Prompt 6 – "You're such a Grinch!"
"Christmas movies, my quarters, tonight," Jack said as he strode into Sam's lab.
"Hello to you too sir," Sam replied, looking up from her laptop, "And isn't it a little early for Christmas movies?"
Jack shrugged. "It's December," he said, "So not too early." He walked around her desk to stand beside her. "And I'm on the night shift tonight to keep an eye on the joint, and I know that you and Daniel were planning on hanging around as well." He turned and lent against the desk, looking down at Sam as she looked up at him. "But both of you need a break, so your options are, you go home for the night, without your laptop, or you join me and the guys for a few hours of Christmas movies. Daniel and Teal'c have already agreed."
"I don't know sir," Sam said, glancing back at her laptop, "I have a lot of work I want to get done."
"Ah come on Carter," Jack said, his voice taking on a slight whining quality, "Don't be a Grinch." He knew he could get away with the tone with Sam, they knew each other well enough that she would see the funny side.
Sam's mouth dropped open. "You can't call me that sir," she told him, "I like Christmas, I'm not a Grinch."
"Only a Grinch would say no to Christmas movies with friends," Jack shot back. "You're a mean one, Mr Grinch," he then started singing, "You really are a heel. You're as cuddly as a cactus. You're as charming as an eel, Mr Grinch. You're a bad banana with a greasy black peel!"
Sam continued to stare at him in open-mouthed surprise as he pushed himself away from the desk and kept singing.
"Ok, ok," she said, laughing, "I'll join you for movies."
"Excellent," Jack said, leaning against the desk once again.
"I didn't know you could sing sir," Sam then teased, "And I never thought I'd see that day you'd go to such lengths to get someone to join in with a movie night."
"What can I say," Jack said with a shrug, showing absolutely no signs of embarrassment at his actions, "I'm just in that sort of mood today."
Sam laughed again. She glanced at her laptop and then back to Jack. "Well if it's all the same to you sir I'd like to carry on with this."
"Of course," Jack said, heading towards the door, "But I'll be back at nineteen hundred hours to collect you for dinner and then we'll all be heading back to my quarters. If you're not ready though, I'll just drag you out of here kicking and screaming."
"Of course sir," Sam said in a resigned tone, "I'll see you later."
Jack smiled at her and then left the room. Sam sighed and returned to her work. She was smiling slightly though, she knew that Christmas movies with the guys could actually be a lot of fun, and she was looking forward to it.
-/-
At nineteen hundred on the dot, the door to her lab opened once more.
"I need two more minutes," Sam said, forstalling Jack telling her it was time to finish for the evening.
"I believe our deal was that if you weren't ready to leave I'd just drag you out of here," Jack said, "But I suppose I can wait for two minutes." He looked down at his watch. "But I will be timing you," he warned, "And if you take any longer than two minutes I'll start dragging."
"Yes sir," Sam replied.
She typed away and Jack watched as the second hand of his watch ticked around the face of his watch. He glanced up at Sam and then started counting down. "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three…"
He trailed off as Sam shut the lid of her laptop. "Done," she said, "And with time to spare too."
Jack shook his head. "Carter, if that had been a bomb or a count down on something unpleasant, and you'd left it that late I'd have had a heart attack."
Sam shrugged and got to her feet. "I had time," she stated.
Jack shook his head. "Do you need to turn anything else off?" he then asked her. Sam shook her head. "Perfect," Jack said, "Let's head to dinner then."
Sam nodded and the two of them headed down the hallways of the SGC towards the mess.
"Where are Daniel and Teal'c?" Sam asked as they walked.
"Teal'c went to go and make sure that Daniel made it to the mess," Jack said, "And since you needed a few more minutes and I was feeling lenient, something that I very much doubt Teal'c will be, they are probably waiting for us there."
Sam laughed. Jack was probably right, if Daniel had even tried to get Teal'c to give him more time then chances are the Jaffa would have followed through with Jack's threat and dragged the archaeologist out of his office.
"So what movie did you have planned sir?" Sam asked.
"Movies," Jack told her.
"Sorry, what?" Sam asked him.
"Movies Carter, as in more than one."
Sam groaned but she knew that there was no way she was going to get out of this.
They reached the mess and found that Daniel and Teal'c were indeed already there, both sitting at their usual table with trays of food. Jack and Sam both nodded a greeting as they headed past to grab their own trays. Once they'd grabbed what they wanted they went and joined Daniel and Teal'c.
"So how much of a fight did Daniel put up?" Jack asked Teal'c as he sat down.
"Funny," Daniel said in a bored tone.
"He put up no fight," Teal'c informed the table, "In fact, he came to my quarters rather than waiting for me to come to his office."
Jack blinked in surprise. "Are you feeling alright Daniel?" he asked semi-seriously.
Daniel sighed. "I reached a natural stopping point and realised that there was no point in trying to continue when Teal'c was going to come and get me." He looked between Sam and Jack. "I couldn't help but notice that you and Sam were a little late," he then said, his voice taking on a teasing tone, "It should only have taken you a few minutes to get here from Sam's lab and yet it took you nearly ten."
"I needed a few extra minutes," Sam admitted, "And the Colonel was kind enough to let me have them."
"Softy," Daniel coughed, hiding his mouth behind his hand.
Jack glared at him while Sam hid a smile.
"So what movie are we watching?" Daniel asked.
"Movies," Sam and Jack corrected at the same time, Sam in a resigned tone while Jack's was more cheerful.
Daniel stared at the two of them and then shook his head as Teal'c raised an eyebrow.
"I've got a few movies," Jack told them all.
"Oh come on," Daniel exclaimed, "I thought this was just going to be one movie and then I could go back to work."
"Nope," Jack said, "And anyway, you and Carter both need a night off. It won't hurt you to take it easy and watch some movies."
Daniel sighed but like Sam, he realised that it was pointless to argue. Teal'c just watched proceedings with an air that told both Daniel and Sam that he was aware that Jack had planned on a multi-feature event.
They finished eating and tidied the table before they all left the room, heading for Jack's on-base quarters.
"Right," Jack said as they all walked into the room, "I've got snacks and drinks over there." He gestured to the pile of stuff that was sitting on top of the desk that stood in the corner of the room. "And I've got blankets and pillows so we can get comfy. I also pulled in the sofa from one of the VIP rooms so there's room for all of us." He looked around the group. "I'm going to sort out the first movie, the rest of you grab what you want and get comfortable."
He left them to it and went to the TV that was screwed into the wall. He grabbed the first movie he was planning on showing and got it set up.
Once he had it sorted and the TV on he turned back to face the room. Daniel and Teal'c had made themselves comfortable on the sofa which had left Sam sitting awkwardly on the edge of Jack's bed. He gave her a small smile, which she returned, and then walked round to sit on the other side of the bed, grabbing a bag of popcorn as he went.
"Can you grab the lights T?" Jack asked once he'd sat down.
Teal'c easily stretched his arm out and flipped the lights off, plunging the room into near darkness, the only light coming from the emergency sign above the door and the soft glow from the TV.
"Everyone comfortable?" he then asked the group.
Daniel and Teal'c were quick to say yes and Jack turned to look at Sam. "I don't bite," he said in a quiet voice, using the sound from the previews that were playing to hide his words from Daniel and Teal'c, "Get comfy Carter."
Sam moved so that rather than sitting on the edge of the bed she was now sitting beside Jack, her back resting against the headboard of the bed just like him. As Jack settled and got comfortable, reaching behind himself and adjusting the pillows so that they offered him more support, he watched Sam out of the corner of his eye. Once he finished moving he opened the bag of popcorn and placed it between them.
The two of them then concentrated their full attention on the TV as the movie proper began. When she saw the opening credits Sam laughed, causing Daniel and Teal'c to look over their shoulders at her in surprise. "Sorry," she told them. They turned their heads back to the front to watch the movie and Sam moved closer to Jack so that she could whisper in his ear. "So what came first, you singing the song and getting the idea for this movie, or deciding you wanted to watch this movie and using the song to annoy me?"
Their shoulders were practically touching now so she felt as Jack shrugged. "Does it matter?" he countered, "It worked didn't it."
Sam hummed in agreement and then fell quiet as they sat back and watched The Grinch. They all laughed along, well the three humans did, it was difficult to tell if Teal'c was just being stoic or didn't understand, as the movie progressed. As they reached the part where the singing began Sam was surprised to hear Jack quietly whispering the words along with the characters on the TV. While in the lab he had been loud and out of tune here he was the opposite and Sam realised she quite liked the sound of him singing.
She settled herself more comfortably on the bed, and if that meant that she was now leaning more fully against Jack who cared. He certainly didn't, because after stiffening for a moment he relaxed again and lent against her.
They finished the movie and Jack got up to change it to the next one. Sam immediately missed the feel of his body beside hers so she reached for the half-empty bag of popcorn to keep herself busy.
Jack put the next film in the player and then returned to sit on the bed. This time when he sat down he was even closer to Sam, their whole sides now pressed against each other, and Sam enjoyed the warmth that radiated from him.
"So what's this one?" Daniel asked.
"Wait and see," was all Jack replied.
The movie began and Sam shook her head. "Muppets sir, really."
"What," Jack defended, "It's a classic."
Sam laughed and shook her head again but settled down to watch the movie.
It had only been going thirty minutes however when the phone on the wall by the door began to ring. Jack paused the movie and then rather than trying to thread his way past Daniel and Teal'c he stood on the bed and stepped over Sam's outstretched legs. He then jumped off the bed and pulled the phone from its cradle.
"O'Neill," he said into the receiver. He listened for a few seconds. "I'll be right up," he said eventually. He put the phone back on the hook and turned to look at the room, flicking the lights on as he did so. They all blinked at the sudden influx of light. "Right, one of the teams is calling in with an update that I need to go and deal with," he explained, "I shouldn't be long." He looked around the group. "I expect you all to still be here when I get back," he then said, "And if I find that you've left I'll make you regret it." He held each of their gazes until they all nodded. He concentrated especially hard on Sam, but she just nodded and smiled and shifted her weight until she had sunk even deeper onto the bed, letting Jack know without words that she was perfectly comfortable right where she was.
Jack turned and left, shutting the door behind him. He hurried up to the control room, wanting to get this sorted as soon as possible so that he could get back to the rest of his team and the movies. There was also a part of him that was really looking forward to being pressed against Sam's side again.
Fifteen minutes later he was back at the door to his quarters. He opened it and was pleased to see that everyone was still there. Daniel and Teal'c were talking about something quietly while Sam appeared to have found a book and was leaning against the headboard reading.
"Lucy, I'm home," he announced as he came in and shut the door, "Glad to see that the gangs all here still."
"Wouldn't have missed this," Daniel replied semi sarcastically.
"So," Jack said, walking round the bed, stepping over Teal'c's legs with ease, but kicking Daniel's slightly as he stepped over his legs. He sat back beside Sam and got himself comfortable. "Shall we continue?"
Daniel and Teal'c nodded and Sam shut the book and smiled at him. Teal'c reached over and turned off the lights as Jack pressed play on the remote.
They got comfortable again and settled in to watch the movie. When it finished Jack put on another one then returned to his spot beside Sam. They were now sitting so close that Sam was basically snuggled against his side. Daniel had been dozing on and off for a while and Teal'c appeared to be kelno'reeming rather than watching the movie. Realising that there was no one to see what he was about to do he extricated his arm from where it was currently trapped between his side and Sam's. He felt Sam shift as he did so and start to pull away, clearly thinking that Jack wanted some space, but Jack raised his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, pulling her back towards him.
She froze slightly for a moment but then she relaxed into his side once again. Jack jumped slightly as he felt her hand trail across his back and then come to rest on his opposite hip. He smiled down at Sam and the two of them turned their full attention back to the movie.
At some point, they both dozed off and when Jack woke up he and Sam were still wrapped around each other. He shifted slightly and realised that someone had thrown a blanket over them. With bleary eyes he scanned the room and saw that Daniel was sound asleep, snoring slightly. Teal'c had moved, to give Daniel the full sofa to stretch out on and was sitting in the corner kelno'reeming once again. He must have felt Jack's eyes on him however as he opened his eyes and held Jack's for a moment before closing them once again.
Jack smiled slightly to himself and pressed a light kiss into Sam's hair before he pulled her tighter to him and let sleep overtake him once more.
Movie night had definitely been a great idea.