122
Quality Time
"O'Neill, I have been thinking." Evree had that day just begun re-teaching her legs to walk, and Jack had decided it merited a celebration. If she didn't know better, she could swear he was taking her out of the complex.
"Didn't sprain anything, did you?" O'Neill was in exceptionally high spirits. It made Evree wonder what he was up to.
"Sprain what?" she queried crossly. Then, she got it. "O'Neill, I am being serious. Do you suppose you might be able to pay attention for a minute or two?"
"So, what's up?" Jack shifted gears instantly. He hoped she wasn't going to tell him something that would ruin his good mood.
"I saw that young man brought into the infirmary today," Evree stated, apropos of nothing, from O'Neill's point of view. "He has barely begun living, and Janet tells me it is likely that he will never walk again."
"I'd heard about that," O'Neill replied cautiously, wondering what it had to do with either of them. "But these things happen. You have to learn to deal with them."
Evree all but ignored his remarks. "Janet informed me that there are many such as he," she mused. "And it seems so terribly sad to me when there is a possible solution."
"A solution?" O'Neill was all ears now. "What kind of solution could you have for paralysis?"
"How many of those poor unfortunates would balk at being host to one of my children if it meant they would be able to walk again?" she asked pointedly. "Marvath told me that besides having no queen, one of the biggest difficulties that the Tok'ra face is that it has become difficult for them to find a new host when one is dying."
O'Neill saw where she was going with this. "So, with one fell swoop, you're planning on making the lame walk and injecting some new life into the dying Tok'ra society." He mulled it over for a moment. "It might work. If the bureaucrats will allow it. They'll probably want to study it for years, first."
"We have years," Evree pointed out. "For it will take years for my children to be mature enough to take hosts." Now that she had laid out her proposal in full, her confidence began to wane a bit. "Do you think it is a good idea? A possible one?"
O'Neill wheeled her into an elevator and pushed the button. Then, he bent and kissed the top of her head. "It's a great idea," he answered in a quiet voice that in some ways carried much more conviction than overwhelming exuberance. "I just don't want you to be disappointed if everyone doesn't jump on the bandwagon right away."
"Do you mean that people would rather be ill and crippled rather than be hosts?" Evree asked in dismay.
"There might be some," Jack admitted. "But probably not all that many. I was talking about the people who are in a position to say yes or no to the whole thing." O'Neill decided they'd given that subject enough of a workout for the moment, since they wouldn't be able to do anything about it on their own anyway. "But, as you said, we've got years to work it out." The elevator came to a halt and he wheeled her out.
Evree looked at her current surroundings in surprise, then closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, seemingly to be in utter bliss. Jack grinned. Most of what he could smell was gas and exhaust fumes, odors that nature's scents had trouble penetrating. He let her have a moment, however, before he started pushing her chair towards the parking area.
"Did Janet allow this, O'Neill?" Evree inquired uncertainly. She had a strong suspicion that she wasn't supposed to be out, and didn't know whether she should be pleased that he put his celebration of her accomplishment, small though it was, before obeying doctor's orders, or cross that he cared so little about her well being that he would put her in jeopardy.
"She not only okayed it, she encouraged it," Jack replied reassuringly. "It was getting pretty obvious that you were starting to get a little stir crazy." He saw her puzzled expression as he lifted her into the car. "We could tell you needed to get out," he translated.
"Well, I know we are not going dancing," Evree remarked wistfully as O'Neill settled in next to her, having finally won the battle of getting her wheelchair stowed in the back. "So what are we doing?"
"I thought I'd fall back on that old standby, dinner and a movie," O'Neill answered. There was something else on the books too, but he was going to surprise her with that.
&&&&&
The evening had gone pretty smoothly. As far as dinner went, O'Neill had been happy to discover that Evree liked Italian food. The movie though, was something he wouldn't forget. The choices had been between several chick flicks or one of the evil aliens taking over the world genre. The past few years, Jack had given the latter a miss, for obvious reasons. But then, he decided what the hell, he had promised her a movie.
Even Jack couldn't have anticipated Evree's reaction, and certainly none of the other movie patrons, some of whom found it out and out annoying.
Almost the entire length of what was supposed to be a grim, gripping drama, Evree laughed.
It was good to hear her laugh.
&&&&&
"You're sure they're still closed?" O'Neill asked. He knew Evree's eyes were closed, not because he could see them, he couldn't, but because of what she was not saying.
"They are closed, O'Neill," Evree grumbled. "They have been almost ever since we left the theater. When may I open them?"
"Soon," he promised. He'd given careful consideration to where he should park the chair before he allowed her to open her eyes, and he'd finally settled on the living room in front of the Christmas tree. A lot of years he didn't even bother, but he'd put up the tree this year because he thought Evree would like it. He stood behind her and let his hands come gently to rest on Evree's shoulders. "Okay, you can open them now, hon," he allowed. He almost held his breath waiting for her reaction.
O'Neill did not have to wait long. The moment he had given her the go-ahead, Evree's eyes had flown open. A delighted gasp escaped her lips as she saw the tree, glittering, shining, utterly beautiful to her eyes. It was therefore some minutes before she realized where they were.
"We are in your home, O'Neill." It may have been a statement, but the voice making it was full of questions.
Jack sighed at how she'd worded things. Like she was still some sort of frequent house-guest. He knelt beside the chair, hands on the armrest and looked up at her. "Yes, we're home," he said, putting plenty of emphasis on the words. She usually wasn't so slow on the uptake.
Evree got it. "Our home?" she murmured incredulously.
"Yours and mine," O'Neill affirmed. "Your stuff is here, this is where you stay when you're not on base, and this is where the person that loves you lives. Doesn't that make it home?"
Evree's eyes misted over. "O'Neill," she said in a choked voice. She got no further, but leaned over to wrap her arms around him.
It was quite a few minutes before the emotions eased off enough to permit conversation again.
"Do you want to know what the worst part of it was?" Evree mumbled in his ear. "Of being in the tank with no host?"
"What?" O'Neill loosened his grasp on her and rocked back on his heels so he could look at her.
"Even though you visited me each day," Evree began, suddenly feeling a little shy, and averting her eyes. "I feared that by the time I did have a new host, you would have found someone else."
"That's just silly talk," O'Neill scolded gently, lifting her out of the chair and depositing her on the sofa so he could snuggle up to her. "Did you really think I'd be visiting you every day just to dump you?"
Evree nestled into his shoulder. "I thought that the more you saw of me that way, the more you would think of me as Goa'uld rather than as a woman."
Jack tipped back her chin with a finger, making her look at him. "And now you know that you were completely wrong, don't you?"
"Perhaps an effect of the withdrawal?" Evree suggested. Her head had always known that a man as honorable as O'Neill would never do that to her. It had been her heart that needed convincing.
O'Neill laughed softly. "If that's what it takes for you to deal with it," he remarked. He leaned back against the sofa cushions. cuddling her against his chest. "This is nice."
"Very nice," Evree agreed. "But it is also getting quite late. Will Janet not scold you for keeping me out so long?"
Jack gave her an extra little squeeze. "I guess she got busy and forgot to tell you," he said mysteriously, knowing that it was nothing of the sort. Frasier had deliberately not told Evree so that O'Neill could give her the news as a sort of pre-Christmas present.
"Forgot what?" Evree demanded suspiciously.
"That from here on out, you're an outpatient," he answered with a grin.
"Outpatient?" Evree echoed. "Does that mean I not longer have to stay in the infirmary nearly all the time? That I will be able to be here? Sleep in your.., our bed?" The questions came fast and furious, as if she were receiving the answers as quickly as she could ask. "Does that mean that we shall be able to..," Her voice trailed away. They had been apart for so long that she actually felt a little awkward asking about it.
O'Neill was a little bit taken aback. He'd seldom seen outspoken Evree at a loss for words. "Yes, yes, yes," he replied to the first three questions. "As for that last one, Doc Frasier thought I ought to leave it up to you to decide when you're ready."
"I shall have to think on it for a moment," Evree murmured through a yawn. Despite the fact that she'd spent the whole evening in her wheelchair, tonight had still been more activity than Evree had engaged in since acquiring her new host.
Jack was about to ask how long she wanted to think about it when he realized that she had dropped off to sleep.
&&&&&
"Daniel, I need to ask you a favor." Evree had laid in wait in this corridor until her prey had appeared, and tedious it had been too, with every passing person asking if they could take her somewhere. She had grown weary of explaining that she was precisely where she intended to be.
"A weekend at home seems to have put some color in your cheeks," Daniel remarked. "So, what's the favor?"
"I wish you to take me shopping, please." The request was accompanied by such a pleading look that she might be begging for her life.
Daniel hesitated. Taking a woman out shopping was not generally on his list of fun things to do. And besides.., "Won't Jack take you?"
"I understand that it is customary for a present to be a surprise," Evree replied seriously. "It would hardly be a surprise if O'Neill went with me to get it."
"Point taken," Daniel conceded. "I guess that means that you're going Christmas shopping." He mentally cringed at the thought, not only of taking Evree to shop at all, but in stores full of holiday shoppers.
"O'Neill had to explain to me about Christmas," Evree said. "Because I asked the purpose of the pretty tree that he put up in the living room. He took me shopping yesterday."
Daniel grinned. He doubted if Jack had cared for the idea any more than he did, but living with her didn't give him much of an out. "You know," he hedged. "I'm not really all that good with shopping. Maybe Sam or Dr. Frasier..,"
"No." Evree dismissed the suggestion immediately. "I wanted you to take me because I simply do no know what to get, and I thought that being the same gender, you might have more insight."
"I see." Daniel did see too. And could see no way out of it without being churlish. "When did you want to go?"
Evree beamed at him. "Thank you, Daniel. Would this afternoon be suitable?"
&&&&&&
"How did Evree like getting to spend the weekend at home?" Sam inquired. She had felt, and suppressed, a surge of jealously when O'Neill and the Goa'uld had first gotten together. Intellectually, she knew, and had always known, that that was a dead end as far as she was concerned. And besides genuinely liking Evree, the two of them just seemed so.., right.
"The best medicine she's had to date," O'Neill confirmed. "The night out may have been a bit much for her. She fell asleep on the sofa." He stifled the grin that was threatening to break out. Evree hadn't even stirred when he'd gotten her undressed and tucked into bed. The next morning she had insisted on 'making up for her thoughtless behavior'. She might still be a little lacking in the mobility department, but she more than made up for it in enthusiasm. He gave himself a mental shake. No need to go there now. "I think I made a mistake putting up a tree for her," he remarked a little ruefully. "Not only did I have to spend a couple of hours explaining Christmas to her, but then she insisted that I take her shopping for Christmas presents."
Sam smiled. For a Goa'uld, or even a Tok'ra, Evree could be very generous. "Does that mean that I can pump you for information about what she got us?" she asked ingenuously.
"I am sworn to secrecy," O'Neill stated. "But I did want to ask your opinion on something, Carter." He extracted a velvet box from his pocket. "Do you think she'll like this?" he inquired as he opened the box.
&&&&&&
Daniel removed his glasses for a moment and rubbed his eyes wearily. If Jack had had to go through anything like this for each and every gift Evree bought, he felt for him. He had to admit that he wasn't that much help though, other than to shoot down her ideas, which were either overly extravagant or just.., not something you'd want to find under the Christmas tree. But he was starting to feel like he didn't know Jack as well as he thought he did.
"Perhaps some of those latex sheaths he wears when we..," Evree started to suggest.
"No." Daniel cut her off as firmly as he possibly could. He didn't even want to imagine O'Neill's reaction at unwrapping a box of condoms.
Evree pouted. "We've been looking for hours," she groused, which was certainly no lie. "And I have yet to receive any useful input from you."
"I know," Daniel sighed. "I'm really sorry I haven't been more help, Evree. But I'm drawing a blank."
Evree's eyebrows suddenly knitted in concentration, and Daniel let her get her idea firmly in her head without interruption. "I think I know," she cried triumphantly. "In the garage, O'Neill keeps a box with many compartments in it. I have no notion what the objects he keeps in there are for, but it smells bad. The handle, I noticed, has been mended with that silver colored adhesive."
"Duct tape." Daniel got that part. He was still mulling over the bad smelling box when it suddenly clicked. "You want to get him a new tackle box for his fishing gear."
Evree was little more enlightened than she had been before. But at least Daniel had not said it was a bad idea. And she was beginning to get to the point where she was almost as tired of the current expedition as he was. "Where do we find one?"
&&&&&&
Jack saw Daniel the next day in the gym, and though he knew he shouldn't, he just couldn't resist a little fishing expedition. He never could. "I heard you took Evree shopping yesterday." Not a question, but a statement that invited elaboration.
"I'm not telling you what she got you, Jack," Daniel replied.
"Did I ask?" O'Neill queried in injured tones. "I was just checking to see how you survived the experience."
"And pigs will fly," Daniel muttered under his breath.
"What was that?" O'Neill asked, all innocence.
"I was saying that you owe me big time, Jack," Daniel lied. "If I hadn't been along you might have ended up getting a box of Trojans."
O'Neill winced. "I hope you managed to steer her towards something a little more in keeping with holiday gift-giving?"
"Actually, it was her idea," Daniel admitted. "I just helped carry it out. And that is all that you're getting out of me." He turned and walked away before O'Neill could continue the inquisition.
Jack watched him go, the gears turning. "A box of Trojans." he repeated, and shook his head.
&&&&&&
A few days before the holiday arrived, there was an informal and voluntary get together of such personnel as were not already on leave. There were very few people actually left in the complex, and those few were just waiting for their chance to go home for the holidays. Until then, most of them were eager to attend any sort of celebration, and General Hammond had ordered a holiday meal served in the mess hall before he himself went to spend some quality time spoiling his grandchildren. It was going to be a fairly simple affair, but since it was what was available, there was a certain amount of anticipation among those who would be there.
Especially Evree, who at this moment was in the infirmary, receiving help from Dr. Frasier on the last minute details.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" she murmured nervously, eyeing her reflection in a mirror.
"Trust me." Janet patted her shoulder. "This will be the present that Colonel O'Neill likes best. I can practically guarantee it."