Long Dark Night of the Soul
General Jack O'Neill sat out on his porch, the one that overlooked his pond in Minnesota, a beer in his hand. It was pitch black outside; the sun had set long ago. He slowly brought the beer to his lips, needing the amber liquid to calm him down. While it might calm him, he had learned long ago that it wouldn't take away his pain. Not this kind of pain at least.
Something had happened on her assignment. "Missing in Action" they were calling it. Not dead, not lost forever, just missing. That left a chance that she could come home.
But he knew the odds, knew that there wasn't much chance of her survival if something had happened to her on The Hammond. The Captain always went down with her ship.
So he sat out here and waited. Waited for word that they'd found her ship, that she and her crew were coming home. Waited to hear that she was dead. He couldn't wait inside because her presence was felt there too much. It was a physical pain to sit inside and see her clothes, her mug, pictures of her lining the walls...knowing that he might not see her again.
For once, he was thankful for a cloudy night sky. This way, he couldn't see the stars, and he wouldn't have to be reminded of her so much out here. But still his eyes turn upward, as if he could see her up there.
As much as he knew the odds, he'd still hang on to hope that he'd see her again. He wouldn't give up. All those missions through the gate had taught him at least one thing, there was always a chance that you could get out of a tricky situation. And if all he had was a chance of seeing her again, he'd take it.
Samantha Carter wasn't a quitter. Neither was he.
Author's Note- Written for the theme "Long dark night of the soul" for drabble123 on livejournal. Thanks for reading and if you liked it let me know!