Ten Dabbles in Ten Days 2014

#1 Chance Encounters – Rated K

"Well…" drawled a deeply familiar masculine voice from behind, "fancy meeting you here…"

Sam started with a jerked and whirled around to face the speaker. Dressed in jeans, his flannel jacked of black and blue plaid emphasized his silver hair and dark brown eyes that regarded her steadily. Beneath his gaze she couldn't help the deep rosy colour that flushed her cheeks or the words that stuttered forth. "Um, sir! I was just… I mean, um, yes, what a surprise! To see you here."

Jack's mouth curved up and his eyes crinkled, obviously amused. "At my own cabin you mean?"

.

#2 Exhaustion – Rated K

Sam jerked awake, yanked from sleep by an unexpected sound. She lay still for only a moment before the cry sounded again and her weeks' long sleep-deprived mind identified it.

The baby.

Giving an exhausted groan she stumbled from bed and mumbled to her now equally awake husband to go back to sleep.

Shuffling down the hallway to the crying baby's room she repeated over and over the mantra that she and Jack clung to: this would pass. And someday, hopefully someday soon, their baby would sleep though the night and they'd know what a full night's sleep was again.

.

#3 Dangerous Territory – Rated T+

"You like treading on dangerous territory, don'tcha Carter?" Jack growled deep in his chest as he got in her face, dark eyes intense. "Gives you a little thrill?"

Sam arched an eyebrow and undaunted, lifted her face until they were nose to nose. "Dangerous territory? I don't think so. That's claimed territory and don't you forget it!"

"Oh, it's yours now is it?" His head dipped lower and their breaths mingled. "Since when is it yours?"

"Since I took it and I think," Sam shifted and plastered their bodies together from knees to noses, "I'm going to take it again…"

.

#4 Breakfast – Rated K

Jack awoke as dawn's pale light crept through the window. Cracking a big yawn, he checked on his bedmate. Even asleep Sam looked tired and grief-worn and he didn't have the heart to wake her.

Brushing a kiss over her forehead he slipped from bed.

And even though he had invited her—them, the team—up here to help deal with the changes in their lives and Jacob's loss together, he stepped out into the chilly morning air alone. Mist blanketed the lake and he took rod-and-tackle in hand, walked the path to the dock, and settled about catching breakfast.

.

#5 Amused Relief – Rated K

The shrieks brought Sam to her feet in an adrenaline fueled lunge with P-90 in hand and she charged through the brush with Teal'c. Breaking through the brush she skidded to a halt by the river bank where the Colonel and Daniel had gone to wash—and went weak at the knees with laughter.

The faces and hands of the two men were purple where they had washed and the Colonel… Well, he'd obviously scrubbed his hands through his hair for the usually silver strands were now bright orange.

Obviously the water of this planet and Tau'ri skin didn't mix.

.

#6 Revelations – Rated T+

There had been many moments of revelation in their relationship. Revelations forced upon them by circumstances and not their heart's desire.

For her, the revelation while he was trapped on another world that what she felt might be 'a problem.'

For him, the revelation when a force shield had trapped her that he 'cared more than he was supposed to.'

Together, reveal to all because of an alien lie detector and the painful and often stumbling steps years afterwards to try and stay within drawn boundaries.
But this slow revelation of self to each other in their bedroom was precious.

.

#7 Magnets – Rated K

There, that was it, Sam realized as she spied the perfect gift on the shelf of the novelty shop.

A moon and star magnetic sculpture.

It was decorative enough to be overlooked as a whimsical ornament on Jack's desk but more importantly, it was functional and would be the perfect outlet for his need to do something—which manifested as busy pen- and paperclip-destroying-fingers.

And best of all, there were no parts to break!

The cashier rang the gift through the register with a smile. "Got a kid that loves the stars?"

Sam grinned. "Oh yeah, a really big kid."

.

#8 Lust, Longing and Loneliness – Rated T+

Sam awoke with a throaty moan of pleasurable completion in her berth.

She tossed the sheet aside in an almost pointless attempt to get the temperature controlled air to cool her and lay there panting in the aftermath. Her body still awash in the lusty sensations of the erotic dream as her mind dwelled on the memories of passionate kisses, caressing hands, and bodies that moved together as one.

Longing for the reality of her husband she rolled over and punched her pillow, taking out her frustrations on it. Now, if only she could push back her loneliness as easily.

.

#9 Over the Edge – Rated K+

The wind screamed beneath Jack's feet as he stood on the principle. The sound almost drowning out the roar of his rushing blood and his drumming heartbeat.

Almost, but not quite.

He couldn't keep the insane grin off his face, his whole mind and body pumped for what was to come. Looking over his shoulder at Sam he saw she too had an insane grin on her face and her eyes were lit with sheer pleasure.

"Ready Carter?" he shouted over the roar of the airplane engines.

"Ready Sir!"

"Let's go!"

And together they jumped over the edge into freefall.

.

#10 Family – Rated K

Sam sat down in the chair beside Jack on the deck and accepted the beer he passed her from the cooler at his feet. The can was chilly in her hand, a refreshing change from the sweltering heat of the late summer day.

Surveying the yard she looked over their family members that had made it for her and Jack's anniversary party. Over the years the numbers of 'the family' had changed, death had taken some away from them and marriages and births had brought others into the fold—but throughout it all they had been, and would remain, family.

"Cupcake Compliment" [drabble, Jack/Sam, K]

Title: Cupcake Compliment
Author: A. Karswyll
Rated: K
Words: 1,039
Summary: Jack delivers his Valentine's Day gifts to his wife Sam and gets a sweet surprise of his own. GateWorld Valenship 2014.

---

Jack awoke in the darkness of another winter morning and lay still. Was he alone or was his wife in bed with him? No sound of breathing came to his ears and he didn't have the sense that Sam lay beside him so cracking his eyes open for a look around, he confirmed that he was alone. Darn. That meant she had won.

He gave a wry smile in the dark. Not that she was aware he considered their early morning tradition of putting out Valentine's Day gifts on the kitchen table for the other to discover a race, but he did. It added a bit of spice to an otherwise expectant holiday.

Rising from the bed he pulled on his robe, retrieved his gifts to Sam that he had hidden in his dresser, and went to go discover what she had given him in turn. Even if the gift of chocolates were cliché her cards were always worth a smile when sentimental or a laugh when humorous.

Speaking of humorous, he couldn't wait to see her reaction to the card he'd found for her this year.

Downstairs in the lit kitchen he found Sam at the table sipping at her morning coffee while doing something on her tablet, reading probably from the way her finger was swiping the touch screen. Across from where she sat, before his chair, was a white box about the size of a shoe box tied decoratively with a red ribbon.

Now that was intriguing. He'd expected to see a traditional box of chocolates no different from the dozens of boxes being sold right now by everyone from the basic retailers like Walmart to the high end chocolate boutiques. Had she gotten him a real gift of sorts and not the expected chocolates?

"Morning Sam," he crossed to her side and when she lifted her head to smile up at him he dropped a light kiss on her lips. "Happy Valentine's Day," he presented his gifts to her.

"Happy Valentine's Day Jack," Sam returned the greeting as she accepted the heart shaped box of chocolates and card. Setting the box aside she slipped the card out of the envelope and raised an eyebrow. On the cover was a penguin couple in bed with the words 'To my wife. Tonight I'm going to let you have what you desire—all night long!' and when she opened the card she laughed warmly at the punch line 'The covers!' and the picture of the husband penguin shivering while the penguin wife was wrapped in all the covers.

Jack gave a satisfied grin at hearing her laughter.

"I might hold you to it," she grinned up at him with a twinkle in her eye.

His grin turned into a smirk. "I think you're going to be too occupied to think about covers tonight."

Sam snorted and laughed again and put the card aside to open the box of chocolates to reveal a collection of round chocolates coated in a variety of toppings. "Ooh, truffles. Wonderful." She selected a cocoa dusted truffle, popped it into her mouth, and as she chewed a blissful, sensual expression settled on her face and her eyes fluttered shut.

Jack swallowed and coughed and looked around for a distraction. No smart man got between a woman and her chocolate at the best of times and when she wore that look, almost exactly the very same one he put on her face when they were, er... well, he only played at being dumb.

His eyes alit on the box before his chair and his interest in it was piqued again. Moving to it he took his seat and picked it up.

"No shaking," Sam cautioned from across the table, her attention clearly and fully focused on him now.

He looked across at her and was further intrigued by what he saw in her blue eyes. Was that a hint of uncertainty?

Setting the box back onto the table he picked up the envelope that had been beside it and took out the card. On the front decorated with hearts and stars were the words in an elegant script 'I love being married to you. I love the boy in you—the one with the big grin and warm hugs who says and does so many things that make life a lot of fun...' he flipped the card open to read 'But, even more than that, I love the man you are—your strength, your friendship, your warmth, and all the other things that make you special. I love everything about you and I always will!'

It was a very tender card and when he glanced up he was sure his gaze conveyed the exact same message of overwhelming love to Sam.

Propping the card up, he turned his attention back to the box, untied the red ribbon, lifted up the lid, and looked inside. Six heart shaped cupcakes covered with white icing and decorated with either pink sprinkles, red and white heart sprinkles, or purple sprinkles sat inside. The exact same assortment of sprinkles he'd seen show up in last week's grocery purchase.

Sam had made him cupcakes. His second favourite form of his favourite dessert—cupcakes after all were just mini cakes and cake was his favourite. But why had she apparently felt nervous about giving him homemade cupcakes?

It was a surprising and touching gift and made him feel a bit guilty for just buying her chocolates even if she really did like them. Not that he would have made her truffles—he won't have dared tried making truffles—but he could have made her something. What he didn't know, but surely he could have come up with an idea.

Looking up from the box of tempting desserts he smiled at her. "Thanks Sam, they're great."

"Not too cheesy?" Sam fiddled with the envelope of her card.

"No," he shook his head. "I got cake for Valentine's—what more could I ask for?"

That evoked a laugh and a glowing smile from her and he settled back to enjoy the sweet sight of his wife sitting across the table and a tasty treat for breakfast that she had made especially for him.

-FINISHED

"Houseplant Appreciation Day" [drabble, Jack/Sam, K]

Title: Houseplant Appreciation Day
Author: A. Karswyll
Rated: K
Words: 894
Summary: Sam may be away in space onboard Hammond for another tour but she discovers Jack, who she is now engaged to, still has a way of getting her to celebrate his quirky holidays on January 10.

---

Season 13
10 January 2009

Sam stepped into her small office onboard Hammond and drew up short. There was a box sitting on her desk. The box itself wasn't unusual. It was of the standard white storage box used generally for non-fragile items and paperwork bearing the Homeworld Command logo, with the packaging label on all sides and lid.

But it was a box. On her desk.

She should not have a box on her desk. Or at least, Sam didn't think she should have one. Even if she didn't read and sign everything electronically on the ship, today's itinerary of regular reports and paperwork were certainly not enough if printed out to hard copy to fill a storage box.

So, again. The question was why there was a storage box on her desk.

Deciding that observing the object from a distance wasn't going to provide anymore information she closed the door behind her and crossed to her desk.

Sam circled her desk and looked over the packaging label and discovered that she was not the first recipient of the box. Originally the box had been sent from SGC's Botany Lab to HWC and someone had casually scratched the printed address out and penned in bold black marker in the label fields that it was from HWC to her specifically.

And the writing looked awfully familiar.

Not touching the box yet she leaned over and engaged the comm. on her desk. "Franklin?"

There was a pause before her first officer replied. "Yes Ma'am?"

"Do you know anything about the storage box on my office desk?"

Another heavy pause. "Sorry Ma'am, I can't say."

"Thanks Major," Sam replied wryly and lifted her finger from the comm. Anyone else might think that Franklin's answer meant he didn't know, but paired with the origins of the box and the handwriting she'd bet he'd answered truthfully—he couldn't say because he'd been ordered not to.

Sam braced herself for what she might discover as she reached forward and lifted the lid. She blew out a breath of relief when nothing sprang out at her and she only found herself confronted with a plain sheet of paper on top of a mound of bubble wrap. Even without the boldly scrawled signature at the bottom of the note, she'd know that all-capital letters printing anywhere.

Carter,

Happy holiday! Yes, one of those. You'll like this one thought.  

The presents are NASA approved and you don't have to worry—I only let Lee design the stuff they're in. I bought them myself so they are innocent and harmless.

So no playing with gamma radiation allowed!

Jack O'Neill

Oh no, she thought with trepidation as she peered at the bubble wrap, one of Jack's holidays. They weren't all bad, she did admit to herself; mostly they were just... quirky. Just like the man that celebrated them. She just wasn't sure what to expect on his holidays, now that they'd been engaged for four months.

Setting aside Jack's note onto the lid she tugged at one corner of the bubble wrap and discovered that it was wrapped around an object. She slid her hands in against the side of the storage box and lifted out a lumpy round shape that she proceeded to unwrap, leaving a second wrapped up item still in the box.

When all the bubble wrapping had been removed she laughed. Sam set the small item in the palm of her hand and fingered one of the spiky leaves that were green with a white stripe down the center, draping over the sides of the small container filled with a jelly-like solution.

Her fiancé had sent her a spider plant. In a specially designed space pot.

Setting the spider plant down she unwrapped the remaining bundle of bubble wrap and found a dracaena, its woody stocks topped by leaves arranged in stars patterns that were white with a green stripe down the center.
She set the dracaena down and found that the box wasn't quite empty yet. At the very bottom were a second note and a pile of typed papers. Sam picked up the papers and read the note first.

Sam,,

In case you haven't guessed yet—it's House Plant Appreciation Day.


None of yours have died on me yet but i thought you would want to give a little appreciation to some yourself

NASA says the Spidey plant is good for taking out formaldehyde and the Dragon Girl is good for benzene and trichloroethylene. Neither need sunlight and stuff either which is good because you don't get any of that there

As for the pots and the 'soil'—I'll let you read what Lee said. I can't make heads or tails of it except that the plants feed on seaweed and as closed containers, you don't have to worry about anything spilling out if the gravity goes.

Love,
Jack

Sam chuckled briefly over this note before her face softened into a smile as she traced the word 'love', touched by how he'd ended this message. She piled the bubble wrap back into the box and put it on the floor out of her way. Then taking her seat, she lined up the two small plants on her desk and picked up Lee's report.

Her itinerary of work reports and files and forms could wait.

She was going to take time for Houseplant Appreciation Day.

-FINISHED

"Sprig Spiel" [drabble, Jack/Sam, K]

Title: Sprig Spiel
Author: A. Karswyll
Rated: K
Words: 690
Summary: Jack is surprised to find a certain decoration among the Christmas stuff but never one to let a good opportunity pass him by, he takes full advantage of it. GateWorld Shipmas 2013.

---

Sitting on the couch beside the Christmas tree that had just been put up, Jack dug through one of the boxes of Christmas decorations in search of the spare light bulbs to replace the burnt out ones on the strings of tree lights that Sam had plugged in to test.

In the first box he found general decorations, tree ornaments and the tin with the hooks for them, the star for the tree, a paper bag of used tinsel with an unopened tinsel box stuffed inside, and candleholders for putting candles on the tree that he'd never used but not extra bulbs. Moving onto the next box he found more tree ornaments, the shoe box that held the nativity his parents had made, and underneath the bundle of tinsel garland were the boxes of extra light bulbs.

"Found them," he pulled out a box and passed it over.

"Good," Sam stopped untangling two strings to accept the box, "thanks."

Jack took a moment to admire the pretty picture she made surrounded by strings of brightly coloured lights as she sat on the couch next to him and then returned his attention to the box. In particular his attention was on the sprigs of green bundled together with the tinsel garland. Sprigs of smooth-edged oval shaped leaves with clusters of waxy white berries.

Huh, he thought as he picked up the mistletoe, he didn't remember this decorating the house last year. Not even one sprig and he held over a dozen in his hand. "Hey, Sam, where'd this come from?"

She looked up from the new light bulb she had just screwed into its socket. "Oh. Daniel."

"Daniel gave us mistletoe?" He never would have guessed Daniel. Cassie was more likely, maybe even Sam herself but not Daniel. At least, not without a cultural lecture attached. "Why?"

"Well, more precisely, Vala bought some mistletoe for Daniel for Christmas last year—"

"Vala bought Daniel mistletoe?" he arched an eyebrow in amusement. Mistletoe? He was under the impression from Daniel's complaining when the man's credit cards had been swiped that lingerie was more the alien woman's style.

Sam grinned. "Yeah, a lot of it and Daniel didn't know what to do with it all so, ah, we ended up with some. Everyone did I understand. But Daniel and I didn't see each other until after the New Year, which meant we'd already taken our Christmas decorations down so I just put it away for next year—that is, this year."

Jack nodded and tried to think of the most strategic places to hang the mistletoe in the house to maximise the plant's kissing power. Speaking of kisses though... He selected one of the sprigs, held it up, leaned towards his wife with a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth and said in a sing-song voice, "Oh, S-a-m. Look up."

She looked up, laughed, and her blue eyes sparkled as she shook her head at him. "Oh, you. All right, come here."

He bent his head to meet her as she obligingly leaned into him and the kiss was sweet and short, more a laughing kiss than a kiss-kiss as their lips couldn't stop grinning.

"There," she said sweetly as she settled back, "you had your kiss. Now you have to take one of the berries off."

"Oh?" he arched a questioning eyebrow at her.

"It's tradition. Each time you claim a kiss, you have to take a berry off and then when all the berries are gone, you can't claim kisses under that mistletoe anymore."

"Oh, that tradition," he waved the tradition aside and tossed the mistletoe sprig back into the box. "But that's no fun, so we don't follow that tradition in this house."

"We don't?"

"Oh no, in this house, we just kiss," he leaned forward again and brushed his lips to hers, "and kiss," lips sweetly touched lips again, "and kiss." His lips pressed against hers and as his hands cupped her face the sweet simmered to hot and demanding and mouths tasted and breaths mingled and decorating the tree was quite forgotten until later.

Much later.

-FINISHED

"Twelve Months of Love" [drabble, Jack/Sam, T]

Title: Twelve Months of Love
Author: A. Karswyll
Rated: T
Words: 1200
Summary: Twelve moments in the lives and love of Jack O'Neill and Samantha Carter. Twelve drabbles of 100 words.With illustrations.

---

Dedication
To hlndncr,
thank you for all the shipper herding you do,
may you have a wonderful Shipmas!

---

January - 1997, Season 1, Solitudes


Jack took a shallow breath as his Captain apologized and moved her head to his shoulder. Breathing was fractionally easier with her weight off but it wasn't any less painful. He'd forgotten how damn much broken ribs hurt.

But as he'd just told her otherwise, this was nice. Her warmth was certainly welcome in this icy hell hole plus the comforting feel of someone beside you in the night. He missed sharing his life and let's face it, he missed sleeping with a woman. Missed how she felt and tasted and sounded when—

Crap, looks like he wasn't exhausted enough...
. . .

February - 1998, Season 2, The Fifth Race


It is her joyous laughter that catches your ear but her brilliant smile that holds you mesmerized and you heedlessly stare at her. You could have stared forever but the feeling of danger intrudes as the hair on the back of your neck stands on end.

Something is watching you as you watch her.

Furtively you glance around and then freeze like prey freezing in an attempt to avoid the gaze of predator. But this predator has seen you and his eyes are dark and his lips firmly pressed.

His message is clear.

Mine.

His warning is unmistakable.

Fuck off.
. . .

March - 1998, Season 2, Out of Mind


Sam rested back against Jack as he held them against a wall to avoid the redhead goa'uld scientist and Jaffa escort and struggled to catch her breath and control her thoughts.

The feel of his thoroughly masculine body against her back and the heavy weight of his hand as it loosely collared her throat weren't helping.

And what really wasn't helping was the alien device still implanted in her temple and stimulating her memory centres. Given her current position her thoughts certainly were stimulating and not at all appropriate. Thank God she was no longer wired to the display monitor!
. . .

April - 2000, Season 4, 2010


Jack watched Sam turn and walk away from him again with determined strides.

So this was it.

Sam was again walking away from him. No—Mrs. Samantha Faxon was, he told himself sternly.

His chest tight with the emotions her visit had dredged up, he retreated into his cabin and tried not to think. Tried not to remember the little brown eyed and brown haired boy who had loved baseball who had been.

And certainly not of the dream of a little girl with her mother's smile and his mischief who might have been.
Or the thousands others forever unborn.
. . .

May - 2008, post Continuum


"Come on," Cassie held up her camera, "just one picture. One, little, tiny picture."

"All right," Jack said in exasperation. "What do you want?"

"Arms around each other," she instructed, "and just... look natural."

"Like this?" Sam smiled faintly, folding her hands on top of the hands Jack had wrapped around her waist.

"Yes. Uncle Jack, stop giving me the evil eye. Look at Sam instead." Cassie rolled her eyes at the suffering-sounding sigh he gave, but he did look at Sam. In that moment she glimpsed something amazing—the overwhelming love he had for the women he held.

Click!
. . .  

June - 1997, Season 1, Children of the Gods


Her blue eyes met his brown eyes and their gazes clashed aggressively—the challenge in them unmistakable.

It sparked the air between them like a hot and wild electric charge let loose in the mountain peaks by a thunderstorm.

A young warrior testing her will against the older warrior before her. She was tempered but not yet forged by battlefields while he had stood on those bloody battlefields and been forged in that blood.

Their gazes locked, he spoke of women and scientists, drawing the battle line and with a fierce gleam in her eyes she rose to challenge it.
. . .

July - 2000, Season 4, Upgrades


Jack thrashed upright in bed, his eyes wildly scanning the night dark corners of his bedroom as his heart thudded violently and he gasped for breath. His hands fisted the sheets his thrashing had tangled and he took control of his breathing.

Just a nightmare, he thought as he breathed in through the mouth and out the nose. Just another damn nightmare. He had plenty of those.

Sir! Just go!

Her words rose from his nightmare and he shuddered. Don't think, he thought, not about her blue eyes and that force field. And never think about how much he cared.
. . .

August - 2003, Season 7, Heroes


Tears blurring her vision Sam wrapped her arms around Jack as he wrapped his arms around her in turn and tucked his face into her neck the way he always did. The hug was tight and fierce and said all that they couldn't find words to say as they took solace in each other.

Together they could bear the grief for the loss of special friend. A woman who had had been kind, compassionate, fierce, and determined in all that she had done and who had fought with them, fought for them, and always been there for them.

Goodbye Janet.
. . .

September - 1997, Season 1, The Broca Divide


Sam brushed past the lesser males in her way as she navigated the corridors and followed His scent trail into a room that smelled of water and more males.

She hesitated at the doorway.

So many males were a danger, especially the strong ones who might attempt to claim her, but she wanted him and she would have him.

Determinedly she entered the room and there he was. Her breath caught at the sight of his naked back. Broad shoulders defined by muscles beneath glistening skin flaunted his masculine vitality. Her body clenched in heated anticipation and she stalked forward.
. . .

October - 2012, RDA & AT at 20th Jules Verne International Film Festival


Sam put in the earrings Jack had given her two birthdays ago to finish dressing for her birthday celebration tonight and smiled at his reflection.

"Beautiful," his kissed her temple, "but not quite perfect. Close your eyes."

In the mirror she looked into his eyes and then hers closed without protest. She felt her necklace being removed and another that made her blood tingle settled around her throat.

Opening her eyes she saw that now a hooped necklace with its ends capped by two dark round balls graced her neck.

His fingers brushed her ear studs. "There, now they match."
. . .

November - 2004, Season 8, Moebius


"So," Sam backed Jack into the cabin wall, "a couple of years ago a... co-worker, a friend if you will... invited me fishing. I was promised fish that were," she planted her hands on either side his shoulders on the logs and finished throatily, "that big."

She grew breathless watching his eyes darken and when his tongue wetted his firm lips, she hungered for his mouth.

"Yeah?" he drawled.

"I figure, as I caught my..." she thrust her shoulders back to push her chest into his and oh that felt good, "... 'fish' I should see how big it is."
. . .

December - 2006, Season 10, 200


Sam gave her white gowned reflection in the mirror one last, lingering look and then turned away.
Cassie, who was waiting with a smile, held out the bouquet.

Sam gave a smile in return and took the pink blossoms. She lifted the flowers up to her face and breathed in their floral scent. Her eyes closed as she smelled their sweet spice with cinnamon and vanilla and a hint of cloves.

Then she opened her eyes and with a radiant smile on her face went to meet the man that today, she would promise to hold and cherish forever more.

Ten Drabbles in Ten Days 2013

#1 Have a Little Faith – Rated K

Sam gave a narrow eyed look at the innocent looking object sitting in her workspace. Innocent like a hidden landmine. The problem, she decided, was not that Jack had a little faith in her abilities but that he had too much faith.

She picked up the flat-bladed tool and hesitated. The task before her was… it was beyond flying an asteroid through the Earth. Beyond blowing up a sun. What if she ruined it? What if she—

"Sam?"

She looked up to see Jack giving her a puzzled look from the kitchen doorway.

"You done icing Gracie's birthday cake yet?"

.

#2 Busted – Rated K

"Jack, what are you reading?"

Jack jerked his head up. Sam was leaning over their sofa and peering at his book. Crap. He was so busted. As nonchalant as possible he closed the book, cover down. He coughed to clear his throat, "Nothing."

"If it's nothing," she teased, "why are hiding it from me?"

"I'm not, you just, surprised me. Didn't hear you come in."

"Jack."

He felt his face get warm. "Okay, okay." He turned the book over, showing the cover. "Wormhole X-treme!: Conquering Divide" and "Based on the hit television series developed by Martin Lloyd" was proudly proclaimed.

.

#3 To Oz – Rated K

"'…and they all followed him through the portal into the streets of the Emerald City.'" Jack read aloud the chapter ending and looked down at the little girl that slept against him.

He closed the children's book, took off his reading glasses, and set both aside. With gentle hands he laid her into her bed, folded up the pink and purple covers around her, and tucked her 'Toto' in with her.

He pressed a goodnight kiss on her forehead and when he straightened up he saw Sam at their daughter's bedroom door, watching with a soft smile curving her lips.

.

#4 It's Complicated – Rated K

Sam lay back and let her bed bear the weight of her cast. It was her first broken leg and she hadn't had it for more than a few days and she was already itchy and twitchy. Now she really got Jack's complaining about his broken leg eight years ago after Antarctica.

Thoughts of Jack made her recall the conversation she'd had with Keller in the Genii mine. Her 'seeing-anyone' answer had been a lie wrapped in truth. She'd gotten good at those about her and Jack.

Their love had never been complicated, just achieving the freedom to express it.

.

#5 Seeking Solace – Rated K

"Come here."

Sam was blinded by tears but those two small words were a blazing beacon of comfort and with a sob she turned into the strong arms that reached for her. Her arms wrapped tightly around him in turn and her face tucked into his neck where her tears wet the collar of his shirt.

No more words were said as they stood together and breathed together. All there was for Sam was his arms cradling her close, the strength of his body holding her up, and the heartbeat beneath her ear as she received her solace in Jack.

.

#6 A Moment in Time – Rated K

Sam sat on her beach towel, dug her toes into the hot sand, and breathed deep of the scent of the beach: water and heat and sunscreen. In the lake two people laughed and splashed water on each other.

A laugh turned into a joyous shriek as Jack swooped up their daughter into his arms and spun her around in the air. Water droplets arched out from the force of the spin and as their faces spun past her, she saw their unbridled joy in each other and their play and a moment in time was captured in her heart.

.

#7 Triumph – Rated K

Jack fell beneath his two attackers. He gasped for breath and twisted away but it was in vain. He had no weapons but his hands to hold them off and in the face of them, decades of experience fighting bloody battles failed him.

He was forced to do what he had sworn to them he'd never do—he stopped fighting. "Uncle!"

"Yeah!" his daughter stooped tickling him and crowed triumphantly. "We won Mommy!"

He sprawled on the cabin floor, caught his breath, and smiled up at her grinning face and the smiling face of Sam just over their daughter's shoulder.

.

#8 Irregular Orbit – Rated K

Overhead the night revealed the star-studded universe and Jack leaned back from his telescope. He reached over Teal'c's legs to get to the cooler as the observation platform was crowded with his teammates, all bundled up against the night chill.

As he grabbed a beer he caught more of the astronomy lesson Carter was giving Daniel.

"So it has an irregular orbit?" Daniel asked.

"Eccentric," Jack corrected. "There are only irregular galaxies and satellites."

Daniel gave him a blank look but the approving smile Carter gave him was like a shooting star, brilliant and bright and uplifting of the spirit.

.

#9 Never Again – Rated K

Jack scanned the faces partying at his cabin but didn't see the one he wanted. Sensing where Sam might go, he slipped around to the deck. There she was in her white gown, leaning against the ribbon festooned railing.

"Hey," he said quietly.

She looked at him and smiled brilliantly. "Hey."

The breeze blew a strand of hair across her face and she tucked it back behind her ear and the new wedding ring on her hand glittered in the sun.

His heart swelled at the sight. That ring meant never again would he have to say she wasn't his.

.

#10 Obsession – Rated K

Sam was aware throughout the day as she spoke, laughed, and smiled with family and friends of the weight of the wedding band now worn on her finger. She couldn't help obsessively touching it either, whether a rub from her thumb beneath or the fingers of her other hand reading the shape of the stones on top.

It was not an obtrusive weight, like a shackle, but a like warm hug that was as golden as it was. And each touch was an anchor in reality that she almost couldn't believe had finally come true—she and Jack were married.

"National Yo-Yo Day" [drabble, friendship, K]

Title: National Yo-Yo Day
Author: A. Karswyll
Rated: K
Words: 1,190
Summary: Jack O'Neill is determined that this June 6th, he will not be the only one celebrating the holiday and how else to involve reluctant teammates but to surprise them with some gifts? But he isn't the only one in store for a surprise.

---

Season 4
6 June 2000

Jack O'Neill held a small box in one hand and whistled under his breath as he navigated the tunnel hallways of the base to Carter's lab. The door was open so he poked his head through the doorway and was pleased to see all three teammates present, which meant Daniel and Teal'c had joined forces today to get Carter to lunch. She'd been overly absorbed with the… something device from P3X… whatever this past week and skipping too many meals.

"Hi campers," he greeted.

"Sir," Carter rose to attention beside her workbench.

"Hi Jack."

"O'Neill."

He nodded his head at their greetings and eyed the device on her workbench but figured, as the guys were all standing next to it, it was safe to approach. He entered the lab and held his package up. "Somewhere I can put this down for a sec Carter?"

Carter eyed his box far too warily in his opinion. It wasn't like it was some wacko alien device like the one gutted on her workbench that could turn people to stone or whatever it did.

"Here Sir," she pointed to reasonably bare area of the workbench close to her.

He set the box down and flipped up the top flaps and took out the first toy, a bright yellow coloured one like his blue one. "Here, this is for you," he passed it to her and then passed a wooden yo-yo made of dark and light coloured woods glued together to Daniel and a green Yoda yo-yo to Teal'c in turn. "Happy National Yo-yo Day!"

Carter turned the spool-like toy over in her hand like it was some foreign thing. "They really celebrate, um, yo-yos Sir?"

"Yep, on Duncan's birthday," he enthusiastically informed them and took out his own yo-yo and threaded the string loop onto his finger. Really, by this point one would think his team would get that he didn't make up the odd holidays he celebrated—other people had already done it for him.

"Who is Duncan?" Teal'c asked as he examined the Yoda yo-yo he held and although it was regular sized the green coloured toy look small in his hands.

"Donald Duncan," Jack named him and dropped his hand to let the blue yo-yo spin down the string to spin at the end in the sleeping motion, "he invented the yo-yo in the 1930s."

Daniel frowned. "That's not true, the yo-yo is an ancient invention and while its origins are hard to identify we do know that the ancient Greeks had them. I know of a two thousand four hundred forty year old kylix, a type of wine-drinking cup, on which a boy is depicted playing with a yo-yo. Also, Greek records from the period describe the toy and state they were made out of wood, metal, or painted terracotta, that is, fired clay."

Jack snapped his yo-yo back up the string. "Okay, okay, Duncan didn't invent, invent them. But he did make them all popular again and start the contests and stuff. And it's because he bought the first yo-yo factory from the Filipino guy that we call them yo-yos and not bandalores. And never mind that stuff, try them out."

Daniel looked doubtful but slipped his finger into the string loop and dropped his dual coloured wooden yo-yo. It spun down the string and when Daniel jerked his hand up it wound up and then back down and after a few attempts to get the yo-yo to return to his hand the toy spun out in circles at the end and Daniel had to pull it up to rewind the string.

"Just need some practice," Jack said cheerfully and dropped his yo-yo to the end of its string, put it to sleep, and then walked the dog across the concrete floor. He pulled the toy back into his hand and turned to Carter. "Give it a try Carter."

Carter looked reluctant as well, but took the yellow toy in hand and dropped her yo-yo down the string and while it swung from side to side for a moment she managed to put it to sleep, where it spun on the end of the string for some time, before returning it to her hand.

"Good, good." Jack approved. "We'll have you Going Around the World in no time. What you about T?"

Teal'c slipped a finger into the loop and the green yo-yo dropped down the string and back up to his hand in one smooth motion.

"Not bad," Jack complimented.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow and tossed the yo-yo in an arch from left to right and as it spun out, caught the string with two of his left fingers so the yo-yo landed dead on its string and formed a loop in the string. With his right hand he pushed on the looped string and flipped the yo-yo over his left to land on the string, swung it back over the left hand to arch down and over his right hand when the yo-yo landed on the string a third time. He flipped it back over his throw hand, swung it back around to spin around his left fingers to catch it on the string on the second circle.

"Whoa." Jack recognized the advanced trick called Skin the Gerbil—which was way, way ahead of his measly Walk the Dog. He looked sidelong at Carter and Daniel, and while he wasn't open mouthed in surprise like the other man was, to judge from their expressions at least he wasn't the only one surprised! "I um, take it Jaffa have yo-yos?"

"Indeed." Teal'c inclined his head and unwound his yo-yo to bring it back to rest in his hand. "It is a most useful tool for the coordination of hand and eye. Thank you for the gift O'Neill. I am most pleased with the image of Grand Master Yoda upon it."

"You're ah, welcome." Jack cleared his throat, pocketed his yo-yo, and clapped his hands together, "Well, lunchtime! We ready to go?"

He blew out a relived breath when the three nodded. They exited Carter's lab and with Teal'c and Daniel in front engrossed in their own conversation as Daniel asked numerous question of the big guy about Jaffa yo-yos, he bumped his shoulder into Carter's shoulder.

"Sir?" she gave him a quizzical look.

"Hey, Carter, what do yo-yos and life have in common?"

Carter's expression would be categorized as the equivalent of an eye-roll on anyone that wasn't as skilled poker-face subordinate as she was. "Sir?"

He bumped her shoulder again. "C'mon Carter."

"Okay Sir," Carter obligingly played along, "what do yo-yos and life have in common?"

"They have their ups and downs," he delivered the punch line and grinned in triumph at the laugh that won from Carter as she shook her head at him. So celebrating National Yo-yo Day wasn't going quite like he'd planned, showing off the tricks he knew while teaching his team how to play with a yo-yo, but Carter was still laughing at his jokes so it was a fine holiday indeed.

---

To see Skin the Gerbil in action visit http://yoyoexpert.com/learn/060-expert-skin-the-gerbil.html

"Love A Tree Day" [drabble, friendship, K]

Title: Love A Tree Day
Author: A. Karswyll
Rated: K
Summary: Colonel Jack O'Neill had planned to celebrate the day with some tree planting but an offworld adventure gives him a whole new appreciation of trees.
Words: 941

---

Season 4
16 May 2000

Jack O'Neill raced through the forest of TR3-329 and his heartbeat thundering with a baying pack of—something—hot on his heels. He dodged under a low hanging branch and then leapt over a fallen log. The trees now were older, with broad trunks and sturdy boughs that were strong enough to provide sanction. And they had enough of a lead that they might just make it.

"The trees!" he yelled to his team. "Get in 'em!"

"What?" Daniel yelled back.

"Climb a tree!"

Ahead Carter angled off for one of the trees, its lowest branches level with their heads, and grabbed onto one branch. Right behind her, he planted his hand on her backside and heaved her up the rest of the way. She reached down and helped him scramble up just as the pack of creatures reached the base of the tree to snap at his heels.

He saw that Daniel and Teal'c had made it safely into a neighbouring tree as he sucked in breaths of air. "Thanks Carter."

"Welcome Sir." Carter was as flushed and out of breath as he was.

He looked down through the leafy branches at the baying and snarling multitude of creatures underneath the tree, almost carpeting the ground there was so many of them, and then glanced over his shoulder at Carter. The creatures had lizard-like legs and probably couldn't jump but it didn't hurt to be on the safe side. "Higher you think?"

"Yes Sir," Carter agreed fervently.

He hauled himself up a few more branches and settled next to the trunk on a broad branch and Carter settled on the same level on a neighbouring branch. Seated as they were against the trunk, their shoulders touched each other firmly and he was aware of each panting breath she took.

"So, Major, ideas?"

"About what Sir?"

"What the heck these…" he looked down at the angry terrier-sized creatures, with their feathered reptile bodies and large ridge of bright orange spine feathers standing up on end, "things are?"

"Sorry Sir, I never was much into dinosaurs."

He nudged her shoulder. "Not even T. Rex?"

"I think it's a little hard to avoid the basic knowledge of tyrannosaurus rex. Or brontosaurus, triceratops, stegosaurus, and pterodactyls."

"Well, it avoided me," he answered cheerfully and leaned forward to call out across the way to the tree the other two had taken refuge in. He raised an eyebrow at Carter when she clamped a hand around his wrist in reaction to his movement.

"Sorry Sir, I thought you…" she looked sheepish and let go.

"No worries, I'd hate to fall into this mass of creatures too." He reassured and looked over again to where Teal'c had firmly fixed himself to the tree trunk and Daniel out on a limb—literally he noted with an amused snort—making a running commentary into his camcorder. "Hey! Daniel! You know what these things are?"

Daniel lowered his camcorder. "I'm an archaeologist Jack, not a paleontologist!"

The creatures yelped and snarled louder and wracked their claws through the bark of the tree trunks the team had taken cover in.

"So, and, therefore? Do you know what these things are?"

"No Jack!" Daniel had to really raise his voice over the angry sounds the creatures were making.

"Okay, just asking!" He yelled back across the few yards separating the two trees. "Teal'c, you ever seen the like?"

"I have not O'Neill. I do believe however our conversation is increasing their aggression." Indeed, even Teal'c now had to raise his voice to speak over the creatures increased yowling. "Perhaps we should be silent."

It was something Jack had noticed too, so with a nod to his two teammates he settled back against the tree trunk and Carter. In time the creatures did quieten but they certainly didn't look like they were going anywhere soon.

Now that the adrenaline rush of running from the snarling hoard had abated, he had to contend with the boredom of being actually treed. He shook his head over that. It was either ironic or poetic getting himself treed on this day of all holiday days. And on top of the boredom was how uncomfortable it was being scrunched up in the tree's branches and sitting on its lumpy bark.

He plucked one of the spring bright leaves from a branch overhead and twirled the seven-point leaf between his fingers. After a moment he released the leaf and watched it float down and one of the creatures snapped at it with its impressive set of toothy jaws.

Ouch.

Good thing the creature had chomped on a leaf and not one of them.

"So, Carter," he spoke as casually as he could and tried to get more comfortable on the rough bark, "you got plans tonight?"

"No, why Sir?"

He looked over at her and found her face only inches from his. "It's Love A Tree Day today and I was planning on planting a tree with Cassie and the Doc when I got home tonight—if we get home tonight. You wanna come help?"

"Well Sir, I gotta say," she smiled at him, "today I certainly love trees."

"Yeah, me too." Nothing like being saved by a tree to give one a whole new level of appreciation of the woody perennials. He plucked a perfect seven-point leaf. "So, you gonna come?"

"I will."

"Great!" Jack couldn't help but grin as he reached over and tucked the leaf he'd just plucked behind her ear. "There. Happy Love A Tree Day Carter."

Carter turned a rosy shade and returned, "Happy Love A Tree Day Sir."

-FINISHED

"Kite Flying Day" [drabble, friendship, K]

Title: Kite Flying Day
Author: A. Karswyll
Rated: K
Words: 722
Summary: Jack O'Neill intends to take Cassandra out to celebrate the holiday on February 8th. Now, if he can just convince Doc Fraiser that it really is okay to fly a kite in winter.

---

Season 2
8 February 1998

Bundled up for the weather and the activities of the day, Jack O'Neill stepped out of his truck onto the snowy ground and his winter boots crunched the recently fallen snow beneath. The sun was bright in the cloudless sky and there was a light wind that made one hitch scarves up over one's chin and stuff mitted hands into deep jacket pockets.

The city ploughs hadn't been by yet to remove the snow that had fallen last night on the street, but the Fraisers and other people on the block had already been out this Sunday morning and shovelled their walkways and sidewalks clear. Good thing, because he didn't look forward to stomping through any snow but the snow on the sledding hill where he was taking Cassie for their day out together.

She'd even called last night, excited about the new snow and wondering if it might interfere with part of their plans. He'd been able to reassure her that as long as it didn't storm today as well, the plans would be fine.
He walked up the cleared path, up the front steps onto the front porch, and rang the doorbell of the Fraiser house. In moments the door was opened by Janet, bundled up in an overly large sweater, who waved him inside.

"Good morning Colonel. It's a fine day for sledding isn't it? Cassandra's just getting some last minute things together."

"Good morning Doc," Jack returned the greeting, "and it sure is a great day."

"Hi Jack," Cassie appeared from the interior of the house, carrying a sledding saucer, a satchel of things swinging in her hand, and wearing her winter pants already.

"Hi kiddo," Jack returned. "Ready to finish getting dressed and go?"

Cassie shook her head as she leaned the saucer against the wall and set the satchel down with a noisy clunk on the entranceway floor. "I can't find my kite. Mom, where is it?"

"Kite?" Janet looked nonplussed.

"Yeah, my kite. I need it today."

Janet furrowed her brows at her daughter. "I thought you and the Colonel were going sledding today."

"Oh, we are," Cassie answered cheerfully. "But that's later. We have to fly kites today first."

Jack did his best not to fidget under the look that Janet turned on him in turn. After a moment, he surrendered. "It's Kite Flying Day today."

In response to that one of Janet's eyebrows arched in curve that would have made Teal'c envious. "In winter?"

Jack tried to look casual.

Janet did not look impressed.

"Come on, it may be winter, but it's still a great day to fly a kite. It's sunny and there's a light wind," Jack cajoled.

Janet pursed her lips and then turned to her daughter. "Go check in the guest closet if it wasn't in the back closet with the beach things. You might find the kite there."

Cassie nodded and disappeared back into the interior of the house.

Janet turned back to him when Cassie was out of earshot. "In winter Colonel?"

"Hey! Kites aren't just a summer activity. And it really is Kite Flying Day."

The look Janet gave him reminded Jack all too strongly of the looks Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c were wont to give him when he told them what holiday it was. Really, he didn't make these dates up so why did everyone look at him like he did?

She said a third time, "In winter?"

"Kites only need wind to work so really, they can be flown in any season. And it's not like I'm taking her out to fly one in a thunderstorm like crazy old Ben Franklin."

"I would hope not," Janet said sharply.

Cassie bounded back into the entranceway and held her colourful prize aloft. "Found it! I'm ready to go now!"

Janet looked from him to her happy daughter and then back to him with a resigned look. "Okay Colonel. You guys have fun today."

"Thanks Doc," Jack stated, knowing that she was granting her permission to take the kite with them. Said kite was passed to him to hold while Cassie finished getting her parka, toque, mittens, scarf and boots on. Kite, saucer, and satchel in hand they headed out into the brisk winter day to fly a kite to celebrate the day.

"National Puzzle Day" [drabble, team, T]

Title: National Puzzle Day
Author: A. Karswyll
Rated: K
Words: 795
Summary: January 29th is a holiday that Jack O'Neill enjoys but when he asks for help one too many times, he finds himself making an unexpected bet over crosswords.

---

Season 7
29 January 2004

Jack turned the page of his morning newspaper with a soft rustle. The sound was lost in the low murmur of conversation and the rattle and clicking of cutlery and dishes in the commissary. Nine days after inauguration the news of the new president's swearing in no longer dominated the front page but it was still prominent in the interior pages and his eyes skimmed headlines and articles.

At last he reached the funnies and puzzles and he folded the paper back on itself to isolate the crossword puzzle. A crossword was an excellent way to take part in today's National Puzzle Day if he did say so himself. He might even try his hand at one of those Japanese math puzzles to really celebrate.

He pushed his tray to the side, careful not to push it into any of the trays of his teammates, and set the paper down and searched through his pockets for something to write with. Finding a pen, he uncapped it, and began penning in his answers to the clues. After writing in a handful of the answers he frowned at twenty-two across and looked up across the table at his second-in-command. "Hey Carter?"

"Yes Sir?" Carter looked up from her breakfast.

"I need a four letter word. Prefix with matter, proton or particle."

"Anti."

"Thanks," he looked down at the puzzle and penned her answer in.

"Sir?"

"Yeah?" Jack kept his eyes on the crossword as he studied the next across clue.

"Don't you think you can finish one without asking for help?"

"What?" he looked up at her in surprise.

"Your crosswords. You always ask me for help."

"I don't."

"You do too," Daniel interjected from his seat diagonal across the table as he looked up from his linguistic journal.

"Don't," Jack insisted.

"Do."

"Don't."

"You do O'Neill," Teal'c ended the argument from his seat on the left.

"Oh," Jack cleared his throat and looked back at Carter. "Sorry Carter, didn't mean to bother you with it."

"It isn't a bother Sir. It's just..." Carter looked a bit uncomfortable, "I think if you thought about it instead of asked me right away, you would get the answer yourself."

Jack thought about it and then thought about what holiday it was, and he leaned across the table. "Is that a challenge Major?"

Carter responded in kind and leaned across the table. "Do you want it to be Sir?"

"I don't know Major. What are you offering up?"

"Well," Carter leaned back to ponder things and then her expression brightened and she challenged. "A week worth of KP duties Sir."

"That's quite a bet there. You ready for a week of KP Major?" Jack taunted.

"Are you Sir?" she countered with a saucy little grin. "So this is the bet Sir. You finish a crossword without help and I do a week's worth of KP. You don't finish the crossword and you do a week's worth of KP."

Jack thought it over and then nodded his agreement. "Deal."

"So it's a bet." Carter stood beside the table and picking up her tray. "I'll go find another crossword for you—"

"No science journal stuff!" he objected.

"Don't worry Sir, I'm just going to find a different newspaper to get today's crossword from. There should be a New York Times or even a Cheyenne Edition around somewhere. And remember Sir, no getting help!"

"Don't worry Sam," Daniel chimed in, "I'll make sure he doesn't get any help from me."

"Good," Carter gave a satisfied nod and head high, sauntered away.

Jack watched her go. When the doors swung shut behind her, he pulled his eyes away and cleared his throat upon finding Daniel and Teal'c were giving him looks. "What? It's National Puzzle Day you know, I can't turn down doing a puzzle today."

Daniel shook his head. "If you say so Jack, if you say so."

"It is!"

"Oh, I don't doubt it's one of your weird holidays but really Jack, if you wanted to do a week of KP why didn't you just say so?"

Jack wagged his pen at Daniel who was looking oh so innocent. "Just you wait Daniel, just you wait. I'll complete the crossword and the next couple missions you'll be suffering through Carter's cooking."

He frowned. Actually, on second thought, maybe he should lose the bet. Nah, he shook his head, Carter hadn't managed to mess up MREs yet and besides, he hated doing dishes. Decision made he turned back to the crossword he'd started to get some more practice in. And if worst came to worst, and he didn't manage to finish the crossword and win, he could always bet double or nothing and give it another go.

-FINISHED

"Beautiful Day" [drabble, team, K]

Title: Beautiful Day
Author: A. Karswyll
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Rated: K
Words: 779
Summary: Jack O'Neill always makes an effort to find beautiful things on November 20th and he is helped in that regard by some special off-world phenomena and a smile.
AN: Thank you fems for the lightning fast beta on this one!

---

Season 3
20 November 1999

Jack plopped down among the fragrant grasses—the smell made him think sweet grass—on the hillside bathed in sunlight in the midst of his three teammates. He looked out across the valley below with its picturesque collection of thatched roof homes surrounded by fields in summer growth.

Quite a pretty sight and he had to admit that today he was all too ready to look for beautiful things. November 20th was all about beautiful sights, sounds, and smells and today had been that. Really, what was more beautiful than traveling through a giant alien transportation system to a friendly alien world?

In the valley below there were some of the tunic wearing men and skirt clad women moving about, but a fair number of them were spread out on the hillside with him and his team. Some had come with blankets and with baskets of food and the young village children ran about with free abandon between the clutches of people.

"So," Jack looked up into the blue sky with its white wisps of clouds and the sun high on the horizon, "when's this... thing going to start?"

"I'm not sure," Daniel spoke up, "and the village krivs—that is, the priest—didn't say there was an exact time for the phenomenon the natives describe. What he said was that their god Diviriks sends what they call 'messenger clouds' which I am assuming are certain cloud formations as they practice aeromancy which is sky, or cloud, divination. The krivs said that when Diviriks is especially pleased with them the god 'sets the clouds on fire with his blessing.'"

"And we aren't a little bit worried about the 'sets on fire' part?" Jack looked to his left at Daniel and Teal'c.

"Well," Daniel pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "it sounds, from the krivs's description, like it is in the sky and they celebrate seeing it when it comes. And look around, do these people look like they are worried about whatever sight we may see today in the sky?"

"Yeah well, we've run into people who get in the festive mood every time they're about to rip out hearts and lop off heads too," Jack pointed out as he waved a hand at the picnicking natives.

Daniel made a face at that.

"And what about the detail of their 'god' sending messengers? We aren't a little concerned about that either? Especially as you can't tell us anything about this Dive-rinks guy. And neither can Teal'c."

Daniel huffed. "Do you have to be so pessimistic about everything?"

"It's my job," Jack said lazily as he stretched out his legs and leaned back and propped himself up on his elbows as he looked straight up into the sky. "Whoa!"

He shot bolt upright again as he stared in amazement at the beautiful sight overhead. The white wisps of clouds had turned into a brilliant canvas of colours and become a huge rainbow that hung like a sheet of ribbons in the sky.

"Afit aat'petch't," Teal'c said, the tone of his voice hushed and reverent.

"That means, uh... 'fire rainbow,'" Daniel translated, his voice as quiet and amazed.

Well, Jack thought, it was a rainbow and it certainly had set the sky on fire with colour! "Carter? What the heck kinda rainbow is it?"

"It uh, isn't a rainbow Sir."

Jack took his eyes off the rainbow and looked to his right to give her an incredulous look. "Not a rainbow? It's got red, orange, yellow, blue, green, and the purples—it certainly looks like one to me!"

"I mean, while yes we are seeing the full visible spectrum of light, it isn't coming from light being refracted while entering a droplet of water," Carter explained.

"You know that we're seeing Sam?" Daniel asked eagerly.

"Actually, I do. It's an atmospheric phenomenon known as a circumhorizontal arc. Circumhorizontal arcs appear when the sun is higher than fifty-eight degrees above the horizon and its light passes through diaphanous, high-altitude cirrus clouds made up of hexagonal plate crystals. Now—"

"Akh, Carter," Jack interrupted as he reached over and pulled on her sleeve. "Enough with the science lesson! Please, just... lie back and enjoy."

"Yes Sir," she gave a smile as she lay back among the fragrant grass to look up at the sky.

Jack followed suit and relaxed back into the grass. He tucked his hands beneath his head and gazed up at the rainbow that was spread all across the clouds, his eyes on the array of colours as his mind dwelled on the light of Carter's smile.

It was a very Beautiful Day.

-FINISHED

---

For more information on the phenomena witnessed by SG-1 visit news.nationalgeographic.com news/2006/06/060619-rainbow-fire.html

"Clean Out Your Fridge Day" [drabble, Jack & Sam, K]

Title: Clean Out Your Fridge Day
Author: A. Karswyll
Fandom: Stargate: SG-1
Rated: K
Words: 1,178
Summary: Engaged in of one his least favourite holiday on November 15th, Jack had hoped to get it over and done with before Carter, Teal'c, and Jonas get to his house for team movie night.

---

Season 6
15 November 2002

Jack held his breath and peered into the bowels of the beast. Spying another transformed creature he gingerly reaching in and, holding it by the very tips of his fingers, drew it out. Holding the offensive thing at arm's length he deposited it directly into the garbage and not onto the counter cluttered with things already taken from the beast.

He reached into the beast again and—brrriiinnng—he jolted at the sound of his doorbell and knocked his head on the shelf and cursed at the flash of pain. Jack rubbed at his forehead as he pulled his head out of the refrigerator and bellowed in annoyance, "It's open! Come in!"

Sticking his head back into his fridge he could hear his front door open and close, and approaching footsteps, even though sound was muffled by the barrier of the open fridge door.

"Um..." his unexpected visitor trailed off, "um, Sir?"

Jack leaned back, to look around the open fridge door, with a Chinese takeout carton in his hand and looked up at Carter. She looked rather surprised and unsure as she stood in the entrance to his kitchen holding four boxes of pizza and two shopping bags hanging from her hands.

Surprised at seeing her himself, Jack twisted his wrist around to look at his watch. It was time for movie night already? Crap, it was. A touch sheepish he got up off the floor in front of his fridge. "Sorry, Carter, I thought I'd have this done before you guys got here."

Eyeing him, and the countertop cluttered with things from his fridge, Carter cautiously pushed things around to make room for the pizza boxes and drinks and snacks on the counter. "What are you doing?"

"Cleaning out my fridge of course." Jack checked the interior of the takeout carton, and finding it empty except for a few noodles clinging to the sides, tossed the carton.

"I can see that, but... why now?"

"'Cause it's the 15th."

"What does the 15th have to do with anything?"

"It's Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day," Jack pointed at his calendar pinned to his kitchen wall.

"Ah, one of your days is it Sir?" Carter said with a twinkle in her blue eyes.

"They aren't my days," Jack said indignant, "they're real holidays."

"Yes Sir," she agreed dutifully.

"Watch your tone Carter," he waggled a finger at her.

"Sir, yes Sir," Carter said in the perfect respectful subordinate voice of hers.

Jack rolled his eyes and didn't even know why he bothered. He'd yet to meet anyone who could beat Carter at playing the innocent-subordinate-who-was-really-mocking-you card. It was those blue eyes, and that smile, you could never believe she could be that devious.

She poked at some of the items on the counter. "So, any ideas why today is the day you clean out your fridge?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, why now, in November? Why not in the spring or something with spring cleaning?"

He shrugged and turned his attention back to his refrigerator. "No idea. I always thought it had to do with Thanksgiving, you know? Making room for all the leftovers you have afterwards."

Carter made a sound that could be agreement—or it was just a sound to say she was listening—as she shuffled the items on his countertop around with clinking noises. "Ugh, is this a piece of cake from your birthday last month?"

"What? No, of course not," he pulled his head out of the fridge again and glanced over his shoulder at her. "The cake didn't even make into the fridge."

"Ah, that sounds more likely," she agreed cheekily as more countertop items moved. "Don't know why I'd think cake would last that long around you."

Jack shook his head and turned back to his task. The tomatoes were still good but the lettuce had gone all limp and slimy so he tossed the package.

Ah, there's where it had gone, he thought with satisfaction as from behind the nearly empty pickle jar he pulled out the ceramic figurine, tucked against the back of the fridge. Juggling the tomatoes, figurine, and jar he moved to the counter and set them down with the other items that were to go back in the fridge.

Carter cocked her head at him and pointed to the ceramic figurine. "I've been meaning to ask. Why do you keep a ceramic frog in your fridge? We never know what to do with it when we've, ah, had to clean out your fridge for you."

"You mean you don't have one in your fridge?"

"A ceramic frog?" Carter gave him a strange look. "No Sir."

"I don't mean a frog, but something with baking soda in it?"

"Is that what that stuff is?" she asked as she poked at the white mass visible in the frog's wide open mouth.

"Yes, that 'stuff' is baking soda."

"Seems a rather, er... strange way to store baking soda. Doesn't it go bad exposed in the fridge like that?"

Jack shook his head. "It isn't for storage Carter. You mean your mom didn't keep baking soda in the fridge to help keep the fridge smelling clean?"

Carter looked a bit surprised, and after a moment, shook her head. "No."

"Ah well, mine did," Jack said with a shrug as tapped the ceramic head of the frog. "Lots of people just used the open boxes I think, but we always used stuff like this frog."

"Huh."

"Huh what?"

"Actually Sir, I never gave it much thought, but your fridge always did smell... better than one would expect considering what was spoiled when we had to clean it out."

Jack couldn't help but quirking a grin at her at that. He could well imagine what his leftovers, and just the regular food, had mutated into when stranded off-world, having a bit of experience in seeing what happened when the whole team got stranded off-world for a bit and no one was around to clean out their fridges.

Brrriiinnng!

Well, Jack thought as he looked around his still disorderly kitchen, sounded like the rest of the team was here. "Door's open! Come in!"

His front door opened and closed again and shortly two aliens were standing in the entrance to his kitchen. Both raised their eyebrows at the clutter though it was, typically, Jonas who openly looked surprised and not Teal'c.

"Hi guys, go ahead and put movies by the TV and then come help Carter with the pizza," he waved them towards the living room. As the wide-eyed Jones trailed after Teal'c, he was struck by an idea. Leaning towards Carter he said quietly, "Pst, Carter? When I was stuck with Maybourne a couple weeks back, who cleaned out my fridge?"

"Um," Carter flushed a bit, "I did."

"Jonas didn't help?"

"Ah, no Sir," she said warily. "It was just me."

"Excellent," Jack grinned deviously and rubbed his hands together. Raising his voice he called out, "Hey, Jonas! You want to partake in a traditional Earth activity?"

-FINISHED

"Babbling Day" [drabble, Jack & Sam, K]

Title: Babbling Day
Author: A. Karswyll
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Rated: K
Words: 730
Summary: October 21st is not a holiday Jack O'Neill marks with particular relish, but for his two babbling geeks on the team he will endure—for the day.

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Season 2
21 October 1998

Jack listened to the weekly science geek congress babble on about their weekly findings and wished—not for the first time—that these briefings weren't a requirement he had to attend as team leader. Jeez, and he still had to attend the Daniel-type geeks briefings this afternoon.

Last week the geeks had been all excited about the ongoing development of longer ranged recon probes that had developed into the UAV. Things like that he could appreciate.

Long dissertations on the analysis of the sound waves used by the bald, white, and naked aliens and white alien plants of PJ2-445 were mind numbing. Just listening to them go on and on was threatening to bring on a headache like the one he'd gotten three days ago on the planet from said alien plants.

As the projector was turned off and the briefing room lights were turned back on Jack rubbed his eyes. Didn't Foldger know two, or even three, syllable words?

Pressing his palms into his eyes he took a breath and reminded himself of his promise to hold his tongue and let the geeks babble all they liked today. He was seriously reconsidering that, though. Next year, yes next year, he'd hold his tongue only for his geeks: Carter and Daniel.

Feeling better with that decided he lowered his hands and opened his eyes to find one of his geeks, Carter watching him with her head cocked at a curious angle.

"What?"

"You okay Sir?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

Carter's blue eyes flickered around the room before returning to him. "You've been very... quiet today Sir. Are you sure there are no aftereffects of the infrasonic frequencies produced by the plant-like organisms of PJ2-445? You and Daniel were exposed for a long period of time and Teal'c had his symbiote to buffer his susceptibility."

Jack groaned. This was the thanks he got for keep his trap shut? Carter eyeing him like she was on the verge of reporting him to the needle pushers? "I'm fine Carter. No need to go a hollering for the Doc."

She worried her bottom lip and glanced away.

Sighing he ordered, "Spit it out Carter."

"Sir?"

"You've still got something to say, spit it out."

Her cheeks reddening a bit she spoke, "Are you sure? You're really—"

"Quiet," Jack rolled his eyes and finished for her. "Yes, you've said that already Carter. Really, I thought you'd appreciate no interruptions from me. Let you talk about your doohickeys all you want."

"I..." Carter trailed off, and then clearly changing her mind about what she was going to say, instead said, "Why have you not been, er, your usual self today?"

"Because of the holiday."

"Holiday?" she blinked at him.

Jack gave her a crooked grin. It clearly had not been an answer his second had expected. "Yeah, it's Babbling Day today."

"What is Babbling Day?"

"Come on Carter, you don't know what it is? You're a card carrying member," he teased. He thought about it for a moment and corrected himself, "No, actually you and Daniel are summa cum laude graduates."

She just looked even more baffled. "I've never heard of such a day Sir."

"No, I didn't think you would have Captain. But trust me, today is the day I let you guys get away with all sorts of blatherskite." Proud of himself at managing to use that word today, he lifted a finger and wagged it at her. "But only today."

Carter looked even more perplexed and absently gestured her acknowledgement when one of the other geeks in the room prompted her that it was her turn to speak.

Jack felt his grin deepen, it always was fun baffling his geeks, and made shooing motions with his hands. "Go Carter, talk about how you talk to your plants."

She gave him one last puzzled look and then she got up and made her way to the front to report her latest discoveries.

Settling back into his chair Jack wondered if he'd be able to get a similar reaction from Daniel when the rock geeks did their talks. It was something to look forward to this afternoon anyway. And he admitted to himself privately, Carter sure got animated and hot when she got going with her technobabble so he settled into to enjoy the rest of Babbling Day.

"National Dessert Day" [drabble, Jack/Sam, M]

Title: National Dessert Day
Author: A. Karswyll
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Rated: M
Words: 1,850
Summary: Lt. General Jack O'Neill finds out, after his wife leaves for her morning run, that it is October the 14th and that means it is National Dessert Day! He just didn't expect his innocent attempt to celebrate the day to go down the path it does.
AN: Er, it moved from fluff, to sap, to smut. Don't ask me how, take it up with my three muses—a seal, a penguin, and a polar bear. I swear, they must be handing me off to each other while I'm writing like author-hot-potato or something.

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Season 15
14 October 2011

Jack rolled over in bed, groping blindly for the warm body that should be beside him. Feeling nothing but rumpled sheets and the far of the edge of the mattress his head popped-up off his pillow and he squinted around the bedroom. Pale sunlight was just creeping through the large window, illuminating the many pictures and framed medals and awards hung on the walls—his and hers—but the warm body he was looking for wasn't in sight.

Cracking a big yawn he sat up in bed. Hearing running water on his left he looked towards the ensuite bathroom and saw that the door was closed, which answered the question of where his wife was.

Swinging his feet over the mattress, he set them onto the carpet and stood up. Rolling his neck and shoulders, Jack listening to the crackles of protest his body made and scratched his nails through his short hair.

"Good morning," Sam said cheerily as she stepped out of the bathroom in running sweats and tight jogging top, her long brown-dyed hair tightly restrained in a ponytail.

"Morning," Jack rumbled in return. "Going for a run this morning?"

Sam nodded. "Just for an hour."

"M'kay, enjoy yourself. Watch out for traffic," Jack cautioned as he habitably did. Not that Sam couldn't handle D.C. as she kept up her fitness schedule whenever she was in town with him, but it would just be ridiculous for her to get hurt while running for exercise and not running from perusing aliens. "Want breakfast when you get back?"

"Sure, I'd enjoy it." Sam crossed to her dresser and picked up her cell phone that had been sitting on top. Slipping it into her back pocket, she rounded the bed and brushed a kiss against his mouth. "See you in an hour."

Jack absently nodded and watched as she disappeared down the staircase with her ponytail bouncing. He did regret not being able to go with her but it had been years since his knees had been in good enough shape for running. So it looked like he'd stick to the swimming to try and keep himself somewhat fit. He grimaced at that thought and got his butt moving. He'd promised Sam breakfast after all.

After finishing in the bathroom and dressing for work, he made his way downstairs. His knees creaked and he wondered, not for the first time sadly in his six years of living in the townhouse, how much longer he'd be able to manage them without too much pain.

Finding the local classical music station on the radio, his eyes landed on his calendar. It was Friday, October the fourteenth. And there, written on the otherwise innocent white square were three words: National Dessert Day.

Score!

Jack grinned as he draped his Class A jacket and tie over a kitchen chair. Now what dessert should he tempt Sam with when she got back? Rummaging through the cupboards and pantry for the breakfast pancake ingredients he thought it over. Well, jell-o was her favourite dessert—even if she did like the blue—so a jell-o concoction would be good.

Squinting at the bag of pretzels he wondered how they'd gotten on the shelf beside the flours and rolled-oats and other baking things. The pretzels should be on the shelf with the chips and crackers.

Wait.

Pretzels?

Didn't Cassie make a dessert with pretzels and jell-o? Pulling his head out of the pantry, he went to the kitchen counter and pulled open one of the drawers to reveal the clutter of cooking books and recipes on sheets of loose paper and torn from magazines.

Sorting through the loose recipes, he sorted out the ones in Cassie's writing, from the big looping letters of when she was first learning to write English to the clean and easy to read writing that she wrote in now.

Ah, there it was, Pretzle Jello Dessert. The spelling and loopy letters made it clear it was one of Cassie's earlier culinary discoveries.

Jack stuffed the other recipes back into the clutter and shut the drawer. Reading the recipe over, he saw that the pretzel crumb crust would take only ten minutes to bake, the cream cheese spread for the middle would only take a few minutes to mix, but it was the settling of the jell-o topping that would take hours.

Checking the time, he saw that there was no way even with using ice water to set the jell-o quickly that it would be ready to eat when Sam got back, but it would be definitely ready for dinner after work. And there would be enough time to get breakfast ready too after making it.

Setting the recipe on the counter, he got out two mixing bowl, the baking dish, electric beaters, kettle, and a few spatulas. In the fridge he found a stick of butter, cream cheese, and the tub of whipping cream. He walked back to the pantry and grabbed the bag of pretzels, found the sugar, and stood there looking over their two dozen boxes of jell-o.

Hum... well the recipe called for two packages, so with a shrug Jack grabbed two boxes of jell-o: one blue, one red.

Jack put the kettle to boil and whistling along with Bach, crushed the pretzels. Then he reached for the butter, mixed it in with some sugar, and spread the mix into the baking pan and popped it into the oven.

Wiping out the bowl, he dropped the full block of cream cheese in, added more sugar, and turned on the beater. Cream cheese splattered against the bowl.

"Whoops," Jack turned off the beater and checked to make sure there was no white splatters on his work clothes. Seeing none, he turned the beater back on at a slower speed. After mixing the cream cheese and sugar together, he beat in the whipped topping and set the bowl aside for later.

He grabbed the second bowl and poured in hot water from the kettle. Mixing the blue jell-o with the hot water first he stirred until everything was dissolved and added the red jell-o, and he was pleased when it all turned purple.

Jack figured if it was purple Sam wouldn't bug him about it being strawberry red which was what the recipe called for—and only went to show that red was better—or about him eating blue if he made it just blue for her. Putting the bowl of jell-o into the fridge to chill, the oven timer went and he pulled out the pretzel crust and set it on a rack to cool.

Dessert prepared but not together yet, he got down to making his homemade pancakes. The mix only took a few minutes to prepare so he turned back to the dessert.

Touching the the pretzel crust, he found it cool enough. He spread the cream cheese and whipped topping middle over the crust and then put the pan next to the still chilling bowl of purple jell-o in the fridge.

Turning back to making breakfast, the first pancake was on the skillet browning nicely when he heard the key in the door. Leaning back from the stove a bit, Jack looked from the kitchen across the open living room, and watched Sam appear in the living room from the entrance way. She was an enticing sight, all bright-eyed and cheeks rosy from her run with wisps of her hair escaping from her ponytail.

"Mmm, something smells good."

Jack smiled and waved the flipper at the stove. "First pancake is almost ready."

Crossing to him, she peered over his shoulder as he flipped the first pancake over. "Looking good. We got any of that cherry syrup left?"

"Should be in the fridge," Jack nodded at the appliance. When she turned her back to him, his eyes landed firmly on her very nicely rounded rear as she open the door. Said rounded rear paused, and then her attractive backside straightened, and she cast a look at him over her shoulder with eyebrow raised.

"Jack? What's in the fridge?"

"Dessert."

"Dessert? We haven't even had breakfast yet and you're making dessert?" Sam was exasperated as she took the syrup from the fridge and shut the door. "What about what your doctor said last week?"

Jack flipped out the pancake onto a waiting plate. His mood souring a bit he said in irritation, "I know what the doctor said. I was there." Holding her gaze and seeing the worry in her eyes, he then sighed and turning his attention back to the stove poured more batter into the skillet. "I know what he said and I am going to do better Sam. It's just, today is National Dessert Day."

"Oh." Sam was quiet then and all he heard was the syrup bottle being put down on the table.

He started a little when he felt Sam press up against him from behind, her hands curving around his thickened waist to link in front, as her head pressed against his shoulder.

"Did I ever tell you thank you?" she said softly against his shirt.

Jack felt his irritation give way to confusion as he self-consciously poked at the pancake. "Thank me for what?"

"For all those silly holidays you had us celebrate as a team."

"They weren't silly," he grumbled.

She squeezed his waist. "Yes, some of them were very silly. But some days, God, it was only you that got us... got me though. So... thank you. Thank you."

Jack felt the back of his neck heat and redden. He groped for something to say and finally settled on a gruff, "You're welcome."

"Turn off the stove please?"

"But the pancakes aren't done," Jack protested with a frown.

"I know, still, turn off the stove please."

Puzzled, he did as asked and turned the stove off. Sam unlinked her hands, and then grabbing his shirt, she pulled him around so that she was leaning against his front and looking him in the eye. Giving him a slow, soft smile her hands let go of his shirt and slid up, cupping his face as she raised her lips to his.

The kiss was gentle and intimate, a soft burn of leashed passion.

"Well, we should celebrate the holiday then Jack," the words whispered over lips, "but I think I can keep the doctor's orders in mind for more... activity, so that you can eat your dessert and I can enjoy my own dessert."

Jack felt his heart jolt hard at hearing how she rolled that word over. As his blood thickened and arousal stirred he had to clear his throat twice before he could say anything, and even then his voice was not really his. "H-how?"

Sam's blue eyes gleamed wickedly and made his blood pound hard.

"Oh, I think you know how."

Feeling one of her hands slide from his chin, down over his chest and venture low Jack decided that unlike the past fourteen years this holiday from this day forth, was only going to be celebrated in one way from now on.

With dessert.

-FINISHED

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AN2: If interest in the dessert the full recipe can be found at www-dot-tasteofhome-dot-com/recipes/Pretzel-Jello-Dessert