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: GHOSTS AUTHOR: Rowan Darkstar EMAIL: rowan_d1@yahoo.com RATING: All Ages CATEGORIES: Angst, Sam/Jack (sort of), Sam/Daniel (sort of), shades of OT3 ARCHIVE: Yes, just let me know. Written for the GateShip Wednesday Shorts "2010" Challenge 300 words "Ghosts" By Rowan Darkstar (rowan_d1@yahoo.com) Copyright (c) 2005 These glasses hurt his ears. He doesn't need them. The Aschen could have fixed his eyes long ago. But there is comfort in tradition. There is something of his past. She looks over as the speakers prattle on, suppresses a secret grin and rolls her eyes. The warmth flutters through his chest like tears. He can't stop his smile. He sees her so rarely these days. Yet the moment they breathe the same air, they are Sam and Daniel again. He wonders if this will always be, or if their days of friendship are numbered. She wants him to stay. She kisses his lips as they part; like this happens every day. He'll see her again in a few hours. Maybe. Jack didn't come back. They rarely speak. Sam married Joe. Everyone who loved Jack and Sam stood by in shock. No one knows what else fell apart. He wonders if there's a reason for that. He knew Jack and Sam were the eternal flame, viscerally connected somewhere blazing he could never touch. But for a while, they almost made him believe he was the blue of the flame. She kisses his lips and tosses him a smile. She watches the door from the corner of her eye, and he sees the ghost of the haunted woman who hid beneath concrete floors and thicker regulations. He remembers lying in the damp warmth of P4X-298, waiting for the SGC to bring them home. Remembers Sam eating the local fruit and paying with a blinding headache. He remembers her lying on her side on the cushion of Jack's Air Force jacket, Jack massaging the outside of her thigh. He remembers her blonde head on his own leg, and Jack's hand gripping his ankle. He remembers feeling like he was already home. ***** rowan_d1@yahoo.com