"Rose Roguery" [drabble, Jack/Sam, K]

Title: Rose Roguery
Author: A. Karswyll
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Rated: K
Words: 1,254
Characters: Jack O'Neill, Samantha Carter
Summary: Unexpectedly brought together by their duty Jack decides to give Sam a more personal—if belated—valentine in the midst of a meeting.
AN: Written for GateWorld forum's Valenship 2012.

Lieutenant General O’Neill listened to the scientist presenting to the room drone on and on regarding structural hull stress of the Odyssey, the discovery of which two days ago had required a hasty reshuffling of the BC-304 duty roster and placed Hammond on Earth sentinel duty with Apollo maintaining its Pegasus runs while Odyssey was in the subterranean dry-docks.

His gaze swept the dimly lit room in search of mental stimulation. Illumination from the oh so stimulating slideshow flickered over the faces of those watching in one of Area 37’s larger meeting rooms filled to bursting with an array of uniforms and lab-coats seated around the table.

In the end, his eyes settled on Colonel Samantha Carter, commander of the Hammond, who was seated a couple chairs down on his left; a far more pleasant vista upon which to rest his eyes than the forty-year-old balding scientist lecturing away. Typically, she looked absorbed in the prattling and more typically, clearly understood every incomprehensible multi-syllable word spewing from the scientist’s mouth.

Jack’s mouth kicked up slightly at the corner at the familiar sight that brought warm memories to mind. He always enjoyed moments like this when he could watch her unobserved and even though the reason for being together in the same location and at the same time was not optimal—a battleship out of commission was never reason to celebrate—he enjoyed their time together nonetheless, especially in light of the holiday timing.

Saint Valentine’s Day and all its clichés had come and gone. They had sent by mail cards and chocolate treats as they traditionally had the past eight years considering their continual physical separation—first him in DC and her to Area 51, then him in DC still and her in Atlantis, and now him still in DC and her on Hammond—that meant many holidays were usually not spent, or celebrated, together on the actual holiday.

He wondered for the first and probably not last time, if Sam really had enjoyed his card and the chocolates and if there was not some way he could make the overly marketed holiday more special to her, and thus more special to them. Add more meaning to the often trivialised date…

The other corner of his mouth kicked up in glee as an idea struck.

Casting another surreptitious glance around the table, Jack opened up the briefing packet on the table before him, that he hadn’t touched when the scientist had handed it to him, and began flipping through the papers looking for the perfect page.

. . .

Sam had been paying attention to the presentation with some interest until she had felt the uncanny sensation that was familiar to her, awakened in briefing rooms much like this more than a decade ago and honed on battlefields. Her CO was watching her. Of course, he was not directly her CO any longer and had not been for eight years but she still knew of the feeling of being watch by Jack.

When the feeling left, she glanced to her right and up the table to see Jack flipping through his briefing packet. Wonderingly, she furrowed her brow as she also noted that his lips were moving minutely, almost like he was muttering to himself if not muttering under his breath.

His silent mutters stopped abruptly as his face lit up subtly with an expression that had her eyes widening in alarm. She knew that look—unfortunately.

Hastily she directed her gaze back to Dr Norman’s projected presentation, avoiding just in time the surreptitious looking she knew Jack gave the room to see if anyone was watching him, or would catch him, in his mischief.

Looking back at Jack as she continued to listen to the lecture with a half ear, she was just in time to see him discreetly detached a single page from the report.

Sam felt the old prompt to give him some sort of swift kick to dissuade him from whatever he was about to like she had for years on SG-1 but was hesitant about if she could still give him said swift kick considering he was the highest ranked individual in the room and commander of the entire program. It just really would not look good.

Both it was moot though, consider they weren’t sitting side-by-side—what idiot had thought up the seating plan?—and she couldn’t see a logical reason for her to get up and approach him as all the doors and food were to the left of the room. The full pitcher of ice water in front of his glass also crossed that option off the list…

Jack turned the type covered page over and over for a moment before folding one of the rectangular ends over and creasing it with his fingernails. He flipped the flap over and creased it again before neatly tearing the flap away to leave himself with a more rectangular sheet of paper. The small sound of ripping paper was well covered of course by Dr Norman’s lecture.

Dr Norman’s talking also covered her small muffled groan.

Sam swore, as he folded the paper end to end, that if he made a paper airplane she would get up and march over to give him a good kick—no matter how bad it looked!

As she watched though, Jack was not folding the piece of paper in a way she recognised from countless infirmary stays crafting up various paper airplane models. He folded the ends in until it formed a parallelogram which he folded down the centre before unfolding again. He did more folding, turning, and folding and quite lost her.

Then, unfolding the entire square he turned the page again and began folding, turning, and folding again and she lost the pattern of what he was doing just as he once more opened up the entire paper for a third time.

Really wondering now, Sam was only peripherally aware of Dr Norman’s ongoing lecture, as she watched Jack work the piece of paper until he was holding the folded and twisted piece of paper in his left hand which blocked her view of what he was now doing to the origami he was making.

Her breath caught in her throat and she flushed as his brown eyes unexpectedly caught hers and he quirked his seductive smirk at her just as Dr Norman concluded his lecture and the room was flooded with light that smarted the eyes after the hours of dimness. Clatter and chatter also filled the room as mostly everyone took the opportunity to stand, stretch stiff limbs, head for the buffet or bathrooms, or corner Dr Norman and his assistant with questions.

Jack was one of those who pushed away from the table, stood, and swiftly making his way past the three chairs, and the people in them, that separated them. Reaching her side he picked up her right hand which was on the table holding a pen and held it between both of his which let him tuck the origami into her grasp.

“Happy Valentine’s Sam,” Jack’s eyes twinkled as he released her hand.

Surprised considering the holiday had been four days ago and they’d already exchanged cards and treats, she turned her hand over to look at the origami and her heart melted as she felt a totally inappropriate sappy expression take over her face considering they were in uniform and in the midst of a highly classified meeting.

A rose.

Jack had just made her a rose.

-FINISHED