel of her in his arms. She didn't seem in much of a hurry to pull away either, "Let's just say I missed you guys too much." he said, gazing at Sam so as to leave her in no doubt just who it was he'd truly missed.
It wasn't lost on Daniel and Jacob either, who shared knowing smiles.
"Does this mean Sam's gonna stop running off every couple of minutes to play with her cell-phone?" Jacob chuckled at his daughter's astonished face, "Don't think I didn't notice, kiddo. And those late night phone-calls that kept you downstairs till the early hours."
Jack had to look a little ashamed at that....
"But Jack," Sam turned to him with a puzzled frown, "What are you doing here?"
"I missed you," he told her. She blushed, "I missed your voice, your laugh, your smile..." he sighed, "I missed you, Sam, and couldn't wait till you got home to tell you...."
"Tell me what?" she asked, her voice as small as a child. Daniel and Jacob looked on at this publicly private moment, enthralled.
"That I love you."
He whispered it so quietly that only Sam heard it clearly. Her heart was doing backflips as she cuddled in closer to him, elated at his words.
"I love you too, Jack, but what about the regs?" she asked, burying her head in his neck. Jack brought his hand up to caress her hair.
"They've been suspended for SGC personnel." he told her, grinning as she pulled her head back to stare at him in disbelief, "We can be together now - that is, if you still want me...." he added, his eyes betraying his uncertainty. Sam's answer was to take his head in her hands and kiss him soundly - leaving him in no doubt whatsoever.
Diwedd (The End)