Dinner Impossible
Rated: G
Season: Any. Pick your favorite!
Spoilers: none
Summary: Jack has had to make tough decisions before, but there are some battles even he was never meant to win. Short and quirky :D Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Well, I made a birthday wish, but RDA didn't show up on my doorstep with the deed in his hand, so I guess I still don't own them.
A/N: Okay, I was sitting down to write a nice long Thanksgiving story, but this quirky little thing spurted out instead. So you will get this now, and the other one a little later. Um, I've written this one really fast. Hopefully it's not too bad :D I'm just in such a writing mood, so I decided to post it. Enjoy! And thanks so much for reading!
Oh, and thanks so much to all those who read and reviewed my last story, "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night". I was overwhelmed by all the responses and floating for days :D
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Smoke was everywhere. Rolling all around him. He couldn't see. Couldn't breath. Intense heat mercilessly slapped against his skin.
"Jack, come on!"
"Sir, you have to get out of there!" a voice called from an indecipherable location.
"No!" he yelled. It was all he could manage from the smoke invaded his lungs and ash rained over him. "I won't leave them behind," he choked to himself.
There were too many. All about to die. He wouldn't allow them to stay there and suffer. This was no way to die. He had to get to them. They had depended on him to keep them safe.
He held his sleeve over his soot-covered nose and mouth and ran into the haze, the smoke causing tears to run down his face.
He froze in shock at the sight that met him.
Ashes. Gone. All of them gone. He was too late. All his efforts in vain. There was nothing anybody could do for them now.
Even as people began rushing around him, trying to bring order to this slaughterhouse, all he could do was stand and stare. How had it all gone so wrong so fast? There had been no warning. Everything had been going according to plan, everything had been perfect. It should have been routine. They'd been laughing, joking, getting their work done. And then this.
He felt someone put their hand on his arm.
"Come on, sir. There's nothing more you could have done. Let's get out of here, and let the others do their work."
"Carter, I –"
"I know, sir. I know," she gently took his arm and led him away. She rubbed his back slowly in consolation. She'd seen him beat the odds so many times. Perhaps this was just the one battle he was never meant to win. And it was breaking him. "You did everything you could, sir. There were just too many."
"I should have anticipated it. I should have been prepared for all possible attacks. But I wasn't. I let my guard down. Now what are we going to do?"
"Don't worry about it, sir. I got Daniel to order pizza. We're going to go over to my place instead."
"Really?"
"Uh-huh."
With one final wistful look back at the stove, the smoke clearing enough that he could make out each charred pot and pan, the crispy turkey on the counter nearby, he allowed Sam to lead him out to her car, past the firemen and nosey neighbors.
They drove in silence for a time, each one lost in their own thoughts.
"I can try again next year, can't I?"
"Sure you can, sir. Sure you can."
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The End!
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I hope you all enjoyed that! Thanks so much for reading!
Best wishes and lots of love,
macisgate