Sam Carter /Jack O'Neill Ship Appreciation Thread 2.0

[Sparky She-Demon]

You're good!

[iiradned]

Bringing a present. It's a little one shot fic that I've had on my iPad for months and never did anything with.

Takes place during "Heroes Pt. 2".

Hope you enjoy!

Spoiler:

"How To Deal"

It had been a long and exhausting day; Samantha Carter had picked up Cassie from the airport and driven back to the SGC in silence, but when they arrived and there was a row of SG teams standing at attention just outside the elevator, it was too much.

Cassandra Frasier walked down the corridor, trying to hold back the choking sobs, but when she saw the rest of SG-1 standing at the end next to General Hammond, she let herself start to mourn, knowing that she was safe among her family.

The honor guard was dismissed, and Cassie had gone on to the infirmary and taken up residence in her mother's office chair. When Sam had walked in, dressed in her Class A uniform, her goddaughter just shook her head.

"I can't do it, Sam. I can't stand in that room and listen to them play Taps, knowing that it's for my mom." She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself. "Can you just get me when it's over?"

Sam nodded. "Sure," she murmured, gently touching her cheek before walking out to deliver the toughest speech of her life.

They had made their way home as quickly as possible afterwards. And now, Cassie was curled up in the guest bedroom, drained from crying and finally asleep.

Sam's smile flickered, and then she headed down the hallway, entering the kitchen. She had just pulled a box of Kraft pasta out of the pantry when there was a light, recognizable knock at the door.

She glanced down at her black running pants and her grey Air Force hoodie, and shrugged.

Then she opened the door to face her commanding officer.

“Colonel.”

Jack O’Neill nodded at her. “Hey Carter.”

Her eyes drifted down and noticed the plastic bags that he was carrying. “C’mon in.”

He walked in behind her and shut the door behind him. “How’s Cass?”

“Better,” Sam replied, glancing behind her. “She’s asleep, finally.”

“So you’re making … macaroni and cheese?” he asked, eyeing the blue box on the counter.

A tiny smile crossed her face. “Good old fashioned comfort food.”

She heard the rustle of the bags as he set them down on the counter and started putting things in the refrigerator. She suppressed a thought about how … well, how normal it seemed to be for him to be putting food away.

“Anyway, it’s more for me than it is for Cassie.”

He grunted in understanding, then closed the fridge door and wadded up the bags, sticking them under the sink. “How come?” he asked, leaning against the wall next to the refrigerator.

“Growing up, having a military dad, we didn’t know how long we would actually stay put in one place. Sometimes years, once was only a few months. Mark hated the life.” She shook her head. “Anyhow, Mom would always make macaroni and cheese. It kind of became tradition. Whenever we had to move again, that was the first thing she would do.” She smiled at the memory, then opened a lower cabinet and reached for a larger soup pan.

When she stood up, she noticed that he was still standing there, arms crossed but attentively listening.

So she kept talking as she opened the box and pulled out the cheese packet, laying it on the counter.

“And it always had to be the spirals. Reminded me of what I wanted to be when I grew up.”

Jack walked around the countertop and picked up the box, staring at it intently. “A geneticist?” he guessed, although the slight smile on his face told Sam that he was kidding.

She chuckled. “No. Although you’re right, it does resemble the double helix structure of DNA. Actually, when I was younger, I thought that this,” she told him, holding up a piece of the pasta, “was what a spiral galaxy looked like.”

Jack’s brown eyes stared at her curiously for a moment.

“NASA, sir. I wanted to be an astronaut.”

“Aah!” He nodded. “I knew that.”

She turned on the faucet and began filling up the pot. “That’s how I knew Janet and I were gonna be good friends. She saw it too.”

Then it hit her. No more girl’s nights out with Janet, no more late night chats, no more working together on bizarre, alien projects--

No more Janet.

The pot landed on the counter with a heavy clank. She grasped the edges of the counter and braced her body against it, struggling not to cry anymore than she already had.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want her commanding officer to see her like this -- he already had. But she had to get a grip for Cassie’s sake.

She heard Jack sigh, then the next thing she knew, he was gently laying his hands on her shoulders and pulling her away from the sink to face him. “C’mere” was almost not heard before she buried her face in his neck, her arms finding their way around his back as Jack pulled her into a hug.

“She’s gone,” was all she could bring herself to say.

A hand rubbed her back reassuringly, yet the tenderness in his voice betrayed that he was feeling the same. “I know,” he replied softly. “I miss her too.”

“And now Cassie is alone--”

“Hey.” Jack pulled back, hands still grasping her shoulders, and looked her in the eyes. “Cassie is not alone. Not as long as she has us. And neither are you.”

Sam nodded, blinking as she tried to prevent any stray tears from coming forth. “Yes, sir.”

They looked at each other, somewhat awkwardly, until Jack removed his hands and took a step back.

“Anything good on TV right now?”

He smirked. “I’m sure I can find something. Tell you what: you sit down and watch ‘The Simpsons’, and I’ll make dinner.”

Sam started to shake her head. “Sir, I’m sure that you have better things to be doing--”

“Carter,” he gently interrupted. “Our family is in mourning. We need to be here for each other. And I’m on leave for a couple weeks while the busted ribs heal. This is exactly where I need to be, exactly what I need to be doing.”

-=-=-=-=-=-

An hour later, Jack heard the floorboards creak as someone made their way down the hallway.

Without looking up from the cookie sheet where he was arranging raw cookie dough pieces, he smiled. "Hey Cass."

"Jack," she exclaimed, running across the kitchen and throwing her arms around him.

He moaned in pain, and she gasped, loosening her hold but clasping her hands around him. "Sorry, sorry, I forgot."

"Forgot what?" he asked curiously, considering that he hadn't told her about his staff blast injury.

"That you were hurt." When his brown eyes widened and he looked at her for an explanation, she shrugged and let out a small chuckle. "Daniel came to see me after the memorial for a minute. I kinda got the feeling that he didn't really know what to say." Cassie released her hold on him and took a small step back. "So he told me that you'd been hurt."

Jack hummed in agreement, lifting the edge of his plaid shirt. "Not that bad," he told her as she saw the white bandages around his abdomen.

She laughed. "You'd crack your head open and say it wasn't that bad."

"True," he agreed with a chuckle as he lowered his shirt back into place.

Cassie looked around the kitchen, then over the bar into the living room. "How long has Sam been asleep?"

He groaned as he stretched and saw Carter curled up in the recliner, a navy blue blanket carefully draped over her. "Umm, I think she made it through ten minutes of 'The Simpsons' before she conked out."

"Wow. Ten whole minutes."

Jack stuck her tongue out at her, then turned as the oven beeped.

"So you're making macaroni and cheese and cookies?" Cassie asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah. Carter was starting to make it when I got here, and I brought the cookies." He opened the over door and slid the cookie sheet in, then closed the door and set the timer for ten minutes.

"Nice," she remarked, grabbing a fork from the drawer and poking it into the pot, stealing a bite of pasta.

"Hey, save some for the rest of us," he kidded as he swatted her hand away.

"Oh fine," she replied sarcastically as the fork got dropped into the sink.

Then she sighed, and sniffed, and Jack's heart broke for her.

He reached for her and pulled her close, and her head tucked under his chin.

She didn't cry; she started talking. "It hurts worse this time."

"Hmm?"

"When my birth parents died, after Nirrti? It didn't affect me that much, probably because I was so young. But with Mom? She became my mother by choice, and it made me love her so much more."

Then a question that caught Jack off guard came forth.

"Does it ever get easier? Does the pain ever fade?"

His lungs took a deep breath. Cassie knew all about Charlie. He had endured the pain of losing his son, something that still was easily a sore subject for him if anyone else broached it.

But Cassie needed closure.

"It always hurts," he whispered. "Right after it happens, it's all you can think about. It feels like you've been stabbed in the heart. The heartache is still there, but you slowly start to find other things to dwell on. You remember more of the good times you had with them. It gives your life new purpose because you never want anyone else to have to go through that, so you do whatever you can to ensure that."

Jack hugged her a little tighter, ignoring the complaints from his ribs.

"You remember that you have a family who loves you dearly. And even though you will never forget that you lost someone, you will never forget HER."

-=-=-=-=-=-

The pair stood in the kitchen holding each other for a few more seconds, then the alarm beeped for the macaroni and cheese and they went back to preparing dinner.

In the living room, Sam smiled and wiped a tear from her cheek. They were all going to be okay.

Jack would make sure of it.

That was beautiful!

[SamJackShipper93]

Posting to see who I am...

[majorsal]

Unfortunately, I'm the only character of the show I can't stand...

Anyway, I'll just take it to mean I'm Magnus' protege, which I do like!

Hey, you're Big Guy. It could be worse, a lot worse. You could be Druitt!

yes, i'm a homicidal maniac.

[Sparky She-Demon]

yes, i'm a homicidal maniac.

I'm an electromagnetic half vampire!

[majorsal]

I'm an electromagnetic half vampire!

well, i slept with helen!



woah, i just realized what thread i'm in. sorry!

i think jack would be attracted to helen!

sam would like henry. and tesla. and john a bit too, seeing as she has an affinity for the lunatic fringe. through john is the entire fringe...

[Sparky She-Demon]

And you've tried to kill me on numerous occassions!

[hlndncr]

well, i slept with helen!



woah, i just realized what thread i'm in. sorry!

i think jack would be attracted to helen!

sam would like henry. and tesla. and john a bit too, seeing as she has an affinity for the lunatic fringe. through john is the entire fringe...

Who didn't?

And back on topic:

Now on Tangent in the Shipper Rewatch on the Discussion Thread. Here are some shippy moments from that episode.


She worries about him as he and Teal'c go flying off into space uncontrolled



Her despair after the failed burn



Her waking him up when they reach him in Jacob's ship: 'Dammit, Colonel, we haven’t come all this way to take you home in a box, now wake up.'


His happiness to see her; “Hi, Sir.”


His automatic yes in response to if he trusts her

[Lucycat]

Lovely fic, ShipperWriter! Thanks for posting

Sparky: I really don't like your new sig, but to each his (or her) own.
But I'm still gonna say... blasphemy!

===> <=== One True Ship!

[JodyTAZ]

Very touching ficlet ShipperWriter. Very appropriate for Heroes part 2. So Sam and So Jack.

And as always, Sam and Jack forever!

[Sparky She-Demon]

Lovely fic, ShipperWriter! Thanks for posting

Sparky: I really don't like your new sig, but to each his (or her) own.
But I'm still gonna say... blasphemy!

===> <=== One True Ship!

Jack was and still is #1 for me! Doesn't mean that I can't have a favorite runner-up!

[IamDKScully]

jack was and still is #1 for me! Doesn't mean that i can't have a favorite runner-up! :d

[Sparky She-Demon]

I knew that there would be some light sqawking about my new sig!

[roque872002]

Posting to see who I am.

And to stay on topic

[ErikaMariia]

It's one of the shippy holidays (like Valenship, Ship Day and Shipmas) where we basically celebrate the ship in a separate thread that's only open for 24 hours on the chosen date. In said thread people will post their contributions/gifts (pics, gifs, fics, vids, etc), older gifts from other holidays or simply their favorite stories, videos or art. A lot of it uses the holiday's theme (Thanksgiving Day in this case) but it's not necessary and anything Sam/Jack is welcome.

So, basically, it's a good reason to spam the thread full of S/J goodies!

Thank you