Monday Mornings
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but it would be cool if I did.
Spoilers: Bait
Pairings: Jack/Sam fluff, a nice break from my usual angst.
Summary: "Samantha, you know it's pouring outside?"
He stood out of sight for a long while, just watching her. She was so beautiful when she was alone, not worrying about putting on a façade or a fake smile for anyone. He watched her - watched her mouth, with the corners just turned up slightly so he knew she was content. She was standing outside, on the small balcony that led out from the floor of the missing persons unit.
She loved to stand out on that balcony, to watch the city go by below her. She loved the feeling of being really small in this big city, in this big world. He knew this because she told him, one day when he had caught her standing out there in the wee hours of the morning, after a particularly heavy case where the victim had turned up dead.
She had told him, "It kind of keeps you stable, keeps you from going insane, you know? To look at the cars moving and the people walking and it helps to remind you that life goes on. It keeps you from dwelling on it, from thinking about all the things you did wrong. And that's what brings us from one case to the next in a job like this."
He had only nodded, and he wasn't even sure if she had seen him. When she spoke, she had that same slight-smile as she did now, where the corners of her mouth were just slightly upturned, and she had a light in her eyes, and you would have missed it if you weren't looking for it. But he was always looking for it. And when she got that look, standing on the balcony, she was in her own little world, a perfect world that she only let herself drift away to every now and then, because Samantha Spade was a down to earth person, and she didn't have fantasies and dreams of a perfect, unrealistic life.
Back in the present, he looked at her again, standing there. She didn't seem to be aware that it was pouring rain outside, and that she was drenched to the core. He wondered how long she had been standing out there, or if she even cared that she was soaked through. Her eyes were closed now, and he knew she was in that perfect world, where nothing could hurt her and people only felt love and happiness, never pain, never sadness.
He didn't want to take her out of that perfect world, but his wife had just asked for a divorce, and he was the happiest man alive, even though he shouldn't have been. And the first thing he wanted to do was tell Sam.
He walked to the sliding glass door that led to the balcony. It was slightly open, just enough so that Samantha's body could slip through. He looked at her from the door, and she was about ten feet away, but he could still see her smile through the pouring sheets of rain.
"Samantha, you know it's pouring outside?" he asked from where he stood. She didn't respond and at first he thought that maybe she didn't hear him, and he opened his mouth to call out to her again, but just as he was about to she tilted her head up, and he saw her smile widen, a small indication that she very well did hear him.
He was a little bit taken aback that she didn't seem surprised to hear him there, but she was still in that perfect world, where no thoughts clouded her mind and whatever happened just was. Like Jack being there - she didn't want to ask questions, she didn't need to. All that mattered was that he was there with her and not on a plane to Chicago with his family, and that was all she needed at this moment.
She opened her eyes and was now staring directly at him. Her smile widened, stretching across her face, making her eyes dance with a light he hadn't seen in a while. "I know," she said. And after a few more seconds a smile spread across his face too.
He slid the glass door open a little bit more and slipped outside, walking towards her widening smile and the dancing light in her eyes, towards the woman that he ultimately chose, not that it ever was a real decision, because it had always been her. Within seconds he was as soaked through as she was, but he welcomed the rain. It was a soothing escape from the heat of the beginnings of a New York summer.
He finally reached her and she put her arms around his neck, standing on her tiptoes to lightly kiss his lips, and he kissed her back - nothing intense, just a brief, sweet kiss filled with love. She lowered herself back to the ground, and her smile couldn't have been bigger. He felt the same expression reflected on his own face.
She laughed, a light, happy sound that he could barely hear through the rain that was coming down around them. But for those hours there were no deep talks or heavy questions, just two teenagers, young and caught up in the magic of a first love, but one that held promise of never ending.
And for those hours she let him into her perfect world, the one that before that night only she had been allowed to enter. That night that was spent kissing and dancing in the rain, whispering sweet nothings in each others ears before they faced Monday morning reality, where there would be divorce papers and missing persons and other people and the real world, not the perfect one.
But as they sat there, looking over the city, where life went on, they found that they had in them everything that they needed to get through the all the Monday mornings.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but it would be cool if I did.
Spoilers: Bait
Pairings: Jack/Sam fluff, a nice break from my usual angst.
Summary: "Samantha, you know it's pouring outside?"
He stood out of sight for a long while, just watching her. She was so beautiful when she was alone, not worrying about putting on a façade or a fake smile for anyone. He watched her - watched her mouth, with the corners just turned up slightly so he knew she was content. She was standing outside, on the small balcony that led out from the floor of the missing persons unit.
She loved to stand out on that balcony, to watch the city go by below her. She loved the feeling of being really small in this big city, in this big world. He knew this because she told him, one day when he had caught her standing out there in the wee hours of the morning, after a particularly heavy case where the victim had turned up dead.
She had told him, "It kind of keeps you stable, keeps you from going insane, you know? To look at the cars moving and the people walking and it helps to remind you that life goes on. It keeps you from dwelling on it, from thinking about all the things you did wrong. And that's what brings us from one case to the next in a job like this."
He had only nodded, and he wasn't even sure if she had seen him. When she spoke, she had that same slight-smile as she did now, where the corners of her mouth were just slightly upturned, and she had a light in her eyes, and you would have missed it if you weren't looking for it. But he was always looking for it. And when she got that look, standing on the balcony, she was in her own little world, a perfect world that she only let herself drift away to every now and then, because Samantha Spade was a down to earth person, and she didn't have fantasies and dreams of a perfect, unrealistic life.
Back in the present, he looked at her again, standing there. She didn't seem to be aware that it was pouring rain outside, and that she was drenched to the core. He wondered how long she had been standing out there, or if she even cared that she was soaked through. Her eyes were closed now, and he knew she was in that perfect world, where nothing could hurt her and people only felt love and happiness, never pain, never sadness.
He didn't want to take her out of that perfect world, but his wife had just asked for a divorce, and he was the happiest man alive, even though he shouldn't have been. And the first thing he wanted to do was tell Sam.
He walked to the sliding glass door that led to the balcony. It was slightly open, just enough so that Samantha's body could slip through. He looked at her from the door, and she was about ten feet away, but he could still see her smile through the pouring sheets of rain.
"Samantha, you know it's pouring outside?" he asked from where he stood. She didn't respond and at first he thought that maybe she didn't hear him, and he opened his mouth to call out to her again, but just as he was about to she tilted her head up, and he saw her smile widen, a small indication that she very well did hear him.
He was a little bit taken aback that she didn't seem surprised to hear him there, but she was still in that perfect world, where no thoughts clouded her mind and whatever happened just was. Like Jack being there - she didn't want to ask questions, she didn't need to. All that mattered was that he was there with her and not on a plane to Chicago with his family, and that was all she needed at this moment.
She opened her eyes and was now staring directly at him. Her smile widened, stretching across her face, making her eyes dance with a light he hadn't seen in a while. "I know," she said. And after a few more seconds a smile spread across his face too.
He slid the glass door open a little bit more and slipped outside, walking towards her widening smile and the dancing light in her eyes, towards the woman that he ultimately chose, not that it ever was a real decision, because it had always been her. Within seconds he was as soaked through as she was, but he welcomed the rain. It was a soothing escape from the heat of the beginnings of a New York summer.
He finally reached her and she put her arms around his neck, standing on her tiptoes to lightly kiss his lips, and he kissed her back - nothing intense, just a brief, sweet kiss filled with love. She lowered herself back to the ground, and her smile couldn't have been bigger. He felt the same expression reflected on his own face.
She laughed, a light, happy sound that he could barely hear through the rain that was coming down around them. But for those hours there were no deep talks or heavy questions, just two teenagers, young and caught up in the magic of a first love, but one that held promise of never ending.
And for those hours she let him into her perfect world, the one that before that night only she had been allowed to enter. That night that was spent kissing and dancing in the rain, whispering sweet nothings in each others ears before they faced Monday morning reality, where there would be divorce papers and missing persons and other people and the real world, not the perfect one.
But as they sat there, looking over the city, where life went on, they found that they had in them everything that they needed to get through the all the Monday mornings.