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Sam sat on the ground, one leg crossed in front of her, the other bent so she could rest her chin on it as she held two pieces of a DHD crystal together waiting for her makeshift glue to dry. If it worked – and she really wasn’t sure it would, she had another six to repair the same way.
She stared at it unseeing as her thoughts drifted off, SG-1 has been stuck on P5X 772 for 17 days now, a freak storm having dropped a heavy tree across the DHD while the team were off exploring an abandoned village nearby.
Somehow the tree had fallen in such a way that it had knocked the DHD clear over, damaging the crystal tray and a good portion of its contents. Sam and Vala had spent several days attempting to fix it before having to admit defeat. Unfortunately no one had dialled in to check on them either, so she had to assume that there were larger issues at play with the ‘gate as well.
Luckily for the team the planet was temperate (freak storms aside) and abundant with wildlife. The local sort-of-rabbit population had been keeping then adequately fed. That plus the fact that even if he couldn’t dial through, Landry knew where they were and would no doubt dispatch a ship to find them meant she’d been stuck in far worse off-world situations.
She knew from experience though how long getting a ship to respond could take and she’d never been good at doing nothing so she’d spent the last few days perfecting a conductive glue from local plant saps to try and fix the crystals – this was her first attempt with an actual crystal rather than the rocks she’d been using as test subjects.
There was chatter behind her as Daniel and Vala returned to their camp from the village where Daniel had been taking to opportunity of SG-1’s enforced stay to explore further.
“Hey Sam,” Daniel called over to her “how’s it going?”
She lifted her hands to show him the crystal “Waiting for this one to set”
He nodded, “Looking good”
“We’ll see” she gave him a small smile in return then dropped her chin back to her knee. Daniel gave Teal’c a concerned look. Mitchell caught it and looked back over at Sam.
“You OK, Samantha. Looking a little down in the dumps there”
She looked over at Mitchell then back to her crystal before muttering an answer.
“Fine. It’s just,” she trailed off and shrugged
“Just…” he prodded
“We should have been on leave 3 days ago, I had plans” She offered up a small smile “Just feeling a bit sorry for myself, it will pass”
“Well I’m sure Landry will give us some downtime when we get back. What were these grand plans you’re so bummed about missing anyway?”
She mumbled something nearly inaudible
“What?” he demanded, absentmindedly still twisting the spit he was supervising over the fire
“Fishing” she told him more loudly, a soft smile appearing on her face.
Daniel winced and ducked his head in sympathy.
Mitchell looked momentarily puzzled before echoing her with incredulity “Fishing? You fish? Samantha ‘never leaves her lab’ Carter, goes fishing for fun?”
She rolled her eyes a little at his disbelief
“What’s your biggest catch?” he asked in curiosity
She smirked a little bit as Daniel let out an exaggerated cough and Teal’c twitched in an almost smile, ‘fishing’ having taken on somewhat of a double meaning for them during a team visit to Jack’s cabin.
Sam fought to keep a straight face as she told Mitchell “It’s not about the size of the fish, it’s more about the act of fishing”
That did it, Daniel definitely snorted that time, a smile covering his face as he quickly turned away. Mitchell’s eyes narrowed as he looked between the three original members of SG-1 with the feeling he was missing something.
“And where does this fishing take place?” He asked gaze taking in the three of them “You guy’s go as well?”
They answered over the top of each other “Minnesota”
“I do not enjoy fishing, Colonel Mitchell”
“The cabin yes, the fishing isn’t really my thing”
Mitchell paused as he tried to sort the overlapping information out into something coherent. Vala was still watching the conversation with interest. Mitchell opened his mouth to ask something else when Teal’cs deep voice interrupted him
“I believe you are about to burn the not-rabbit Colonel Mitchell”
Mitchell drew his attention back to the fire, gave the spit one last twist then poked the attached meat with an experimental finger, pulling back quickly and shaking his hand.
“Yep, that’s cooked” he grinned, pulling it off and dividing it up “Come and get some not-rabbit, Samantha” he called over to his fellow Colonel.
She tipped her head to look over “I will when this is set, probably needs another ten minutes”
Mitchell shrugged “suit yourself but it tastes better hot” he set her portion aside and passed the others out.
Once everyone else was settled and eating Vala pulled a wooden box out of her pack
“We found this in the village today, it’s an old children’s game, I thought we might play it later, I can teach you” She opened the lid to show of a checkered board and brightly coloured pebbles.
Teal’c inclined his head “I too am familiar with this game and would be happy to play with you Vala Mal Doran”
Vala beamed at him “Great, Muscles and I can demonstrate then we can take turns”
Daniel smiled gently at her “From an anthropological point of view, games can show us a lot about a civilisation”
Mitchell cut in “Or sometime they’re just fun, Jackson”
“Well, yes but also…”
He was cut off by a loud noise from overhead, followed by an accompanying shadow. They all tipped their heads back
“Is that the Daedalus?” Daniel questioned
“Indeed”
“About time” Mitchell muttered, standing, expecting to be beamed out any second. Instead a beam flashed not far from their location, a lone figure materialising as the light dissipated.
Before anyone else could react Sam had scrambled to her feet, crystal dropped forgotten to the grass. “Jack?” she called, disbelief in her voice as she moved past her team mates, who were watching the figure approach.
Daniel and Teal’c exchanged a look and Teal’c nodded a small smile hovering on his lips, Daniel grinned back.
“Well what are we waiting for?” Vala demanded shoving the game back into her pack and settling it on her back “let’s go greet the man and go home.”
Teal’c reached out a gentle hand and laid it on her arm, stopping her as she made to move off. At the same time Daniel shook his head at her, smile still hovering on his face “just, give it a minute” he told her quietly.
“General O’Neill?” Mitchell muttered, looking over at the rest of his team “I know you guys are close and all but why would he come all the way out here? Surely he’s got better things to do than come all this way just for us”
“It would appear he thought otherwise” Teal’c murmured, hand still on Vala’s arm.
Vala’s gaze cut across to where Sam had slowed her approach to the General, almost as if she’d become aware of what she was doing halfway across the distance.
“OK, boys,” she looked between Daniel and Teal’c “what’s going on here?”
Daniel tried his best to look innocent while Teal’c simply raised an eyebrow at her before returning to watch his friends approach each other.
Mitchell glanced sharply at them “Mal Doran’s right, there’s something you aren’t sharing with the class”
Across the field Sam had come to a halt several feet from Jack, he stopped in response, sweeping his eyes over her “Carter” he smiled his lopsided grin at her “heard you needed a ride home” He gestured at the Daedalus hovering over his shoulder.
Tears sprang to her eyes suddenly and she huffed out a slightly strangled laugh. He opened his arms “Come here”
She didn’t need telling twice, her previous caution about her team mates (and the Daedalus crew) seeing them together falling away in her need to confirm he was actually there.
She stepped forwards as he did and suddenly she was wrapped in his arms, his head dropping to bury into her neck. She clutched his shoulders, fingers bunching against the BDU’s he was wearing. “Missed you” she muttered, voice thick.
Behind Sam, still where she had left them the rest of SG-1 watched with very different expressions, Daniel had a gentle smile on his face, Teal’c looked quietly pleased, Vala like she was trying to solve a puzzle and Mitchell’s mouth was hanging open.
Suddenly Vala laughed and turned to Mitchell “I’d say Samantha caught a very big fish indeed”
“What, no!” Mitchell protested “They can’t…” he trailed off looking at the unmistakably close embrace the two were wrapped in.
“I’m right, aren’t I” Vala poked Daniel in the arm, hard.
“Ow! Geeze” Daniel rubbed his arm in an exaggerated manner and avoided the question.
“Don’t be such a baby, answer the question. There’s no way Sam was that down about not going fishing, she could do that anytime we’re on standdown, it was who she was supposed to be ‘fishing’ with…” Vala put a heavy emphasis on the second ‘fishing’, using finger quotes as well to really get her point across and smirked at her boys.
Across the field Jack pressed a kiss to Sam’s neck where no one could see and squeezed her tighter before moving back enough to see her face, still keeping her in his arms.
He grinned at her “No offence, Carter, but you really need a shower”
She rolled her eyes and smacked him lightly on the arm with the back of a hand “Play your cards right General and I might even let you scrub my back”
His eyes darkened and he swallowed hard “Tease” he accused her softly.
Her expression turned serious again “I don’t know how you managed it but I’m glad you came.” Her hand rose to cup his face in a soft gesture “Thank you”
His eyes dropped to her mouth before rising to find her eyes again “Couldn’t miss our anniversary now, could I” He tipped his head against her hand a little more firmly, enjoying the touch “Well technically I think we have missed it by a couple days but it’s the thought that counts, right?” He sighed softly “You had me worried, Sam. Of course I came.”
“Love you” she told him softly “sorry you were worried, we’ve been fine, just stuck.” She stroked her thumb against his cheek once before letting her hand drop. “I suppose we’d better get the others”
She stepped back from him and turned so they were both facing towards her team mates, who appeared to be in the middle of an animated conversation.
Vala was practically vibrating as she waited for Daniel or Teal’c to confirm her suspicions, while Mitchell looked increasingly desperate not to be there. Teal’c and Daniel exchanged a rueful glance, before Teal’c confirmed
“You are indeed correct, Vala Mal Doran”
“I knew it!” Vala twirled one of her pig tails in glee “Good for her!”
Mitchell on the other hand stared a the big Jaffa in horror “But they can’t, it’s against regulations. I can’t know this, I didn’t hear it”
“It’s OK” Daniel told him
“You’ve worked with the military long enough to know it’s not, Jackson”
“It really is ok,” he took a breath then decided Mitchell was better knowing everything rather than worrying for his team mate “they were out of the same chain of command for a short period of time a year ago. They took steps to make sure they could have” Daniel waved his hand at his friends “well, that.”
Mitchell gaped at him as his brain processed Daniel’s meaning
“You mean, they’re” his voice dropped to a hiss “married? Sam is married to General O’Neill, she’s been married to him the whole time I’ve been doing this?”
“Yep” Daniel grinned. His smile faded a little as he added “It was a long time coming, I’m glad they made it”
“As am I” Teal’c broke in
“This going to be a problem?” Daniel asked Mitchell quietly
“No, no problem” Mitchell assured him “Just a bit of adjustment is all”
“Ooops,” Jack muttered “might have let the cat out of the bag”
“Ya think? She returned as they fell into step with each other “General’s don’t usually come half way across the galaxy for a missing SG team” she smiled as she said it, nudging him gently with her arm.
He smiled at her “I did crew reviews on the way, I wasn’t just sitting around doing nothin’”
There was silence for a moment “You don’t mind?” he checked quietly
She shook her head quickly “No, I’m glad you came”
He glanced sideways at her and raised an eyebrow with a smirk, making her bite back a laugh as they reached the others.
“Hey, kids” Jack greeted the rest of the team “ready to go home?”
“Jack” Daniel greeted him, stepping forward to hug the older man “Good to see you”
“You too, Danny, find any interesting rocks while you were here”
“Ah well, actually, no.” Daniel looked like the planet had personally offended him. Jack smirked.
“T” Jack reached over and the two clasped forearms
“O’Neill” Teal’c inclined his head “You look well”
“Back atcha big guy” Jack grinned. “Mitchell, Vala” he nodded a greeting to the others
“Sir” Mitchell replied, snapping to attention.
Jack caught Sam’s eye in amusement before demanding “At ease, Mitchell, we’re in a field in the middle of no where, no need for ceremony”
“Yes, Sir” Mitchell relaxed slightly but still looked a little nervous.
“Oh, for crying out loud” Jack muttered “Fine have it your way, you’d be more comfortable if you’d just relax a bit though”
Sam patted Jack’s arm in sympathy “Never mind, Sir, I’m sure he’ll get over it.”
“He better do,” Jack muttered, it’s a long flight home”
Daniel grinned “Give him a break, Jack. He just found out you two are married, he needs to re-calibrate his world view.”
“Oh, and how did he find that out, Daniel?” Jack asked with a raised eyebrow
“Well you weren’t exactly subtle, Jack!” Daniel exclaimed “and then he got all ‘I can’t see this its against regulations, so I told him you weren’t about to get yourselves court marshalled as soon as we got home. It was sweet really”
“Huh, OK then” Jack decided with a smirk at Sam that told her he’d only asked to push Daniels buttons. She shook her head in fond exasperation.
Suddenly Vala butted in with “You still call him, Sir?”
“Huh?” Sam looked at her team mate, thrown by the question
“You’re married but you still called him ‘Sir’.” Vala expanded
“Uh, yes” Sam blinked, mentally reviewing their conversation over the last few minutes “When we’re in uniform we’re at work, besides,” she shrugged “habit.”
Vala cocked her head to one side “Huh, kinky!” she grinned “I approve”
Sam laughed even as Jack’s eyebrows climbed his head in surprise, less used to the dark haired alien than Sam.
Vala sidled a bit closer to Sam, her curiosity for Earth culture showing through as she asked her next question, Jack turning to answer a question from Daniel.
“You haven’t taken his name either, the shows I’ve watched suggest this is something most Earth women look forward to doing.”
“Ah well, it’s a little more complicated for us, we talked about it but we didn’t want to make it public straight away, we were inside the rules but some people might have used it to make things difficult for the SGC and anyway”
“Carter, you two ready to go?” Jack’s voice cut across the conversation
“there’s that” Sam finished to Vala with a smile
“Ah,” the brunette smiled in understanding “He’s quite a catch, Samantha, I can see why you were upset about missing the fishing”
Sam grinned at her for a moment before calling back to Jack “Ready, Sir”
Moments later they were engulfed in the bright white of an Asgard transporter beam and deposited safely on the bridge of the Daedalus ready to begin the trip home.