The Other Side of the Story: John's Point of View
Interlude 6: She's done this before, right?
I'd scheduled our off world visitors a leaving time in the afternoon the day after the party, in part to give Doctor Daniel Jackson an entire morning to explore the city. So I was more than a little surprised when I turned a corner on my way to McKay's lab and spied he and Sabina in the corridor ahead, holding what looked like a clandestine meeting.
No, actually it looked more like a drug exchange, Sabina handing over a sealed envelope insistently after Daniel had handed over his package to her. They were so absorbed in whatever it was they were up to that they didn't notice me ... my curiosity had me ducking quickly back around the corner and then peering discretely back at them.
Not that I thought Sabina was getting anything illegal from Daniel – the box he'd given her looked remarkably like a shoe box – for a pair of really, really big shoes. Still, the manner of their exchange piqued my interest and I decided to follow them.
"I've really been looking forward to this," I heard Sabina exclaim as they walked down the corridor together. "You got these here just in time ... this is gonna be great!"
They hit the first transporter down the corridor ... I waited for them to get wherever they were going and then tapped the transporter screen to take me to the same destination. Saw them disappearing around a corner just as I got out. Hurrying silently I continued my pursuit, frowning when I realised where we were heading.
A while back one of the exploration teams had stumbled across an empty room – an enormous empty room with a high ceiling and decorations on the walls but nothing installed inside. The women had all decided that it was supposed to be a ballroom but the Marines had quickly commandeered it and turned it into a playing field for team sports.
When I arrived in the doorway and saw it was set up for street hockey I stepped back into the corridor so I could laugh without Sabina hearing me ... I now knew what was in that box and I suspected Sabina was in the middle of a scam ... harmless but likely to be very entertaining.
Strolling casually back inside I nodded to a couple of the Marines who were already geared up – rollerblades, knee, elbow and wrist guards and helmets all in place.
"Mind if I sit and watch?" I raised an eyebrow when Sabina looked up with a start.
"Ah ... of course not," she returned with a slightly guilty smile.
"You played this before?" I tried to subtly let her know I wasn't going to ruin her fun.
"A time or two," she admitted casually, smiling at me wickedly when she realised I was playing along with whatever she had planned.
"Well be careful on those things," I gestured down to the brand new roller blades she was putting on. "They look dangerous."
"See I told you," Lieutenant Parker piped up. "Maybe you should reconsider this bet?"
"Yours and Brown's entire stock of chocolate and beer if I can beat you in a shoot off?" Sabina asked incredulously. "I think even John would agree that's worth the risk."
Then she had the audacity to raise an eyebrow at me, trying to make me a part of her little scam. Because she knew that I knew it was a scam – I hadn't seen her in action but she'd told me once she'd practically lived on roller skates for years once she was out on her own.
"Right John?" she looked up at me hopefully.
"Sure," I agreed, waving a hand to the playing area expansively. "Have at it."
Sabina grinned, finished putting her blades and protective gear on and then got to her feet. Making a play at stumbling forward awkwardly she ended up falling into my chest, counting on me to wrap my arms around her to keep her upright.
"Thanks," she grinned, hugging me tightly before shifting back.
"Wow," I looked up at her in surprise. "You're pretty tall in those things!"
"Just go and sit over there ... Shorty," she ordered me off with the other spectators.
Daniel was already sitting there watching the scene with interest.
"She's done this before, right?" he asked under his breath when I sat down beside him.
"I'd guess so," I replied without looking at him.
"Ah ... this should be amusing then," Daniel chuckled, settling back comfortably in his seat.
I followed suit, turning my attention to the field. Once out on the floor Sabina took a few turns around the playing area, moving slowly at first before picking up a bit of speed. Nothing too impressive in her technique but already I could see the boys on her team looked a little worried.
"How do you want to do this?" she slid over to the middle in front of the goals where Parker and Brown were waiting.
"Five shots each," Parker proposed. "Brown will goalie for us."
"You completely impartial Brown?" Sabina asked with a teasing grin.
"Of course," Brown said, offended by the implication. Adjusting the extra guards he's put on he moved over and stood in the goal zone, waiting for them to get started.
"You go first," Parker proposed congenially.
"No, I think I'd like to see what you can do first," Sabina countered. "Besides I have to use your stick because I don't have one of my own. Wouldn't want you to accuse me of damaging it before you take your shots."
Dropping the street hockey puck to the floor Parker took off at speed, flipping it professionally back and forth in front of his blades. Turning he headed for the goal, took the shot, and scored.
"That's one to me," he said on his way past Sabina back to the start.
He did the same thing again and again. Two goals. Three goals. A miss on the fourth shot. And another goal on his last shot.
"That's four to me," he said confidently, handing his stick to Sabina. "Tough to beat."
"Nicely done," Sabina complimented, taking the stick and testing its weight and balance.
Then she took off, much more skilfully than anything she'd shown before. She mimicked Cooper's first approach, flipping that puck back and forth with ease. She took the shot and slipped it easily past Brown's defences.
"One down, four to go," she smiled on her way past Cooper.
And then she switched it up, taking the whole skill thing to another level. Next pass she was swinging the rollerblades to and fro like a skier slaloming down a mountain. I think Brown was so mesmerised by the display he didn't even notice when she scored the second goal.
For pass three she decided on a little speed skating, approaching Brown so fast he was almost cringing when she slammed to a halt and wacked the puck hard enough that it bounced off the back net and back out to her position.
"Three down, only two to go," she told Parker cheerfully.
"I think we've been scammed," Brown commented to Parker when Sabina was some distance away again.
"You think?" Parker retorted incredulously. He looked over at me questioningly.
"Don't look at me Son," I told him with a shrug. "I had no idea she could do that. Perhaps you should have checked ... before you made that bet?"
"Yes Sir," he said miserably, turning back to watch Sabina's fourth pass.
This one turned out to be my personal favourite. Not only could Sabina skate well facing forwards but it turned out she was just as good facing backwards. She approached the net, did a neat little flip reverse move and with the puck in front of her and her eyes over her shoulder kept to the line that would set her hit the far right of the net if she kept going. When she was close enough she shifted her feet so her backwards line became a backwards circle ... at the exact right moment she let loose the puck and watched it hit the back on her way around the rear side of the net.
"Now we're even," she told Parker on her way past.
For the last shot Sabina didn't bother with the skating approach or any fancy footwork. She planted herself square in front of the goal, looked Brown in the eye and then psyched him into going left when she did a traditional hockey penalty shot straight into the top right corner.
"And that's five!" she came back to Parker with a smile but with none of the triumphant crowing you might have expected under the circumstances.
Brown made his way out of the net, ripping off guards dejectedly as he skated over to them.
"And what lesson did we learn from this gentlemen?" Sabina asked in a mild tone.
"Not to challenge you when there's chocolate involved?" Parker suggested glumly.
"No Parker," Sabina said, putting on a stern disapproving look. "Never assume ... and never underestimate your opponent. Next time you might lose more than just some chocolate and beer."
Getting up I walked over to them, putting an arm around Sabina's shoulders.
"You're not really gonna take their entire stock are you?" I asked curiously.
"Only with sacrifice do we truly learn," Sabina said piously, her eyes on Brown and Parker's miserable expressions. She couldn't hold it in though, laughing merrily at their demeanours. "I am gonna take what we agreed on," she began, "but I never said anything about sharing it back with you."
"Really?" Parker asked hopefully. When she nodded he grinned happily. "Sweet!"
"So, who wants to play?" Sabina looked around at the others who'd been waiting for their little bet to be decided.
There were nods and discussion over who was playing on what team. Squeezing Sabina's shoulders I drew her attention back to me.
"Duty calls," I said in a low tone. "That was a pretty impressive display. Maybe you could show me some more of your 'moves' later ... you know, in private."
She blushed, glancing around quickly to see if anyone had overheard that pretty obvious innuendo. "I'll see what I can do," she replied.
"Hey Sabina, can you show me that backwards move?" someone called out.
"I have to go," she looked at me for a moment, smiled as if to say 'what the hey', and then pulled me in for a firm kiss right there in front of everyone. Without a backwards glance she was out there again, taking the spare stick someone held out to her. I watched for a few more seconds before turning and heading for the door.
"Your life must be interesting," Daniel commented as he fell into step beside me.
"You have no idea," I replied with a proud grin.
Authors Note:
Okay - so there was no point to this chapter really - just my desire to show Sabina from John's POV ... and not during some kind of crisis or emergency. Hope you enjoyed my foray into fluff ... back to episodes with The Seer coming soon.
Next Up? Fortunate Journey Season 4 Chapter 29