rachel500 | Fanfiction: A Valentine's Wish (Reply)

Fandom: Stargate SG1
Summary: Five Valentines Sam received from Jack.
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: Sam/Jack. Spoilers for all SG1/minor for SGA. Happy Valentine's day!
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. Written for entertainment purposes only.

A Valentine's Wish

1.

It's barely been two weeks since she was allowed out of the infirmary after surviving her experience with Jolinar. Sam finds the card propped up against her computer monitor when she enters her lab in the morning of Valentine's Day. She carefully places her mug of coffee down, surprised and touched and embarrassed all at the same time. She hopes that it's not from Lieutenant Simmons; doesn't even allow herself to think about a certain Colonel she wishes it was from.

It's a simple card; a red heart on an Air Force blue background.

The message inside is scrawled in untidy writing: "we love you, your team"

She smiles and brushes a finger over the words. She bets it was Teal'c's idea and she thinks the writing is Daniel's, which means it was probably Jack who selected the card.

She loves the guys, she does. It's sweet and thoughtful, and if she's still wishing for something entirely different, it's her own business.

There are two cards propped up against the computer monitor and Sam's heart skips a beat.

The first is the team card she's expecting; the same red heart on the same blue background; the same message inside. She wonders sometimes if Jack bought in bulk the first year or if he spends every year searching.

The second is a smaller card with a picture of a bear fishing in a heart-shaped pond. There's no signature inside, nothing to give away the card's sender…except Jack had invited her fishing before the whole debacle with the Asgard and the Replicators.

She bites her lip and starts to think how she can send him a Valentine. After all, a friend can send another friend a Valentine's card, right?

Sam wakes in unfamiliar surroundings and it takes a moment to remember that she's in Jack's cabin because she's finally said yes to Jack; to fishing, to them.

On the bedside table, along with a cup of coffee that's gently steaming in the chill of the room, there's a bundle of envelopes tied together with a raggedy piece of string. She sits up, drags a hand through her hair so she's tousled rather than messy, and takes a sip of her coffee before she reaches for it.

The string is easily discarded and she realises all the envelopes are neatly addressed to her. She opens the first and finds a Valentine's card with two birds fishing in a well; the second has a green alien somewhat shaped like Thor fishing off a moon; the third is a boy with a fishing pole dangling off a pier…there's a card for every year since she and Jack agreed to leave their feelings locked up in a room.

They're all unsigned and all were unsent.

Until now.

She swipes away her tears and goes in search of Jack. She's not surprised when she finds him fishing.

She thinks she might hate Daniel. And Mitchell. Maybe even Teal'c.

It's Valentine's Day – the first since she and Jack got married – and instead of getting ready for the evening she had planned with Jack, she's locked up in a cell on an alien planet. She thinks again of the card she'd lovingly displayed on her desk – the one signed 'Always, Jack.'

It's all the guys' fault. Daniel had been the one that had wandered into the sacred temple; Mitchell had upset the Chief when he'd stopped him killing Daniel, and Teal'c had upset the whole tribe by zatting the Chief.

OK, so she had shot that one guy, and maybe kicking the Chief's son in his fishing tackle hadn't been her best move ever…but it's still their fault.

There's a sound in the distance; guns firing in a pattern that she recognises. All of SG1 leap to their feet. A few moments later, Jack jauntily enters the prison, accompanied by SG3 who look remarkably sanguine about breaking SG1 out of yet another cell.

'Is this the best Valentine's present ever or what?' Jack asks with a smirk.

Sam can't really argue with that.

Losing her job on Atlantis does mean one thing: she's home for Valentine's Day for the first time ever.

Sam curls up beside Jack on the battered sofa, their fingers entwining as she slides her hand into his. Her eyes stray to the mantelpiece, packed with the photos of their friends and family.

Their Valentine cards are displayed proudly; there's the usual red heart on blue tucked around a picture of Daniel and Teal'c, the card Sam had given Jack stands one side of a photo of Sam and Jack fishing while Jack's card to her, a dog with a heart on the end of a fishing pole, stands on the other: finally together at last.

It's perfect.

And when Jack shifts and drops a kiss on Sam's lips, it's everything she's ever wished for.

fin.