Author's Note: Hehe! No guns and violence in this one – not really, anyways. It's rated lower than anything I've ever posted before and I've been very careful to keep within that rating for any younger people that might be reading
OOOOOOOO
When she left the room Sam went down to the lobby of the hotel. It was practically deserted, but she knew where to find everyone – although she wasn't all that certain that she'd be able to find anything in the banquet room with a movie playing.
Sure enough, when she slipped into the room a few minutes later, it was dark, lit up only by the occasional bright flashes coming from the huge screen that was on one wall. She stood at the doorway for a long minute, allowing her eyes a chance to adjust to the dark room, and to look for her teammates. The first movie was fairly close to being over, she saw, so she wasn't going to be too concerned if she didn't find them right away – she could catch them between movies.
Then a switch to a daylight scene lit up the entire room just long enough for her to find Teal'c's large figure sitting on the floor in the back of the room with his back resting against the far wall. Beside him Daniel was sprawled on cushions, and Sam wondered if he was awake.
She grabbed up one of the small bags of popcorn and made her way over to them, careful to try and not block anyone's view of the movie.
Daniel proved he was awake by sitting up when she dropped to the floor beside him, leaning against one of his many cushions.
"Hey. I was wondering where you were."
His voice was a whisper so as not to disturb those close by – although not a lot of parents or kids had opted to sit near Teal'c, who was imposing enough in the light, much less a large, empty and darkened room.
"I got held up, sorry."
Her voice was just as soft.
"We were wondering if Jack had tied you up and tossed you out a window, or stuffed you down the garbage chute or something."
Sam smiled, but she didn't think she should discuss what had happened in the room. At least, not until she and her CO had discussed it – if he even wanted to.
"He probably thought about it," she admitted.
"Did you find out what's wrong?"
"He's not in a very talkative mood…"
Which wasn't a lie, and still protected O'Neill's privacy.
"Is he coming down?"
She shook her head, and then changed the subject.
"How do you like the movie?"
Daniel shrugged, and stole her popcorn.
"It's… interesting."
"The Histories are much more enjoyable…" Teal'c said, his deep voice more of a rumble – even when he whispered.
"Books usually are," Sam agreed, taking her popcorn back and stretching out with her feet in front of Teal'c and her elbow and handpropping her head up next to Daniel's thigh. "But at least you'll get a general idea of what's going on…"
Daniel didn't say anything, but really… he hadn't had a clue what was going on most of the day – and really wasn't all that positive he knew what was happening in the movie. But he was always willing to learn something new.
"I don't understand what happened with Voldemort, though…"
"You will," Sam promised him. "If you don't get it from the movie, tell me, and I'll tell you the story in the morning."
He nodded, and settled in to watch the rest of the movie, well aware that even though they had been whispering softly, Teal'c's intimidating presence was all that was keeping some people from shushing them.
OOOOOOOOO
It was late when Daniel returned to the hotel room. The second movie was still going strong, but with the promise of an explanation of the movies in the morning, he'd had enough and had decided he was going to go to bed. He told Sam and Teal'c – neither of whom showed any interest in leaving the banquet room for any reason – that he'd see them for breakfast, and then headed for the room.
Jack was asleep, Daniel saw as soon as he entered the room. Sprawled in his bed, he was still fully clothed – with only his shoes sitting on the floor – and sleeping above the blankets for the most part. It didn't look all that comfortable, but Daniel knew he'd slept in worse positions a- for that matter, so had Daniel – so he didn't bother to wake him up. Instead, he took a quick shower, and went to bed himself, trying to avoid disturbing Jack when he did.
OOOOO
The sound of the shower – or more to the point, the sound of Daniel singing in the shower (in some Arabic language) – woke Jack up from his fitful sleep. He rolled over, groaning at the aches in what seemed to be every muscle in his body, and rubbed his eyes, which were scratchy and felt dry. And then he remembered why they felt like that, although he honestly didn't remember going to bed. Or falling asleep. All he remembered was…
"Oh, great…"
He was glad Daniel was in the shower and hadn't heard the particular groaning sound that had accompanied that, because he knew the archaeologist would have immediately come over to his bedside, nagging him about what was wrong and if he was okay.
Crap.
What had he done? He rolled over again, feeling a headache, as well, and wondering if it was the after-effect of the crying jag, or a reminder that one shouldn't drink a lot of whiskey before eating, and then drink a few beers on top of that whiskey. It wasn't a hangover – he hadn't drunk that much – but he felt awful. What was she going to think of him? More importantly… how had she managed to get him to open up like that? Jack was usually a lot more careful about what he said, and who he said it to – and the man that had broken down in this room earlier that evening wasn't him.
Crap.
He sighed, and allowed his thoughts to return to Charlie, anticipating that agonizing emptiness that he always felt when he thought of the boy. This time, however, he was surprised. Not that the pain was gone, of course. It was still there. But for the first time he didn't feel overwhelmed by the emptiness in that place Charlie had once filled, and he didn't immediately feel the sting of tears threatening. He ached, but he could handle it.
He closed his eyes again as he heard the shower turn off – and the singing stop, thank God – and replayed the events of the evening in his mind over and over, realizing that maybe he'd needed a chance to cry it out. Not with Minerva, of course. She wasn't someone he knew well enough to be someone that could help him deal with that, but Sam was – and apparently had. He didn't feel completely healed – and he had a raw, empty spot inside him that would still need time to heal – but he instinctively knew that it would heal. With time.
Maybe he owed Carter more than he thought, Jack decided, sighing softly and allowing himself to drift back to sleep. He'd have to think of a way to thank her – and maybe a way to apologize.
