Setting: Season One, sometime before Solitudes.
Disclaimer: All characters are the property of MGM. This story is purely for entertainment purposes.
Feedback: Love it! Please review!
A/N: Just a short little oneshot, inspired by my toddler's enthusiams for the snow. (Okay, and maybe a tiny, tiny bit of my own, remembered enthusiasm... ;-) )
Captain Samantha Carter stepped out of the CheyenneMountain complex, and smiled. It was snowing.
Giant, wet flakes drifted lazily from the grey, late afternoon sky, coating the ground in deliciously sticky snow. Snowman snow.
Grinning broadly, she was halfway to her car when she paused, staring once more at the glistening white expanse before her. If she went home now, she'd be faced with the inevitable responsibilities of re-stocking her empty refridgerator, cleaning her dust-trap of a house, and, of course, shoveling. If she stayed... She glanced over her shoulder, contemplating her options.
What the hell, she thought, marching back into the complex. This is much too good an opportunity to pass up.
"Sam!," Daniel exclaimed, crashing into her. "I thought you went home?"
"Grab your coat, Daniel," she replied, almost giddy with excitement.
"What? Why?"
"Just do it," she ordered, side-stepping him. "And meet me in Teal'c's quarters in a few minutes."
Daniel floundered for a moment as she moved off, a smile as radiant as the Abydonian sun gracing her features.
I wonder what that's all about, he thought, heading for the locker room just in case.
"Captain Carter," Teal'c greeted.
"Hey, Teal'c," she replied, feeling a sudden rush of uncertainty. "Wanna come to the surface with me?," she asked, squinting up at him against the bright fluorescent lights of the hall.
His eyebrow rose in question, but after a moment's hesitation, he bowed his assent. She beamed.
"Great. Grab your coat. Daniel should be here...," she trailed, just as the doctor came running toward her, slightly out of breath. "Right now," she finished with a grin.
"Bring your hat and mitts too," Daniel panted. "I overheard a couple of SFs talking. Apparently it's snowing like crazy out there." Sam giggled in spite of herself. There was nothing like snow, the fat-flaked sticky kind especially, to make her feel years younger than she actually was.
Teal'c obligingly returned with the required items, and the three of them headed toward the elevators leading up.
"Will Colonel O'Neill be joining us as well?," Teal'c inquired solemnly as they rose slowly to the top.
"Nope," Sam replied, grinning up at the Jaffa. "No chain of command today."
"Sam, what's this all about?," Daniel asked, wrapping himself in a thick woolen scarf.
"Snow," she responded gleefully. Teal'c and Daniel exchanged looks.
"I do not understand," Teal'c said after a pause. "For what reason is my presence required on the surface?"
"It's not required," Sam replied. "It's requested." She shrugged. "If you'd rather stay here..."
"I would not," the Jaffa replied evenly, straightening his shoulders.
"Good," she said, just as they reached the check-out point. Signing their names, Sam led her teammates outside, twirling in the snow once clear of the entrance.
"Isn't it beautiful?," she called out, already ahead of them, taking it all in as if she may never see such a sight again.
"Cold," Daniel replied, hunching into his jacket. "But yes, I suppose..."
"Daniel!," Sam exclaimed, exasperated. She jogged back over to them, grabbing them both by the hand. "Come on," she commanded, leading them further from the complex, out past the maze of base parking. There was a slope out here with a view that could take your breath away even on the most humdrum of days. And today, it promised to be exceptional.
"Look," she said, pointing out along the mountain ridge. Snowcapped trees sloped away as far as the eye could see, the vibrant greens of the conifers offering sharp contrast to the crystalline white all around.
The two men gazed across the expanse, finally beginning to appreciate what was right before them, when whap, a snowball whizzed at them from the left, catching Daniel solidly in the shoulder.
"Ow!," he exclaimed, rounding on the culprit only to find Sam dancing away, laughing. "You asked for it!," he called out, gathering his own mitt-full of snow and nailing her in the side of the head.
"What form of battle is this?," Teal'c inquired, looking on with interest.
"It's called a snowball fight...," Daniel began, just as Sam's next shot pegged him in the mouth.
"Come on, Teal'c! It's fun!," Sam called, running for cover as Daniel gathered more snow into his hands.
Tentatively, the large Jaffa reached down to gather some snow of his own. Pressing it into a solid ball, he cocked an eyebrow before taking aim. The shot slammed into Sam's side as she tried to dart out of it's path. Her next snowball caught him square in the chest.
The game was on.
Colonel O'Neill couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. At the side of the road, less than half a mile from a top-secret military base, one of the smartest people he knew had apparently decided to declare war on his fellow-brainiac, enlisting the services of the large and imposing former First Prime of Apophis to do so.
The two men had taken refuge behind a small copse of trees, while Carter had built herself a sweet little fort of mounded snow. Snowballs whizzed across the no-man's land at an almost dizzying rate, pounding against the fortifications of the opposing side.
They were shockingly well-matched, considering it was two against one. Then again, Carter had said something about having a brother...
Pulling his truck off to the side of the road, O'Neill stepped out of the cab, leaning inconspicuously against the door to latch it shut. No one seemed to have noticed him yet.
Easing his way along the snowy road, careful to muffle the sound of his own boots, he silently doubled 'round to where the boys had hunkered down.
"Need some help?," he offered, grinning as he came up behind them.
"Indeed," Teal'c replied, just as Daniel gratefully handed him a snowball.
"Sweet," Jack replied, lobbing the missile at their joint target.
Sam's eyes bulged in indignant surprise when she realized Daniel had found yet another recruit. Jeez, he's sneaky, she grumbled, good-naturedly pegging the newcomer in the gut as a welcome.
It was only then that she realized who the newcomer was. Swearing quietly to herself, she ducked back as a large retaliatory bogey sailed over her defenses. Well, at least he's not threatening Court Martial, she thought with a wry grimace, brushing snow out of her hair before offering her counter.
There was only one way to play this game.
Sam lobbed her remaining snowballs at the boys in rapid succession before ducking out of sight once more, carefully moving along a snowy ridge to the road, where she followed the Colonel's own tracks into the enemy fort.
A few meters from their position, she threw herself to the ground, quickly building a new defensive ridge. And then she attacked.
Daniel yelped as a missile tore through his hair, nailing the Colonel in the side of the face. Teal'c rounded on her position in time to take the next three shots to his chest and arms, before any of them managed to react.
The Colonel was the quickest, diving for cover before lobbing his own missiles directly at her. Teal'c followed behind, taking up a defensive position on the opposite side of a tree, from where he continued to pelt her with snowballs. And Daniel...
Well, Daniel was the most direct. He charged, jumping her defenses and taking her hostage. Sam was laughing so hard, she couldn't actually fight back.
"Nice!," she heard the Colonel exclaim as he moved towards them.
"Indeed," Teal'c agreed, joining from the other side.
Daniel released his opponent, a triumphant grin spread wide across his face. O'Neill clapped him appreciatively on the shoulder, before turning to Sam.
"Captain," he greeted, humour lacing his tone.
"Sir," she replied, still struggling to regain some semblance of control.
"I think this calls for some hot cocoa, don't you?"
"Yes, Sir," she replied, still grinning from ear to ear. "My treat," she added, for good measure.
"You're not trying to bribe a superior officer, are you, Captain?"
"No, Sir," she replied, surprised. "I just thought..."
"Relax, Carter," he said. "I'm just messing with you. Nice shot, by the way."
"Which one, Sir?"
He grinned. "The one where you tagged Daniel and I in the same."
"Thank you, Sir," she grinned proudly.
"Come on," he gestured. "I'll drive."
"Sir, there's something here you might want to see," Harriman announced.
"What is it, Sergeant?," Hammond replied, joining the airman at the console.
"One of our external security cameras just picked up on this," he said, turning the screen for the General's consideration. Hammond had to suppress a chuckle.
There in the snow, his front-line team had reverted to something akin to a band of school aged kids, pitting boys against girl in the ultimate snowball showdown. He grinned in spite of himself.
"I see," he replied evenly, glad to have the little Sergeant so engrossed in the antics that he hadn't yet noticed the General's own amusement. Bad for business, letting them think I've gone soft, he thought wryly.
"Be sure to save the footage," Hammond ordered, turning away with a shake of his head. With those four, I may some day need the leverage.