A Touching Gesture
Post Frozen/Abyss Snippet
"Sir!"
Colonel Jack O'Neill felt someone snag his arm and, silently cursing the instinctive tremour that transversed his frame, turned to see that his 2IC had run a little ways to catch up to him.
"Carter?" he asked, more gruffly than he intended.
His blonde-haired Major hastily backed away a step. "Sorry, sir, I didn't mean to-"
"Carter," he interrupted, his expression warning her not to finish the sentence. Dealing with the atrocities he had recently been subjected to was hard enough without receiving pity from everyone around him.
"Yes, sir," she said smartly, unconsciously standing up straighter.
Half expecting a salute, Jack repressed a sigh. He didn't mean to distance himself from his team, it was just an automatic defensive reaction that he had picked up during his time in Special Ops and hadn't quite managed to shake.
"What?" he said in a softer tone, inviting her to continue with what she was going to say.
Sam relaxed into a smile. "Teal'c wanted me to give these to you, sir." She offered him a bag. "I was going to leave them in your office, but I realised that I don't actually know where it is..."
"Let's make sure it stays that way," Jack said, the corners of his lips twitching. "What's in the bag?"
"Tapes of The Simpson's, sir," Sam provided, manging not to blush. "Teal'c asked me to record them for you while... Well, he said they were important to you."
Jack accepted the bag, momentarily speechless. He remembered the brief exchange with his Jaffa friend on that fateful trip to the Antarctic base, but he hadn't expected Teal'c to remember, let alone take it to heart and act on it.
"Colonel?"
There was a trace of concern in her voice, and Jack looked up. His mouth parted, but for a few seconds he couldn't speak past the odd lump that had formed in his throat. "Ah... thanks," he exhaled weakly, more touched by the gesture than he knew how to express.
Carter's smile showed that she understood. "You're welcome, sir."