Title: Tiny Little Gestures
Author: Kate1013
Category: Vignette
Rating: K+ PG
Spoiler: Whole of SG1. Set during SGA S4
Summary: It's the simple things is life that somehow get her through...
Disclaimer: All characters are not mine which is damn unfortunate....
A/N: This one wrote itself without my permission.... ;-)
She had been in the city for two months before she saw it.
She was deep in a discussion with Rodney about wormhole physics, when the metal of the reel had caught her eye. She paused mid sentence and stared at the rod that sat in the corner of his lab.
"I didn't know you liked fishing?" She asked, more than stated.
Rodney shrugged. "I don't... really. It was Carson's..."
Sam looked at the rod and then back at Rodney's sombre face. "You use it much?" The other scientist shook his head. "Would you...?" Sam shook the question away, avoiding the man's gaze and trying to think of a way to get the conversation back on track.
"What?"
Sam sighed. "I was going to ask if you'd mind if I borrowed it sometime...."
Rodney's eyes widened. "I didn't know you liked fishing?"
Sam smiled at the mere question thrown back at her, a small shrug on her own shoulders. "I understand if it's got sentimental value...."
"No," Rodney waved a hand in the air, "I mean it does but... well I never use it. I guess Carson would be glad to see it in use...."
Sam nodded and smiled gratefully, "Thanks Rodney."
-0-
She had been in the city for three months when the mood first struck her.
It was her day off – her first in a long time since she'd arrived. She slipped into his lab at the crack of dawn, unable to break her early morning routine, and stuck a post-it note on Rodney's desk.
-0-
It had taken several tries before she found the ultimate spot. Rodney had mentioned that Carson frequented certain sites on the mainland. But this was a different planet now, and there was never the option of leaving the city.
She sat down and leaned back against an outcrop in the landing platform. Sam supposed it was some sort of docking station for ancient ships, but it was useless to them and the Apollo and the Daedalus always landed on one of the other platforms in the city. From the way the doors creaked when she punched in the code, Sam doubted hardly anyone had been out here for a while.
Knees bent and pole resting between them, her hands held on loosely, the instructions that Jack had given her that first time suddenly echoing in her mind. Without warning she felt the tears fall, but she made no move to wipe them away. Hanging her head low, she allowed a sob to escape her. The only thing diverting her attention was the occasional pull on her line.
-0-
Sam was pretty sure that the outcrop shielded her from view of the city. Which was why she was surprised a few hours later, when a figure appeared from seemingly nowhere and slid down to sit beside her. He handed her a handkerchief and Sam found herself looking up and smiling gratefully at her companion before she even realised that he would see her tear stained face.
It was some time before he spoke, and Sam found it strange to hear anything so loud against the sway of the ocean and the whistle of the wind.
"You know, everyone's been wondering where you are for the past few hours..."
Sam's eyes cast down at the headset that lay abandoned by her feet. John simply followed her gaze. "No one's contacted me with an emergency," Sam stated, and continued to stare at the device.
"No," John shook his head. "They wouldn't have..." Sam risked a glance his way. John merely shrugged. "No emergency," He said.
"I'm not used to not being able to disappear on my own for a while... you know..." She sniffed. "Have some time to myself... I used to ride my bike..." Sam laughed to herself, "God, how stupid is it that I miss that?"
"Somehow I don't get the impression that you're sitting here crying over a bike."
Sam wiped the remainder of her tears with the back of her hand, "It was a good bike..." They shared a small smile, before Sam diverted her gaze back to her lap. "Have you ever been married?"
John scrutinised her face for a few seconds, her quiet words giving him pause. "Once," he replied, "Didn't really work out..."
Sam snorted in recognition. "I woke up this morning and suddenly realised that if things hadn't worked out how they have, I would be celebrating my wedding anniversary today..." She shook her head in disbelief.
John studied her, not knowing what to say. "Do you regret it?"
"No...." Her head shot up almost immediately, "Only that I should've ended it sooner than I did... both times..." John's eyebrow rose. "Is it hard to believe that someone like me can have two failed engagements?"
John's mouth opened and closed momentarily. "No," He squeaked.
Sam smiled ruefully. "I blame the aliens," she added suddenly.
"You dated many aliens?" John asked, a smile on his lips.
Sam laughed, "Actually I think all the ones that fell for me ended up dying..."
"You're kidding me, right?"
"I wish I was..." Sam shook her head.
"So... You're not really sitting out here crying over men you didn't love enough to marry are you?"
Sam laughed at the innocence of his question. She shook her head again and stared at the rod in her lap. "No... Actually believe it or not, I only came out here to fish..." John's expression remained sceptical. "It just also happened to remind me of someone back home..."
"Someone...?"
"Someone who... probably loves me too much to even ask me to marry him..." Sam sighed, her gaze heading back out to the ocean.
"You know," John threw her a sideways glance, "He's probably just relieved he's still alive... what with your track record..."
Sam whacked him on his arm with the back on her hand, a laugh tumbling out of both of them.
"You could... always ask him, you know..." With that statement, Sam turned to study her second in command. "Does he know about the other two?" John asked. Sam merely nodded. "Well then, he probably thinks it's not something you want..."
Sam considered his words for a moment, her head nodding absently. "And now I'm billions of light years away..." She wiped a hand down her face. "God, I really did just come out here to fish!"
"You know, I never thought of you as a fisherman... or fisherwoman, should I say..." John deliberately tried to keep his tone light, and found himself rewarded when he got a chuckle out of Sam. "You catch anything?"
Sam nodded and handed him a bucket.
"What are these?!"
Sam shrugged, a smile lighting up her face. "Not sure... but I thought it would be fun trying to find out..."
John screwed up his nose, before seeing her face brighten. "You have someone in mind?"
"Who tattled on me?"
John simply smiled, "Well Rodney did show me the note..."
Sam simply grinned. "Our secret?"
"Our secret."
-0-
It was another month or so before a 'Carper' appeared on the mess hall's menu.
"Remember those fish I caught off one of the city's piers?" Sam peered into the lens of the webcam, while Jack simply nodded. "Well the scientists and head chef have finally cleared one of them for consumption..."
Jack's eyebrow rose. "You're going to start eating them?"
Sam shrugged. "Well, there's plenty down there and tests indicate that they breed quite rapidly, and we'll only start them as a delicacy at first..."
"I hear they're like carp..." Jack watched as a grin appeared on Sam's face and couldn't help but grin back. Yes he had read that memo...
"We're currently having a competition to name them," Sam continued, "Chuck set up a suggestion box in the control room."
"Really...?"
Twenty four hours later and a package arrived from Earth. Chuck handed a thick padded envelope to the base commander and slipped a smaller one into the box beside his console. Sam simply added the photo of Jack holding a sketch of an alien fish to her collection on her bedside table.
-0-
She guessed it must have been a few months later when Ronon pulled the vehicle through the wormhole with him, lagging somewhat behind the rest of his teammates.
Sam couldn't help but stare at it as the others came to a stop before her in the gate room.
"Thought maybe you could fix it," Ronon stated, and watched as his commander's face swept over the rusty frame, worn out tyres and sprigs of vegetation coming out if it's engine. A slow smile worked its way onto her face.
"Only sign of life we found on that planet," John added, his head motioning back to the bike. "If you want we can take it back?"
"No," Sam shook her head, unable to stop the smile from spreading. "I'll fix it up..."
-0-
A few weeks later and Sam was road testing the bike on the same abandoned pier that she found the fish.
"You think maybe we could get the IOA to authorise us taking this out on missions through the gate?!" John shouted at Sam over the roar of the engine.
Sam simply grinned at him with a wicked look in her eye.
-0-
Jack couldn't help but smirk as he looked at the photo of Sam in her leathers, leaning against a mud splattered bike. "What's this I hear about you winning a Pegasus bike race?"
Deep dimples appeared in Sam's cheeks as she grinned. If they weren't millions of light years away, Jack would've jumped her there and then.
-0-
It was nine months into her new assignment that Sam celebrated her first birthday in the city.
Chuck did his best to steer her away from the mess hall all day, as well as conceal any suspicious packages that came through the gate.
By 1900hours that evening, Teyla had managed to trick her into following her into the darkened hall. Sam pretended to be surprised when they jumped out with poppers and streamers; and later uttered the very words that all commanders know and that all base personnel dread to hear... "You know, I always know everything that goes on around here right?"
Sam simply grinned when Major Lorne responded by handing her a pack of her favourite beer.
-0-
She didn't realise that it was mother's day until the package arrived. The homemade card featured two stick men on the front with their names labelled and had triangles for skirts. The words 'miss you!' penned in Cassie's handwriting almost brought tears to her eyes and Sam stuck one of the chocolates that accompanied it, into her mouth in some vain attempt to make herself feel better.
-0-
"Would you like to hold him?"
Sam felt tears well up in her eyes when she peered down into the cot for the first time. Teyla simply smiled and forced the child into her arms.
The fact that Torren didn't cry only served to make her smile and sigh in relief.
-0-
"I'm not going back."
The words escaped in a sob before she even realised she was upset. Sam allowed Jack's arms to envelope her and pulled him tight.
It took several hours for the wet patch on his shirt to dry.
-0-
The sound startled her and Sam looked up from the rod in her hands to see a leap frog hopping around the deck near her feet.
Staring at the creature, then up at the man sitting beside her, Sam couldn't help but smile.
"What?"
Sam got out of her seat and crawled onto Jack's lap and whispered in his ear.
His stunned silence was only halted by her lips on his.
-0-
It was a few weeks after Sam had left, that the note arrived.
John had been sitting in Woolsey's office discussing a potential mission when Chuck had interrupted and handed him the envelope. John glanced at the familiar handwriting and shot the messenger a look.
Chuck shrugged, "Came in with the normal supplies."
"What is it?" Woolsey asked, peering over John's shoulder to see.
John didn't answer, merely folding back the paper and pulling out the card. A picture of a fish sat on the front with Sam's familiar scrawl inside. 'Did you know that it's a leap year?'
-0-
When she arrived at her office the following day, it was sitting there waiting for her. A picture of a 'Carper' sat tied to a bottle of her favourite beer with a bright red ribbon. The words 'good catch' jumped out at her and a grin flitted across her face.
No matter where she was, she realised, there was always someone that she would miss....