Title: Amid the Silence
Date: December 21, 2001
Status: Complete
Author: Jmas
Category: whole team smarm
Rating: PG
Email: jmasg1@bellsouth.net
Archive: Stargate Fan, Heliopolis, Belle, Place of Our Legacy, Comfort Zone
Spoilers:
Summary:
Author's note: A different sort of Christmas story….
Disclaimer: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of
Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other
characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the
names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA
Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret
Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not
intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for
entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are
the sole property of the author.
~~~~~~~~~~~

Amid the Silence

By Jmas

The cold night air danced around the clearing, refreshing and chilling all at once and guttering the campfire to cast shadows over the pale faces of the people around it. It had been a long day…

The mission had seemed simple enough - gate in, take some samples, take some pictures, gate home in time for the base Christmas party. No one had counted on the earthquake, planetquake, whatever the hell Carter had called it quake that had nearly brought Daniel’s ‘fascinating’ Pre-Columbian ruins down on them all. It had been bad.

Carter’s shiner was growing more spectacular by the second, Teal’c was all over bruises and cuts that would be gone by morning thanks to Junior, and Daniel had been favoring his left leg all the way out of the ruins and back to the campsite. And Jack felt…old. Every muscle in his body ached and his legs were on fire from the sustained run through almost a mile of collapsing walls and buildings. But at the same time he felt good.

His team was here, together, and mostly in one piece. The gate was almost working after having been damaged in the quake and Carter promised they’d make it home in back for breakfast.

Christmas.

Glancing at his watch, Jack smiled slightly. In two minutes it would officially be Christmas. Looking into the tired eyes of his team Jack breathed a sigh of relief they’d made it to see another Christmas together. Four years ago they had still been so new to each other, still feeling their way as friends and a unit, but they had gathered in the commissary with the rest of the fresh, young SGC and exchanged gifts that proved how little they actually knew of one another.

This year Jack had planned their holiday celebration meticulously, knowing without having to think about it the gifts, the food, the music and even the movie he’d chosen would be the perfect ones to bring his team even closer together. Jack felt a surge of child-like hope that nothing would ever change this feeling of belonging, of knowing what made his world right and good and real.

Leaning back against his rock, Jack smiled again. Another look at his watch confirmed it was midnight. Christmas. The unfamiliar constellations above them didn’t dim the magic of the moment, the intrinsic feeling of peace and belonging, of family and shared lives.

Not for the first time, Jack simply let himself be a part of the whole they made up together. Let the strength of that wholeness carry him to a place in his mind where life really didn’t need much else to be perfect. It had taken him a long time to believe life could ever be good again, that hope wasn’t something that hadn’t been buried in the ground along with his son. On the guise of scratching his stubbled cheek, Jack swiped away a tear that had gathered there at the memory. Six years had dimmed some of the memories, but there were other things he knew he’d never forget: the smells of baby powder and formula - going in and coming out - leather mitts, and the linseed oil they’d used to buff and shine the curio shelf they’d built together for Sara the Christmas before Charlie died. He remembered the sweet, tender smile he’d caught in a photograph as Charlie had watched his mother break into tears when she’d opened it. He remembered the solid weight of the growing-by-the-microsecond boy-man Charlie had become as he tested his budding strength against his father’s in a wrestling session that was just as much an excuse for a hug as anything else.

It was good to remember this way, not the long, tormenting memories of things gone terribly wrong that had sent him on a suicide mission, but the good things, the bits and pieces that made them the best at what they were - a family.

And, Jack realized, he had that again. Not quite the same, nothing ever would be, but still damn good. There were so many moments for this family too. Daniel on Abydos, reeling under the double blow of losing his wife and his home in the space of an hour, heartsick and near tears as his adopted-by-choice family said goodbye in one of the biggest and best group hugs Jack had ever seen. Carter, challenging with ‘all due respect’ and forcing him to think about things that made his head hurt but saved their collective asses on Thor’s ship. Teal’c letting go of a way of life he’d known for almost a century on the dim hope that allying with the legendary Tau’ri would be the best means of saving his people.

Looking at his team again, Jack could see the same expressions of memory, assessment, and contentment that he knew had been playing over his own face. The easy silence hovering over them didn’t need words for them to know they were all on the same page. They’d survived another year of experiences that might so easily have killed them, had come close to doing so on too many occasions. They’d fulfilled their missions, saved a few worlds, and saved each other so many times in so many ways.

‘And all was right with the world…” Jack intoned to himself with a grin, knowing deep inside it was so.

Feeling eyes on him, Jack looked p and smiled a little wider at the knowing looks of these three people who knew him better than he knew himself sometimes, just as he knew them.

“Merry Christmas, kids.”

Smiles and nods answered him then silence descended again as the chill wind blew. There was a collective sigh of contentment as they all relaxed into sleep warm in the knowledge their family was safe, together and at peace.

*fin*