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Apr. 11th, 2003 11:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vicki595This is the first fic I'm posting here, and it might only be posted here - for the moment. Why? Because it's a Valentine's day one, which I only finished about a week ago. And considering it's now {checks watch} April 11th...
Fourteen Days
CATEGORY: romance, Holiday (Valentine's Day)
SPOILERS: "Nemesis" "The Light" "Ascension" "Paradise Lost"
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I actually always swore I'd never write a Valentine's Day fic, because I hate the day (simply because it's my birthday). I managed to resist writing this for three months, but then on February 14th, I actually sat down at the computer and started to write. (Note for future: when writing fic for a specific date/holiday - DO NOT start writing on that date/holiday. Especially when you have friends coming over in about half an hour). So here I've finished it; closer to Mothering Sunday or April Fool's Day. But it's here (which is more than I can say for the Christmas one I started *before* Christmas. This year, I'll start writing in August.)
Day 1
Hurrying into her lab, juggling a cup of coffee, an apple and a pile of printouts, Samantha Carter stopped dead when she saw a single red rose lying on her desk. Confused, she placed her things on the chair, and picking up the rose, held it to her nose and inhaled the sweet fragrance. A white piece of paper had been lying underneath it on the desk, and she picked it up and carefully scanned the unfamiliar handwriting. The script was simple, and elegant and all it said was "The greatest pain of all is loving someone and not being courageous enough to tell them." Sam just stared at it. It wasn't even Valentine's Day yet - it was only February 1st. And who would be sending her roses? She briefly entertained a fantasy that it would be the man whom she wished it could be, before dismissing it. There was no way that Colonel O'Neill would be sending her roses, no matter how much she wanted him to.
Sighing, she moved the coffee mug and apple to the desk, and looked around to see if there was anywhere she could put her rose. There was a vase in the corner, with some very dead chrysanthemums Jonas had bought her after he blamed himself for her injury the mission before last. Tipping the dead flowers into the bin, she placed the solitary rose in the water remaining and sat the vase down on the desk where she could see it while she worked.
* * *
Day 2
Sam groaned as she finished warming down after her workout in the SGC gym. Her shoulder, which she had injured a few weeks back, was still quite sore, but she figured that she'd just take some Tylenol and relax in a nice hot bath later that night. But for now, a hot shower would do, and with one last stretch, she headed towards the locker room.
The room was empty when she arrived, and heading straight to her locker, she stopped when she saw the rose and note taped to it. In the same script, the words "Don't ever frown - you never know who's falling in love with your smile" were carefully inscribed.
Sam looked around, almost as if she expected to see her mystery admirer hiding somewhere, but the room was still empty; just as it had been when she had arrived.
* * *
Day 3
"Major Carter ma'am. There's a package for you," Sam looked up from the doo-hickey that SG-4 had brought back from their last mission, as she tried to figure out what it did - if it did anything. A sergeant she didn't recognise was standing at the door with a mid-sized plain brown box in his hands.
"Thank you Sergeant," Sam replied, moving away and taking it from him. Carefully opening the top, she caught her breath slightly as the box was revealed to be empty except for many polystyrene pieces and yet another single red rose. The note with it this time was on blue paper, and read "Love is the creator of out greatest memories and the foundation for our fondest dreams."
Dropping the note into the box again, Sam ran to the door and called down the corridor to the departing airman. "Sergeant, do you know who delivered it?" she asked, hoping that her admirer had slipped up.
"No ma'am, I'm sorry," Sergeant Howard replied apologetically. "It was there when I began my duty shift. I didn't see who left it there."
"Who was on duty before you?" Sam asked curiously, although she rarely had any contact with any of the enlisted men.
"Sergeant Andrea Keele ma'am," Howard replied.
"Very well. Thank you Sergeant," she said, smiling and turning to head back into her lab.
* * *
Day 4
The next note she found replacing her bookmark in the trashy novel that Janet had leant her. She had left it in the lab in case she had a free moment when something waiting for some equipment to acclimatise, or something. But after returning from having lunch with Jonas, the book had moved from the bookcase to her desk, with the rose lying on top of it. "Love makes a fairy tale out of an ordinary life" was written on yellow paper this time, and she smiled. Her life was certainly not ordinary, but it was certainly no fairy tale either. If it were, then the bad guys would surely have been defeated by now, and she'd have ridden off into the sunset with her handsome colonel.
Sam sighed as she added the fourth rose to the three already in her vase, and the note to the others in her top desk, before remembering that she had just removed her page marker. She wasn't unduly bothered by it, and placed the book on top of a pile of reports so she'd hopefully remember to return it to Janet.
* * *
Day 5
Sam was running late. SG-1 was due off world in just under an hour and she had just been forced to head to the infirmary because of a splinter. If there was anything that she was squeamish about, it was trying to remove a splinter from her own finger. She hadn't even tried with the monster that had been in her index finger, and instead headed straight for Janet, who didn't even blink as she removed it swiftly with a pair of tweezers before dousing it liberally with antiseptic and sticking a plaster on it. The good doctor had also told her to go and get Colonel O'Neill to kiss it better, but Sam wasn't even going to think about that.
Her kit was all hanging up ready for her to change into, and she quickly changed before grabbing her jacket. A single rose fell to the floor, and Sam noticed the paper sticking out from her pocket. "One doesn't need to be a scholar to know what love is when it arrives." She grinned before picking up the rose and headed towards her lab to add it to the other four, who were still looking fairly healthy.
* * *
Day 8
It felt good to be home, Sam decided, as she stood under the base showers, letting the water just wash over her. Although it hadn't been a particularly stressful mission, it had rained. A lot. The natives had been friendly enough, but not advanced enough to be able to offer them showers. When she got home, she was planning to relax in a hot bath, with lots of bubbles and maybe a glass of wine and some chocolates.
Regretfully, she stepped out and wrapped one towel around her body and used another to rub vigorously at her short blonde hair. Returning to her locker, she found, not one, but three red roses lying on the bench next to her clean BDUs. A note was tied to each of the stems, and she picked up the first one. "Love doesn't always come along at a convenient time." Sam almost snorted. That was true, although she doubted that there was a convenient time to fall in love while working at the SGC. The next one was something she could certainly relate to. "The arithmetic of love is not without mistakes, for in love two can become one, and two minus one often equals nothing." Whoever was sending her these roses and notes certainly knew her well, and even though it was bound to be against some regulation or another, couldn't help but think that perhaps it was Colonel O'Neill. The last one simply read, "To love and be loved is to find paradise on earth." As unromantic as it was, she couldn't help but think that someone should have told Maybourne this before he headed off world in an attempt to find paradise on another world (or moon), shooting her and risking the colonel's life in the process. The time that the two men had spent on that moon had been an example of two minus one equalling nothing, with Sam eventually breaking down and confessing all to Teal'c.
Placing the roses to one side, she got dressed, thinking about the mysterious notes and their equally mysterious writer.
* * *
Day 9
"Janet!" Sam looked around the infirmary and marvelled. Wow. She'd never seen it so empty. There were no injured airmen lying in any of the crisp white beds. A flash of crimson on the pillow of the bed at the far end caught her eye, and nearing it, she saw the rose with its accompanying note. Reading it, she smiled. "There is only one remedy for lovesickness - love even more."
"Sam! I'm sorry I wasn't here. Jonas was translating something about the medical history of the inhabitants of P5Y-122 and needed my help..." Janet rushed into the infirmary, and stopped when she saw Sam just standing there holding onto the single rose. "Another one! Where did you find that?"
"On the pillow over there," Sam replied, pointing to it. "You mean it wasn't there when you left?"
"No; I would have noticed a rose," Janet said. "I can't remember the last time anyone sent me flowers. Y'know, Daniel may have been in the infirmary a lot, but at least he sent me flowers once he was out,"
"Yes, you always had fresh flowers in your office," Sam teased, and Janet joined in with the laughter. "At least you knew who sent you them. I'm completely clueless."
"Completely clueless, or just ignoring the facts?" Janet asked, as they headed towards her office for some coffee.
"All I know is that it's someone who knows me well," Sam replied. "Which really only narrows it down to General Hammond, Teal'c, Colonel O'Neill and you."
Janet raised her hands. "Completely innocent here," she protested. "And you do realise that the only person out of that list who might do something like this is Colonel O'Neill."
"Yeah, I know."
* * *
Day 10
Obviously whoever was sending the flowers and notes was running out of ideas, as the next one was simply on the bookshelf in her lab. She had mentioned to Janet the previous day over coffee that she was planning on sorting through it, so either the doctor wasn't quite as innocent as she had proclaimed, or the sender was keeping very close tabs on her. She would have betted on the former, not that she'd ever tell her best friend that. However, based on the books she had on her shelves, the note with "Love is a vital equation in the mathematics of life" on was very appropriate.
Sticking the tenth rose in the water, she noticed that three of them were looking a bit dry and dead, and she regretfully removed them. She let them fall from her fingers into the bin, and stood there looking remorsefully at them, before shaking her head and returning back to the bookcase. They were only flowers, for crying out loud.
She paused.
Where had that come from?
* * *
Day 11
There was only one blue Jell-O left in the desert selection that Sam could see as she entered the commissary. Janet was already sitting at a table, and waved at her friend as she continued tucking into her lunch. Sam smiled back, but her concentration was solely on the Jell-O desert. Approaching from the left flank, she'd get the desert first, reaching out...
"Hi Major!" Sam jumped a mile as Chris, one of the lunch servers popped out from behind the display stand. "Don't worry - I made sure that there was one blue one left for you. Doc Fraiser said that you'd be in any minute when she got her lunch, so I put it out ready." He beamed at her, and Sam smiled weakly, her heart still racing from the shock he'd given her.
"Thanks Chris," she replied, taking the desert, and looking round for a tray within arms reach.
"Oh - here you go Major," he said, handing her a tray. Sam's heart started racing again, for on it was a rose and a note. "I was told to give this to you when you came in."
"By who?" Sam asked, placing the glass bowl on the tray and resisting the urge to read the note.
Chris just laughed and winked. "Ah, that would be saying," he replied. "Now, what can I get you for lunch today?"
Sam chose the chicken salad and grabbed a cup of coffee before heading over to join Janet.
"Ooh, the daily rose," she exclaimed, swallowing her mouthful. "What's your admirer got to say this time then?"
"You don't choose to fall in love. You just fall," Sam read, smiling and shaking her head.
* * *
Day 12
She knew that she really should be going home, but in all honesty, she really couldn't be bothered. She hadn't even noticed the time she'd been so busy working on the piece of alien technology SG-7 had brought back from P9X-201. Still, she had promised both Colonel O'Neill and Janet that she would try to eat regularly, and not stay up for long stretches of time. So, at 2300 hours, she decided to head to her quarters and collapse into bed there. She'd go home tomorrow, and spend some time away from the mountain for a change. Jonas had managed to sprain his wrist on the last mission, so SG-1 were all on downtime for a couple of weeks at least until the swelling went down.
She opened the door to her designated quarters, snapped on the light and stopped when she saw the rose lying on the bed. The only time she ever locked her quarters was when she was in them, and wanted to be left alone, so it wouldn't have been hard for her secret admirer to gain access to place it there.
Still wildly curious as to who was doing this, Sam crossed the room and picked up the accompanying note. Her heart skipped a beat as she read "Love is the big fish, kisses are the bait." She only knew of one person who was interested in fishing, and had remarked in the past about how the bass grew 'this big.' Sam smiled happily. Although this wasn't tangible evidence that it was Colonel O'Neill, it seemed more and more likely.
And there wasn't another man whom she would have preferred it to be.
* * *
Day 13
"You heading home Sam?" She turned round to see Jonas, carrying his notebook underneath one arm. His left wrist was still wrapped up tightly, but as he was right-handed, it hadn't stopped him from working.
Sam smiled at him. "Yeah, figured I'd get some groceries in; maybe see if Cassie wants to do anything," she replied. She would have invited him home with her, as she felt sorry for him, being cooped up inside the mountain all day, but knew that he was looking forward to translating a tablet he had bought back from the planet with them. He was so like Daniel in some ways, yet so different.
"Good for you," Jonas said, smiling back. "Colonel O'Neill always says that you spent far too much time working. I'm sure he'll be glad to know that you're going home."
Sam gave Jonas a strange look; since when had he been talking to Colonel O'Neill about her work habits. Just as long as he and the Colonel didn't start betting on her like O'Neill had done with Daniel it would be fine. "Yes, I'm sure he would," she said, stepping into the elevator. "I'll see you later Jonas."
"Bye Sam," he was almost cut off by the doors closing, and the elevator headed up and up through Cheyenne Mountain. She signed out at the top, and headed towards her Volvo, mentally making plans in her head. She knew that she had no food whatsoever at home, so that would be her first stop.
She was so absorbed in making her plans that she didn't notice the rose tucked under the window screen wiper until she was almost at the car. Smiling, she carefully removed the flower and then the note. "Some people say there are plenty of fish in the sea, until you find love - then there is only one."
"But there are no fish in the lake," she remarked out loud to herself, still smiling. "Good job we won't actually be fishing up there when I do say yes!"
* * *
Day 14
"Okay! I'm coming! I'm coming!" Sam had just stepped out of the shower when her doorbell rang. Whoever it was certainly had timing, and had it been a year ago, Sam would have bet good money that it would have been Daniel insistently ringing on her doorbell.
With her robe wrapped tightly around her, and her hair dripping wet, Sam made her way across the living room. After the fiasco with Orlin last year she just hadn't felt comfortable living in her father's old house anymore, and had moved to an apartment which was both nearer to work and to Janet's house. And to Colonel O'Neill's house, but she hadn't realised that until after she moved in. Honestly.
However, when she opened the door, there was no one there. Typical, she thought to herself, as she turned to go back inside. But something made her look down, and she couldn't help but smile when she saw her daily rose - most probably the last one, as today was now Valentine's Day.
"Looks like you've got a secret admirer dear." Sam looked up to see Mrs Mulchaey, the elderly lady who lived opposite beaming at her. Smiling, she looked at the accompanying note. "Come live with me and be my love / And we will some new pleasures prove / Of golden sands, and crystal brooks, / With silken lines and silver hooks"
"Maybe not so secret anymore Mrs Mulchaey," Sam replied, a wide grin on her face. "I've got a good idea who he is."
"Well make sure you grab him up soon," the old woman informed her, before heading down the corridor towards the elevators. "With gestures like that he's got to be a keeper."
Sam smiled again, as she smelt the rose. "Definitely a keeper."
Fourteen Days
CATEGORY: romance, Holiday (Valentine's Day)
SPOILERS: "Nemesis" "The Light" "Ascension" "Paradise Lost"
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I actually always swore I'd never write a Valentine's Day fic, because I hate the day (simply because it's my birthday). I managed to resist writing this for three months, but then on February 14th, I actually sat down at the computer and started to write. (Note for future: when writing fic for a specific date/holiday - DO NOT start writing on that date/holiday. Especially when you have friends coming over in about half an hour). So here I've finished it; closer to Mothering Sunday or April Fool's Day. But it's here (which is more than I can say for the Christmas one I started *before* Christmas. This year, I'll start writing in August.)
Day 1
Hurrying into her lab, juggling a cup of coffee, an apple and a pile of printouts, Samantha Carter stopped dead when she saw a single red rose lying on her desk. Confused, she placed her things on the chair, and picking up the rose, held it to her nose and inhaled the sweet fragrance. A white piece of paper had been lying underneath it on the desk, and she picked it up and carefully scanned the unfamiliar handwriting. The script was simple, and elegant and all it said was "The greatest pain of all is loving someone and not being courageous enough to tell them." Sam just stared at it. It wasn't even Valentine's Day yet - it was only February 1st. And who would be sending her roses? She briefly entertained a fantasy that it would be the man whom she wished it could be, before dismissing it. There was no way that Colonel O'Neill would be sending her roses, no matter how much she wanted him to.
Sighing, she moved the coffee mug and apple to the desk, and looked around to see if there was anywhere she could put her rose. There was a vase in the corner, with some very dead chrysanthemums Jonas had bought her after he blamed himself for her injury the mission before last. Tipping the dead flowers into the bin, she placed the solitary rose in the water remaining and sat the vase down on the desk where she could see it while she worked.
* * *
Day 2
Sam groaned as she finished warming down after her workout in the SGC gym. Her shoulder, which she had injured a few weeks back, was still quite sore, but she figured that she'd just take some Tylenol and relax in a nice hot bath later that night. But for now, a hot shower would do, and with one last stretch, she headed towards the locker room.
The room was empty when she arrived, and heading straight to her locker, she stopped when she saw the rose and note taped to it. In the same script, the words "Don't ever frown - you never know who's falling in love with your smile" were carefully inscribed.
Sam looked around, almost as if she expected to see her mystery admirer hiding somewhere, but the room was still empty; just as it had been when she had arrived.
* * *
Day 3
"Major Carter ma'am. There's a package for you," Sam looked up from the doo-hickey that SG-4 had brought back from their last mission, as she tried to figure out what it did - if it did anything. A sergeant she didn't recognise was standing at the door with a mid-sized plain brown box in his hands.
"Thank you Sergeant," Sam replied, moving away and taking it from him. Carefully opening the top, she caught her breath slightly as the box was revealed to be empty except for many polystyrene pieces and yet another single red rose. The note with it this time was on blue paper, and read "Love is the creator of out greatest memories and the foundation for our fondest dreams."
Dropping the note into the box again, Sam ran to the door and called down the corridor to the departing airman. "Sergeant, do you know who delivered it?" she asked, hoping that her admirer had slipped up.
"No ma'am, I'm sorry," Sergeant Howard replied apologetically. "It was there when I began my duty shift. I didn't see who left it there."
"Who was on duty before you?" Sam asked curiously, although she rarely had any contact with any of the enlisted men.
"Sergeant Andrea Keele ma'am," Howard replied.
"Very well. Thank you Sergeant," she said, smiling and turning to head back into her lab.
* * *
Day 4
The next note she found replacing her bookmark in the trashy novel that Janet had leant her. She had left it in the lab in case she had a free moment when something waiting for some equipment to acclimatise, or something. But after returning from having lunch with Jonas, the book had moved from the bookcase to her desk, with the rose lying on top of it. "Love makes a fairy tale out of an ordinary life" was written on yellow paper this time, and she smiled. Her life was certainly not ordinary, but it was certainly no fairy tale either. If it were, then the bad guys would surely have been defeated by now, and she'd have ridden off into the sunset with her handsome colonel.
Sam sighed as she added the fourth rose to the three already in her vase, and the note to the others in her top desk, before remembering that she had just removed her page marker. She wasn't unduly bothered by it, and placed the book on top of a pile of reports so she'd hopefully remember to return it to Janet.
* * *
Day 5
Sam was running late. SG-1 was due off world in just under an hour and she had just been forced to head to the infirmary because of a splinter. If there was anything that she was squeamish about, it was trying to remove a splinter from her own finger. She hadn't even tried with the monster that had been in her index finger, and instead headed straight for Janet, who didn't even blink as she removed it swiftly with a pair of tweezers before dousing it liberally with antiseptic and sticking a plaster on it. The good doctor had also told her to go and get Colonel O'Neill to kiss it better, but Sam wasn't even going to think about that.
Her kit was all hanging up ready for her to change into, and she quickly changed before grabbing her jacket. A single rose fell to the floor, and Sam noticed the paper sticking out from her pocket. "One doesn't need to be a scholar to know what love is when it arrives." She grinned before picking up the rose and headed towards her lab to add it to the other four, who were still looking fairly healthy.
* * *
Day 8
It felt good to be home, Sam decided, as she stood under the base showers, letting the water just wash over her. Although it hadn't been a particularly stressful mission, it had rained. A lot. The natives had been friendly enough, but not advanced enough to be able to offer them showers. When she got home, she was planning to relax in a hot bath, with lots of bubbles and maybe a glass of wine and some chocolates.
Regretfully, she stepped out and wrapped one towel around her body and used another to rub vigorously at her short blonde hair. Returning to her locker, she found, not one, but three red roses lying on the bench next to her clean BDUs. A note was tied to each of the stems, and she picked up the first one. "Love doesn't always come along at a convenient time." Sam almost snorted. That was true, although she doubted that there was a convenient time to fall in love while working at the SGC. The next one was something she could certainly relate to. "The arithmetic of love is not without mistakes, for in love two can become one, and two minus one often equals nothing." Whoever was sending her these roses and notes certainly knew her well, and even though it was bound to be against some regulation or another, couldn't help but think that perhaps it was Colonel O'Neill. The last one simply read, "To love and be loved is to find paradise on earth." As unromantic as it was, she couldn't help but think that someone should have told Maybourne this before he headed off world in an attempt to find paradise on another world (or moon), shooting her and risking the colonel's life in the process. The time that the two men had spent on that moon had been an example of two minus one equalling nothing, with Sam eventually breaking down and confessing all to Teal'c.
Placing the roses to one side, she got dressed, thinking about the mysterious notes and their equally mysterious writer.
* * *
Day 9
"Janet!" Sam looked around the infirmary and marvelled. Wow. She'd never seen it so empty. There were no injured airmen lying in any of the crisp white beds. A flash of crimson on the pillow of the bed at the far end caught her eye, and nearing it, she saw the rose with its accompanying note. Reading it, she smiled. "There is only one remedy for lovesickness - love even more."
"Sam! I'm sorry I wasn't here. Jonas was translating something about the medical history of the inhabitants of P5Y-122 and needed my help..." Janet rushed into the infirmary, and stopped when she saw Sam just standing there holding onto the single rose. "Another one! Where did you find that?"
"On the pillow over there," Sam replied, pointing to it. "You mean it wasn't there when you left?"
"No; I would have noticed a rose," Janet said. "I can't remember the last time anyone sent me flowers. Y'know, Daniel may have been in the infirmary a lot, but at least he sent me flowers once he was out,"
"Yes, you always had fresh flowers in your office," Sam teased, and Janet joined in with the laughter. "At least you knew who sent you them. I'm completely clueless."
"Completely clueless, or just ignoring the facts?" Janet asked, as they headed towards her office for some coffee.
"All I know is that it's someone who knows me well," Sam replied. "Which really only narrows it down to General Hammond, Teal'c, Colonel O'Neill and you."
Janet raised her hands. "Completely innocent here," she protested. "And you do realise that the only person out of that list who might do something like this is Colonel O'Neill."
"Yeah, I know."
* * *
Day 10
Obviously whoever was sending the flowers and notes was running out of ideas, as the next one was simply on the bookshelf in her lab. She had mentioned to Janet the previous day over coffee that she was planning on sorting through it, so either the doctor wasn't quite as innocent as she had proclaimed, or the sender was keeping very close tabs on her. She would have betted on the former, not that she'd ever tell her best friend that. However, based on the books she had on her shelves, the note with "Love is a vital equation in the mathematics of life" on was very appropriate.
Sticking the tenth rose in the water, she noticed that three of them were looking a bit dry and dead, and she regretfully removed them. She let them fall from her fingers into the bin, and stood there looking remorsefully at them, before shaking her head and returning back to the bookcase. They were only flowers, for crying out loud.
She paused.
Where had that come from?
* * *
Day 11
There was only one blue Jell-O left in the desert selection that Sam could see as she entered the commissary. Janet was already sitting at a table, and waved at her friend as she continued tucking into her lunch. Sam smiled back, but her concentration was solely on the Jell-O desert. Approaching from the left flank, she'd get the desert first, reaching out...
"Hi Major!" Sam jumped a mile as Chris, one of the lunch servers popped out from behind the display stand. "Don't worry - I made sure that there was one blue one left for you. Doc Fraiser said that you'd be in any minute when she got her lunch, so I put it out ready." He beamed at her, and Sam smiled weakly, her heart still racing from the shock he'd given her.
"Thanks Chris," she replied, taking the desert, and looking round for a tray within arms reach.
"Oh - here you go Major," he said, handing her a tray. Sam's heart started racing again, for on it was a rose and a note. "I was told to give this to you when you came in."
"By who?" Sam asked, placing the glass bowl on the tray and resisting the urge to read the note.
Chris just laughed and winked. "Ah, that would be saying," he replied. "Now, what can I get you for lunch today?"
Sam chose the chicken salad and grabbed a cup of coffee before heading over to join Janet.
"Ooh, the daily rose," she exclaimed, swallowing her mouthful. "What's your admirer got to say this time then?"
"You don't choose to fall in love. You just fall," Sam read, smiling and shaking her head.
* * *
Day 12
She knew that she really should be going home, but in all honesty, she really couldn't be bothered. She hadn't even noticed the time she'd been so busy working on the piece of alien technology SG-7 had brought back from P9X-201. Still, she had promised both Colonel O'Neill and Janet that she would try to eat regularly, and not stay up for long stretches of time. So, at 2300 hours, she decided to head to her quarters and collapse into bed there. She'd go home tomorrow, and spend some time away from the mountain for a change. Jonas had managed to sprain his wrist on the last mission, so SG-1 were all on downtime for a couple of weeks at least until the swelling went down.
She opened the door to her designated quarters, snapped on the light and stopped when she saw the rose lying on the bed. The only time she ever locked her quarters was when she was in them, and wanted to be left alone, so it wouldn't have been hard for her secret admirer to gain access to place it there.
Still wildly curious as to who was doing this, Sam crossed the room and picked up the accompanying note. Her heart skipped a beat as she read "Love is the big fish, kisses are the bait." She only knew of one person who was interested in fishing, and had remarked in the past about how the bass grew 'this big.' Sam smiled happily. Although this wasn't tangible evidence that it was Colonel O'Neill, it seemed more and more likely.
And there wasn't another man whom she would have preferred it to be.
* * *
Day 13
"You heading home Sam?" She turned round to see Jonas, carrying his notebook underneath one arm. His left wrist was still wrapped up tightly, but as he was right-handed, it hadn't stopped him from working.
Sam smiled at him. "Yeah, figured I'd get some groceries in; maybe see if Cassie wants to do anything," she replied. She would have invited him home with her, as she felt sorry for him, being cooped up inside the mountain all day, but knew that he was looking forward to translating a tablet he had bought back from the planet with them. He was so like Daniel in some ways, yet so different.
"Good for you," Jonas said, smiling back. "Colonel O'Neill always says that you spent far too much time working. I'm sure he'll be glad to know that you're going home."
Sam gave Jonas a strange look; since when had he been talking to Colonel O'Neill about her work habits. Just as long as he and the Colonel didn't start betting on her like O'Neill had done with Daniel it would be fine. "Yes, I'm sure he would," she said, stepping into the elevator. "I'll see you later Jonas."
"Bye Sam," he was almost cut off by the doors closing, and the elevator headed up and up through Cheyenne Mountain. She signed out at the top, and headed towards her Volvo, mentally making plans in her head. She knew that she had no food whatsoever at home, so that would be her first stop.
She was so absorbed in making her plans that she didn't notice the rose tucked under the window screen wiper until she was almost at the car. Smiling, she carefully removed the flower and then the note. "Some people say there are plenty of fish in the sea, until you find love - then there is only one."
"But there are no fish in the lake," she remarked out loud to herself, still smiling. "Good job we won't actually be fishing up there when I do say yes!"
* * *
Day 14
"Okay! I'm coming! I'm coming!" Sam had just stepped out of the shower when her doorbell rang. Whoever it was certainly had timing, and had it been a year ago, Sam would have bet good money that it would have been Daniel insistently ringing on her doorbell.
With her robe wrapped tightly around her, and her hair dripping wet, Sam made her way across the living room. After the fiasco with Orlin last year she just hadn't felt comfortable living in her father's old house anymore, and had moved to an apartment which was both nearer to work and to Janet's house. And to Colonel O'Neill's house, but she hadn't realised that until after she moved in. Honestly.
However, when she opened the door, there was no one there. Typical, she thought to herself, as she turned to go back inside. But something made her look down, and she couldn't help but smile when she saw her daily rose - most probably the last one, as today was now Valentine's Day.
"Looks like you've got a secret admirer dear." Sam looked up to see Mrs Mulchaey, the elderly lady who lived opposite beaming at her. Smiling, she looked at the accompanying note. "Come live with me and be my love / And we will some new pleasures prove / Of golden sands, and crystal brooks, / With silken lines and silver hooks"
"Maybe not so secret anymore Mrs Mulchaey," Sam replied, a wide grin on her face. "I've got a good idea who he is."
"Well make sure you grab him up soon," the old woman informed her, before heading down the corridor towards the elevators. "With gestures like that he's got to be a keeper."
Sam smiled again, as she smelt the rose. "Definitely a keeper."
