January 2013
It's Sam's turn behind the wheel. Every few minutes, she takes her eyes off the icy road ahead for a split second, just long enough to catch a glimpse of the others all squished into the back seats.
Cassandra and Vala have hit it off like nobody's business, much to Daniel's chagrin. The pair had claimed the backseat as their eminent domain and, after spending the first few hours of the trip whispering conspiratorially and giggling like maniacs, are now zonked out leaning against one another.
Fifty miles out from the cabin, Teal'c slipped into kel'no'reem, abandoning all pretense of being able to tolerate all of his human friends in such close quarters. His meditation killed Daniel's hopes of passing the trip playing board games; Cameron refused to play anymore after getting his ass kicked in four straight games of chess and two games of Scrabble. The two have spent the past few hours dozing, leaving Jack to keep Sam company up front.
For the most part, they're quiet. The muted strains of the radio fill the vehicle. They keep the volume turned down low, allowing the others peace to sleep.
Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Jack shift his weight and wince. He catches her watching, and tries to cover up his discomfort by leaning forward to change the radio station.
"You okay?" she asks quietly.
"Fine." His voice is tight. After all these years, Sam recognizes the tone he uses when struggling to mask pain.
"I've got some Advil in my bag." She expects to find herself on the receiving end of a scowl. Instead, he flashes her a sheepish look.
"I know. I helped myself the last time we stopped for gas."
She winces sympathetically. It takes a lot to make Jack voluntarily medicate. "Are they helping?"
"Not enough."
"Do you want to get out and move around for a few minutes?"
Jack glances out the windshield, studying the road ahead. "Nah, don't want to risk it in this."
He's right, of course. The roads are slippery and they've already encountered a few stretches of black ice. Throw in the winds that have been picking up steam since they crossed from South Dakota into Nebraska, blowing a thick wall of snow across the highway, and the conditions are less than ideal for a roadside stop.
They aren't exactly ideal for driving either, but Cassandra has a flight to catch and a new semester to start, and Landry is expecting SG-1 back in time for a mission two days from now. Besides, Jack has been monitoring the weather for the past few days and he hadn't foreseen any problems heading back today.
"There's an ice pack in the cooler," she suggests.
He snorts, admittedly with good reason. "Why, exactly, were you concerned about keeping the leftovers cold in Minnesota in January?"
She glowers at him anyway. Sam refuses to let him get off easily on principle. "Ten years on SG-1 taught me to expect the unexpected."
"Really? Seven years on SG-1 taught me thatanything that can go wrong will, and it will always be Daniel's fault."
It's Sam's turn to snort.
"I can hear you, you know." Daniel pipes up, voice gravelly with sleep. "And for the record, it wasn't always my fault when things went wrong."
"Eight years on SG-1 have taught me it's always your fault, if for no other reason than because you failed to keep Princess in line," Cameron says, throwing his two cents into the mix.
This sparks a bout of good-natured sniping between Daniel and Cameron. This time, anyway, Jack leaves them to it, content to sit back and let someone else rile Daniel up. He periodically flashes wide grins at Sam, obviously enjoying himself.
She lets the boys go about their bickering and slowly, their voices fade into little more than background noise. She's so focused on driving that she doesn't notice it's her turn again until Jack changes the station on her behalf.
"Un-freaking-believable," Daniel mutters, just loud enough to break out of the white noise zone.
"What?" Jack twists to glance at the others.
"You two." Cameron clarifies.
"What?" It's Sam's turn this time.
"You change the station after every song." Daniel's using his professor voice now, and, a quick glance in the mirror confirms it, wearing the matching professor face.
"So?"
"So Sam used to smack my hand away if I even reached to adjust the volume, and Jack, you used to make me promise to sit on my hands whenever we took your truck anywhere."
"Only because you have a reputation for touching things you shouldn't," Jack says.
Daniel glares at him. "Funny."
"True."
"Sam!"
She checks the rearview in time to see Cam shrug. "When they're right, they're right."
Daniel's narrowed eyes sweep across the teasing trio. "Anyway it's weird how you two share airtime now."
"You've been at the SGC for way too long, Daniel. You have a seriously messed up definition of the word 'weird'."
"I think it's cute." Cassandra's voice is entirely too bright for someone who had been deeply asleep up until a few minutes ago. "Especially when you guys agree on a song."
Sam and Jack exchange a puzzled look. "Why?"
"You do things with your eyebrows," Vala adds helpfully. "It's like a whole negotiation with a few twitches."
"Indeed," Teal'c says without opening his eyes.
"We do not."
"Do too."
"Do not."
"Do too."
"Don't make me stop this car!" Sam warns, only half teasing.
Two chagrined voices chorus 'sorry.' The van is quiet for all of thirty seconds before Vala pipes up again.
"It is cute. Definitely the sort of thing I'd expect from an old married couple."
Sam can feel Jack's eyes on her. She risks a glance over at him and takes in his exasperated expression. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asks.
The angle of his left eyebrow tells Sam all she needs to know.
"It won't do any good. The Odyssey would find their locator beacons right away."
Jack feigns disappointment but the big goofy grin on his face gives him away. "Damn."
Sam feels an answering grin taking shape on her own face. Another quick glance in the rearview proves she's not the only other person on board wearing one.
Operation: Family Christmas in Minnesota has been a resounding success.