Title: Good Tidings
Rating: PG-13
F.Type: OneShot
Summary: Christmas hadn't come to Jack's house since Charlie died. SG-1's about to change that... for better or for worst.
Author's Note: I've been working on this for over a month; it was written partially as a humor piece, partially as an introspective piece on Jack's character. I'm still not sure if it turned out the way I had it planned to. Ah, well, the Muses can be like that. The HumorMuse decided to contribute some. Still not sure how that turned out.
Oh, and Happy New Year's!
-Good Tidings-
OneShot
Need over duty.
"Gangway!" Snowballs exploded into helpless flurries of snowflakes, thrown up into the air and carried by the wind to land on the pine trees haphazardly.
Love over honor.
Smoke billowed from the hastily opened windows, streaming up into the stormy gray sky even as it was sucked into heaving lungs, only to be coughed out again as they waved it away.
And happiness over courage.
Gooey marshmallows slid down impromptu spits, caught by hands that were pulled away and shoved into the snow to cool, and eased off to be popped quickly into waiting mouths.
These were what they wanted to choose…
A tug-of-war erupted over the possession of the warm blanket, and within moments pillows and insults were flying as the blue quilt was seized at both ends and stretched within a centimeter of ripping.
…but not the choices they made.
Most of the time, anyway.
But occasionally, like tonight, they could relax, knowing that the safety of the world lay in others' hands.
And it was with that reassuring and oddly disturbing thought that Jack O'Neill turned off his cell phone, pulled out the plug on his home phone, and sat down with a good beer to pass away the days until Christmas.
Pfft. Like that was ever going to happen.
-
The first crisis was the tree. Not that he had one, mind you; before it had been too painful, a reminder of Charlie and the family he had once had; then he simply hadn't been home long enough to put one up.
Besides, it was too much of a hassle to go and pick one out, chop it down (all the while mentally hearing Sam's comments on global warming, habitat destruction, and the environment), and then lug it back to his house, put it in the stand, and then decorate it.
He and the old pines just had too much in common, he guessed. Storms had come their way, swept with violent certainty into their calm lives, and left destruction and death as farewell gifts. Some trees had bent with the wind, flexible enough to survive the first blows; others had snapped from the lashing. And when the worst was over, ice and snow weighed heavily on ancient boughs, gravity pulling one after another down to land on the blanket of deathly white. But those that had resisted, that had enough strength; on these trees the crystals brought forth an unearthly beauty to grace the silent forest.
Well, maybe not so much in common on that part.
But each year had come and gone its way, only pausing to remind Jack that, yes, he was another year older, and while he hadn't begun to bald yet, it was only a matter of time.
And, because you just couldn't have Christmas without a tree, he simply never had Christmas.
Oh, sure, there were gifts exchanged at work or the SGC; the same old holiday jingles played on his radio starting promptly on November 1st; the media hype was ever prevalent, as were the protests against a self-serving and materialistic event designed to benefit companies and those already wealthy.
But it wasn't Christmas.
Then Daniel somehow got it into his head that the team needed to have a tree, and only having it at Sam's on-the-edge-of-town house would do, because her house was central to everyone else's, Jack's was too far away for quick trips, Teal'c still lived on-base, and he himself lived in an apartment mostly crammed with books.
Predictable as always in these matters, Sam put up a tiny show of resistance and then caved, joining the effort and dragging Teal'c in after her. He could have sworn that the archaeologist and Major had reverted back to children (God forbid that actually happen) and firmly put his foot down.
No tree.
However, after the disastrous mission to P9W-764, they had redoubled their efforts and brought in the dreaded puppy dog eyes, to which, especially as doped up on drugs as he had been, there could be no resistance.
So out they had gone, tromping to the local tree sales and spending over fours hours out in the cold debating the merits of height and effectiveness of width, until Teal'c had simply picked up the first one they had seen and nearly whacked them all in the head with it.
This indignation was quickly dealt with in an attack that began as soon as Teal'c had unloaded the tree and put it on the porch; headed by Jack (as usual) and lent support by the other two, hard packed snowballs pelted the stone faced Jaffa in quick succession.
Immediately taking stock of the situation, their target proceeded to establish a stronghold in the nearby bushes and, though mostly unfamiliar with the process, learned (to their dismay) quickly. The fight came to an abrupt end when Daniel and Jack had been declared 'dead', Sam and Teal'c were in a deadlock, and a snowball with a rock in it broke Sam's window. (She demanded they all pay for the repairs.)
-
The second harrowing ordeal had been decorating the tree- which involved lights and ornaments. Everyone wanted to get idealistic ones, or special ones, or just get the whole damn thing over with (that was him). Although he hadn't said anything to them, it still hurt to look at the two 'kids' squabbling over the details, or see the tree proudly presented in the middle of Sam's otherwise empty living room.
It was crooked, by the way. His geek had been ready to construct a complex frame hidden by the green needles to support the poor thing, but he had given her a stern look and told her that a Christmas tree was a Christmas tree, whether or not it was straight.
There had ensued, of course, her fight with Daniel over how to put the lights on; that had lasted long enough to thoroughly amuse both Jack and Teal'c, until the latter then kindly intervened to remind them that they didn't actually have lights to put up.
Well, nothing but a shopping trip could follow such a scandalous statement! As he chauffeured his team from shop to shop, Jack almost hated Teal'c for pointing out that significant fact; had almost until, refusing to budge from his warm black pickup to indulge Sam and Daniel's fervent need to get lights, he realized that they were using Teal'c as a substitute tree.
That had made everything much, much better.
Not that he had told the now un-amused Jaffa that. He wasn't stupid, after all.
And, after they had clambered back into the pickup, satisfied with their purchases, there was no option left but to return back to Sam's home, where he was going to have to sit and watch, heart aching with old remembered sorrow, as they, oblivious, strung up the winking lights.
How surprised he had been when, walking up to her door, Sam had gently slipped up next him and told him that she had some recipes and ingredients for cookies somewhere in her cabinets, and would he please make them?
Feeling both relieved and like a coward, Jack had nodded and headed towards the kitchen after dumping the boxes of lights on a nearby chair.
After searching the virtually bare cabinets for twenty or so minutes, he had realized that not only did his astrophysics genius not cook at all, she had lied to him.
Then, making an astronomical connection, the team leader had jerked open the refrigerator to see a roll of 'slice 'n bake' cookies staring back at him.
"Blasphemy!" He had yelled at her, sliding into the living room as he shook the tube viciously. "This is blasphemy!"
Guessing by her startled look, Carter had thought they were perfectly fine.
Which they weren't.
So, as so many other events had, one thing led to another and within minutes Jack was driving to the nearest supermarket to get ingredients for real cookies. And beer. Definitely beer.
But it had eased the tight feeling in his chest enough that he was able to come out of the kitchen to watch the ceremonious tree decorating while the cookies baked.
And burned. Because he hadn't heard the timer go off, being too distracted by Teal'c's 'interventions' in the process and the fact that his poker face was enough to deflect suspicion, so that the Major and Doctor were almost at each other's throat when the smoke alarm went off.
All four of them had instantly realized what had happened, and a chaotic but orderly scramble to the kitchen took place, wherein Jack tried to salvage the cookies, Sam and Daniel threw open the windows and doors, and Teal'c calmly grabbed the fire extinguisher and liberally doused all of them.
The call put through to the fire department was accompanied by the background noise of Jack and Daniel berating Teal'c, Daniel yelling at Jack, and Teal'c 'accidentally' using the extinguisher on them again.
A mutual truce was declared when the cold wind blasted them all with the bite of a coming storm, and they all departed for their various homes.
However, as Daniel reminded them the next day, they still had to get ornaments.
Jack had been for just leaving it with lights; his motion had been vetoed by Carter and Jackson, and, surprisingly, Teal'c. The Jaffa's reasoning had been, simply enough, that it was appropriate for a Christmas tree to have ornaments, and that tradition was important.
Because they all had conflicting schedules, however, the expedition was postponed until two days later. They were all supposed to bring a list/idea of what they wanted to put on the tree.
And after comparing notes, the Deadly Duo and the Stoic Jaffa bullied Jack into driving them around the shopping malls to get the items on their list.
Standing in the crowded aisle and listening to Sam and Teal'c argue (well, it was mostly one-sided) over a basket of Christmas tree decorations with Daniel, Jack didn't feel like explaining to the staring spectators why he was babysitting three full grown adults who were acting like children.
Again.
Finally, with much debate, pushing through overly long lines, and racing to get that last but oh so important item, the four arrived, exhausted, back at Sam's house. Pizza was ordered and Sam's guest bedroom, along with the couch and spare sleeping bag, were confiscated as her guests' property.
Six hours after they started the next day, Jack had 'rustled' up a bag of marshmallows, firewood, and the energy to persuade the others that it wasn't too cold outside to roast the sweets. While Carter built and attempted to light the outdoor fire, Jack crouched beside the tree and gently hung a paper candy cane on one of the lower reaches, almost out of sight. A bittersweet smile hinted at his lips as he gazed with mixed emotions at the crayon colored ornament, eyes tracing the typical scribbles a child made, with absolutely no regard for lines whatsoever.
Teal'c noticed, smiled slightly, and was looking the other way when SG-1's leader rose and went to check on his 2IC's progress.
"A fire? You call that a fire?"
Once the critique of her general survival skills was done, Sam suggested they scavenge for sticks to use and showed Teal'c how to sharpen one end to a point, and then how to impale the marshmallow so it wouldn't fall off once over the fire.
Daniel liked his marshmallows an even golden, and just hot enough that it took a moment to cool. Teal'c didn't seem to have a preference either way, but with him one never could be sure. Jack himself liked them both raw and cooked, so half of his allotted share went into his mouth and bypassed the fire completely. Carter was the big surprise; she loved to purposely set them on fire and blow out the flames, pulling the charcoaled skin off with delight.
Seeing their surprised looks, she lifted an eyebrow.
"What?"
Shaking his head, Jack turned back to his roasting and listened to them talk, smiling.
-
The third trial was Christmas Eve. All around the world children were waiting with baited breath, wishing the Masses would be over already, staring hungrily at their presents and listening for the sound of hoof beats on the roof.
He could remember Charlie and those Christmases, which happened long ago, like they were yesterday. And it hurt.
But Jack had gone out shopping, trying to find what he thought would they would like, what they would want. Walking past the excited toddlers, the starry eyed young lovers sneaking around to get THE present for their beloved ones, his scarred heart had ached with a pain he had thought would tear it apart.
They could not have known, and he couldn't just show up and say 'Sorry, had some problems with getting over the past, got you nothing'.
So the 24th arrived and he had three sorta-not-so-neatily wrapped presents in the backseat of his pickup, which was parked in Carter's driveway.
The snow was falling heavily around him as he shut the front door, paused, and then opened the back door to grab the presents.
That done, O'Neill headed up to the front door, where warm yellow light pooled on the porch through the windows. The door was unlocked and he pushed it open, hearing the squabble as soon as it swung open.
"It's structurally unstable!"
"It's a gingerbread house, Sam, it doesn't have to be!"
"Pass the 'gumdrops', DanielJackson."
Shaking his head and hiding a grin, their leader hefted the unwieldy packages and put them under the tree, swinging into the kitchen to see exactly what his underlings were up to.
Sam was the first one to look up, completely oblivious to the fact that there was a dollop of frosting smeared on her nose.
"Sir!"
"Carter," O'Neill acknowledged, lifting an eyebrow as he surveyed the complete mess the three had made.
"We are making 'gingerbread houses'," Teal'c said, giving a slight bow. "It is a traditional holiday activity."
"And I see that Daniel is having… difficulties."
The archaeologist rolled his eyes, ignoring the collapsing two story house on the table in front of him. Jack noticed the headless gingerbread man placed carefully next to Teal'c's own sparsely decorated creation.
"Hey, T, I'm not sure you quite get the idea…" Then, noticing the Jaffa's slight smile, he gave him another considering look. "Or maybe you do. Anyway, I brought some movies for us to watch."
"Like what?" His 2IC asked curiously.
"You'll see."
After Daniel set up the fire ("It's a survival skill, Daniel, and if you can't do it here, how are you going to do it off-world?"), the four settled themselves and their generous helpings of popcorn and hot cocoa in front of Sam's TV, watching "Frosty the Snowman".
Halfway into the movie it was discovered that not only did the Carter household have only one blanket, but the heating was broken, and they were all cold.
During the following scuffle and 'Rock Paper Scissors' competition, Jack stole the couch and Teal'c the reclining chair, so Sam and Daniel settled grumpily for the floor and shared blanket space, resting their heads on the couch edge.
When the Christmas movie marathon was done, Jack looked over the living room; Teal'c was either asleep or meditating; Sam and Daniel were equally immersed in Slumber Land, heads resting against each other.
There was no ghost of Charlie, lingering on the edges of his vision, accusing him of his betrayal.
It surprised him, for a moment; and yet when he tried to picture his son haunting him, angry and upset because Jack had moved on… he found that he couldn't.
This- this was his family now. The three here, with him, most of all; but the SGC was included in that too. And the snowball fights and burned cookies and simple marshmallow treats and fights over blankets… they were all just signs that he finally had a home again.
With a soft 'ding' the mantle clock struck twelve, and Colonel Jack O'Neill brushed away the sentimental and uncharacteristic thoughts, pulling a cushion beneath his head and closing his eyes.
It was his first Christmas in a long, long time… and he was going to get as much sleep as he could before they woke him up.
fini