Work Text:
JACK
She’s been gone a year now. She is in DC for her outbrief, and I’m waiting for her at our house in Colorado for her homecoming. And let me tell you. She is not happy.
She finally felt as if she found her place in the worlds. She felt comfortable on Atlantis. She loves the people. She could do without the Genii and the Wraith, but she knows the risk. We have accepted the risk together. This was a good command decision for her. She doesn’t see it now, but she will be fine. She’s going to go far in her career.
I’m winding down my career. I want to retire. But I wanted to wait until she was back. If I retired, I wouldn’t be able to keep track of how she’s doing. Selfish? Damn right. We waited long enough to be together. I will watch out for her as long as I live. And probably even watch her from the grave. Now that I have her, I’m not letting go.
Just like I’m not letting go of this big, stuffed bunny I got her for our one year anniversary. I remember she laughed at me when I gave it to her. I held it up and waved it side-to-side saying, “Who’s your daddy?” She told me who her daddy was with a deadly, sinful look, then threw the bunny to the side and jumped me.
Afterwards, she started crying. We were only married about a year before she went on to Atlantis. She was scared for her first command. She was scared I’d leave her for someone else. She was scared she’d never come home. We can’t really control our deaths, but death is a risk no matter what job you have or where you live. It’s just a part of life. I reassured her that this was going to be a good move for her, and that we’d be fine. I didn’t wait all this time and then marry her only to throw her to the side. She’s stuck with me.
I lay here in bed with my memories. My eyes are closed because I don’t want to get up yet. I am snuggled up with the bunny that I have slept with every night since she’s been gone. It still smells like her. I dream of her as I let myself fall asleep each night. We sure have some amazing memories together.
She will be home tomorrow. So I will have to put the bunny back in the chair when I finally get up today. I don’t really want her to know I’ve slept with her bunny. I have a macho man image to maintain. The big, tough General and head of an entire government department can’t afford to be found sleeping with his wife’s stuffed bunny while she is away.
Then I think I hear someone inhaling deeply at my bedroom door.
SAM
One year? One damn year out of a three year assignment. What the hell are they thinking? Woolsey? Gah!
Fine. He’s not a bad person. He just doesn’t have the military background to fully understand the threats out there. I’m sure John, Teyla, and especially Ronan will help. Ronan may end up strangling him one day, who knows.
OK, time to stop my pity party. I’m surprising my husband today. Yes, you guessed it. I have a husband. I married the one man who understands me better than I understand myself. The one man who stood by me even when I tried to push him away and find happiness in another. The one man who told me he’d always be there for me. Even though I was hallucinating the entire conversation.
I married Jack O’Neill. I never thought we’d get here. So many wrong turns. So many times I pushed back when I should not have. So many times we fought over his decisions at work. And the times where we had to confront our feelings left both of us either wanting to move forward and try, or getting pissed off and running away.
But that is over now. When my dad died, it changed everything. I knew I was headed down the wrong road. I had to get out. I couldn’t go down the path I was headed. Dad was right. I did deserve more. My “more” was waiting for me in Jack’s arms. I know dad would approve now. He did like Jack in his own way. He was the only person he’d let call him Dad except me and Mark.
Jack sees right through me and tells me the truth when I need to hear it. He lets me help with his nightmares. He’s never had anyone understand the dreams, the fears, and the aftermath of nightmares. But I do. I understand because I have them, too. He helps me with mine.
I ask to be beamed into the basement so he won’t see the light. I hope I surprise him. And I hope he’s in bed. Otherwise I might freak him out thinking I’m a burglar or something. I’d hate to get shot or beat up in my own home. I laugh at that thought. With all the training I’ve had with Ronan, I can probably take Jack down now. And he might like it. Noted. Filed for later. I grin at the thought.
I quietly come up the stairs. I look around and all the lights are off. It’s about 2:30 AM, so he’s most likely in bed. Good. The moonlight coming through the windows gives me enough light that I can see just fine. I slowly walk to our bedroom door. He left it open.
I see the moonlight coming through the large sliding glass doors. He is cuddled up facing the bedroom door, not the sliders. And what is...is that...my heart jumps at what my eyes are looking at. I inhale deeply. Dammit. It might have been too loud.
Jack is snuggled up with the stuffed bunny rabbit that he gave me for our first anniversary. He is curled up in an elongated fetal position. One leg is on top of the blankets, the other covered beneath him. He has his top arm over the bunny, and the bunny is snuggled into his face. The blankets are not covering all of his upper body. I can only see half of his face. It’s like he is breathing in the bunny.
Oh my gosh this is the cutest thing ever! Big, tough, Major General O’Neill sleeping with a stuffed bunny rabbit. I wish Janet were here so I could tell her. Maybe I’ll call Cassie. Oh crap. His eyes just opened. I get a big, huge smile on my face.
“Surprise!” I whisper into the night when I see him looking at me.
I see his face form a smile. Then I watch his eyes cross to look at the bunny. He quickly moves the bunny behind him to my side of the bed.
“Sam. Hi. I thought you didn’t get in until tomorrow? How did everything go?” he asks me. He’s totally trying to cover up being caught snuggling a stuffed animal.
I move to go sit on the edge of the bed next to him. I run my fingers through his hair, and scratch the back of his head. I lean down and kiss his head. Before I can answer him, he grabs me and rolls me over his body to my side of the bed. He pins me down under him. He has a gentle hold on my wrists, holding my hands above my head. I could easily get out of this. But I don’t want to.
I find I am smiling up at him as he lays more of his body onto mine.
“I’ve missed you,” he says with darkened eyes. The moonlight coming in shadows his face, but I can see a sparkle in his eyes. I can also see a half smile on his face. God, I have missed him so much.
“I have missed you, too. I wanted to surprise you. Did it work?” I ask, with a little purr to my voice.
I feel him roll his hips into me. Yup. He’s missed me, alright.
“MMmmm. I guess so,” I say, then I feel his lips on mine.
One thing I can say about my husband. His lips are so soft and gentle. The same lips that make life and death decisions for Earth are the same lips that can make my body rock. I feel something under my back. I pull my mouth away from him.
“Mmm, hey, Jack. Something is under my back.”
He eases up and lets go of my wrists. He gives me enough space to roll to my side and reach back behind my back. I pull it out. It is the bunny. I smile big time.
“So. New bed mate while I’ve been gone?” I tease.
“Funny,” he replies.
I feel him lock my ankles between his. The way I am laying under him, he could have me pinned again quickly. This is really starting to turn me on.
“I remember when you gave this to me. You asked me who my daddy was,” I say, lifting my hips into the hardness above me.
“I did. Then you told me. Then I showed you,” he says quietly, leaning down to kiss me. The bunny is still in my left hand. He stops and looks down on me again.
“Was the bunny with you this whole time?” I ask.
I can see his face change. This is the face he puts on when he is about to reveal something special. Something vulnerable. I stare up at him and wait.
“It was. I had the bunny in bed because it still smells like you,” I hear him say so softly, and so quietly, it melts my heart even more.
“Jack,” I whisper.
We stare into each other's eyes for a while. Another thing about my husband is that he feels far more and far deeper than he will ever let on to anyone. Except me. I see all of him. All of his raw emotion that he has to hide due to the job. He is able to expose parts of himself to me that he has never shown to anyone before. Not even to Sara.
I let go of the bunny and raise my hand to touch his face. He leans down and kisses me again. I leave the bunny right on the bed next to us.