These Days

Title: These Days
Author: Ky (Venom_69)
Fandom: Stargate
Pairing: Sam/Jack
Rating: Age Friendly
Archive: My site. Anywhere else, sure, just let me know where so I can come visit.
Disclaimer: Don’t own them, never will. Promise to put them back in the state I found them. Don't own the song. That’s Bardot – “These Days”
Author’s notes: For

rainbow_sleeve. who wanted Stargate fic.
Date: 16/04/06
Copyright © to Venom, 2006

***

These days go on
Long after you’ve gone

***

It had been one of those days.

Nothing was going right – and the small explosion in her Lab was a testament to that. She had been late to work due to hitting the snooze button thrice too many times and thus she had been late with her report for General Hammond, who’d been none too happy about the delay. They’d been out of blue Jell-O when she’d finally gotten time for lunch – at 1600 – and she wasn’t even going to think about how bad her hair looked.

Now, coming up on 2200 hours, she was bone-deep tired. Her head was pounding, so much so that she could barely hear her indicator as she navigated her car onto her street. Sam has a little trouble remembering all of the drive from the Base, and she thinks – not for the first time – that she would have been better off climbing into bed in her quarters on-base.

She parks the car, grabs her things and exits. The central locking ‘beeps’ when she activates it, but Sam barely hears it. Her front door feels like its miles away, and each step drains just a little more of her energy. She has to focus hard to make it.

Left, right, left, right, left, right, front door.

Soft music is playing when she opens her door. Sam doesn’t recognize the singer – they all sound the same lately, anyway – but the voice is soft and seductive. She knows that it is meant to be relaxing, and she feels it begin to work.

She can smell a delicious scent – Thai? – and heads towards the kitchen.

Jack meets her halfway down the hall, glass of wine in hand and a soft, understand, smile on his face. They haven’t spoken all day, minus a few sporadic e-mails when she had enough time to think of her lover, but he had obviously known the way her day had gone.

“I have something for you.” He says quietly, mindful of the headache that he’d anticipate would be plaguing her.

“Oh?” He smiles, a despite her tiredness, Sam’s belly still does a little ‘flop.’

The sparkly bag that he hands her is not particularly heavy. When she reaches inside, she is met with soft, plus, material. She wraps a hand around it and pulls out a teddy bear. A blue Beanie Baby, to be precise. They’re exactly like the ones her mother used to collect for her – she has those in the spare room – and tears prick at her eyes.

“Jack…”

“You like?”

“It’s perfect.”

“Good. Now, I’m in the process of finishing dinner, it should be done in about half an hour. Why don’t you go and put your feet up? I’ve got Beaches in the DVD player, ready to go.” He knows that it will turn her into a sobbing mess – Bette Midler movies usually do – but he always lets her cry on his shoulder when she does.

“Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome.”

He nudges her gently towards the sofa, and she can see that a pillow and blanket are already waiting for her. “You’re wonderful, Jack.”

"Aren't women meant to be the wonderful ones?"

“Not today they’re not.”

Jack holds her glass while she slips her shoes off and falls into the comfort of the large sofa, pulling the blanket over her. He fluffs the pillow behind her head, hands her back the glass of wine and presses ‘play’ on their DVD player.

Her wonderful man kisses her forehead before retreating to the kitchen.

As the movie begins, she can’t help but smile.

It may have been one of those days, but it was starting to look up now.