DISCLAIMER: Yeah, the SG-1 guys are all property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret productions. This is all in fun, no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. All other characters, ideas, etc., herein are copyrighted to the author. TITLE: FAR TO FALL AUTHOR: Rowan Darkstar EMAIL: rowan_d1@yahoo.com RATING: All Ages CATEGORIES: Angst, hints of Sam/Jack, Sam/Joe ARCHIVE: Yes, just let me know. SUMMARY: "He works beside her in perfect synch, as if this has all happened before." Written for the GateShip Wednesday Shorts "2001" Challenge. 250 words--look, an exact word count! (hey, at least it's SOME round number...) "Far to Fall" by Rowan Darkstar (rowan_d1@yahoo.com) She doesn't know him. But something about him feels like...home. He's not her type. She wouldn't have picked him out of a crowd. But he smiled at her and he asked 'how', and something flickered at the edge of memory. She wanted to see him again. Asked to lunch in front of the Colonel. She never broke from this new man's gaze, but she said yes, right there in the gateroom. Because the hard truth is, Jack's never asked, they've never spoken, and maybe some part of her needs that known. Snowballing downward and Joe's at the center of it all. A key player on short notice, and she needs him to believe, she needs him to trust. He does. He works beside her in perfect synch, as if this has all happened before. She has to let go. Eyes locked. Something more than a casualty on the job. Cutting the cord and falling into the blue. Her shoulder hurts like hell. "You did good, Major" feels better than it should, but it's not enough, because he has no idea what she left behind. She claims she is too tired to go into town for drinks with the guys; *toss one back, we saved the world again.* Curled in her window seat with a blanket and hot tea and a mystery novel. She fingers hormones and stress when reading turns to watery vision and long gazes at the night sky. Too far to fall. He felt a little like home. ***** rowan_d1@yahoo.com