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: BEFORE THE RAIN
AUTHOR: Rowan Darkstar
EMAIL: rowan_d1@yahoo.com
RATING: All Ages
CATEGORIES: Angst, Sam/Jack
ARCHIVE: Yes, just let me know.

Written for the GateShip Wednesday Shorts "Revelations" 
Challenge.

600 words (hey, at least I stuck to SOME number...*g*)


"Before the Rain"
by 
Rowan Darkstar (rowan_d1@yahoo.com)



She says yes to dinner.

He thinks she hears 'I'm sorry'.

But apparently she hears 'Let's shelve this like everything 
else.'   She follows her friends because she doesn't want to go 
home alone.

He realizes this when she won't meet his eyes over the sizzle and 
smoke of fajitas at the Mexican Grill.

She picks at her food and offers a lame excuse about an early 
morning, leaving long before they would usually break up the 
group.

Teal'c knows all of this.  But he does not say a word.

Jack tells himself she heard 'I'm sorry', and he lets her walk 
away.

The dark of his own house pushes against his flesh.

He remains on his doorstep, door half open, keys in his hand.

He turns and walks back to his truck.

Her light is on.  He knew it would be.  She opens the door on the 
third knock.

"Did you need something, sir?"  The cold is harsher than the 
wind.

He starts to speak a few times, but he has nothing to say.  He 
looks at her, really *looks* at her, for the first time in far 
too long,  and he tries to say a thousand things he's never been 
able to say.

She speaks.  "Look, sir... I know this is how you deal.  That 
this is what you need, and how you handle...loss.  And I wish 
that I could give you that space you need.  I wish I could be the 
bigger person.  But right now, I..."  She trails off and shakes 
her head, the set of her mouth bitter and hard.  "I'm sorry," she 
says, and she closes the door.

He hasn't felt so alone since before he heard the word Abydos.

He walks past his truck.  The storm clouds that have been 
hovering all evening begin to toss light mist onto the shoulders 
of his jacket.

He crosses the street to the shadowy green of the park.  He 
follows the path a few yards, then wanders onto the grass, 
sinking into the dark of the night.  The rain falls in earnest, 
the storm front moving in hard and quick.  And he squints at the 
dark clouds, seeking out a glimpse of the stars, and wonders for 
the life of him where the hell Danny Boy is tonight.

He doesn't know how long he is out there, or how long the water 
on his cheeks is more tears than rain, before her arms slide 
around his midriff and lock on tight.  She nestles her face into 
the back of his neck, nuzzling aside his collar and seeking out 
the skin.  Her lips are so warm and he feels how cold he is in 
the rain.

Her chest is shaking and he knows she's crying; knows she is not 
the only one.  She slips an arm above his shoulder, across his 
collarbone, and pulls him against her hard and tight, clinging to 
his body.

He grips her arm, reaches a hand over his shoulder to tangle in 
her hair.  He feels her short locks growing increasingly wet in 
the relentless downpour.

When she lets go, he feels like he's falling.  He doesn't look 
back.  He knows she walked away.

He stays in the park until the rain slows.  When he returns to 
his truck, her light is on, but her door is closed and no 
silhouette hovers in the window.  There is a towel he doesn't 
recognize spread on the driver's seat of his truck.

He slips his keys in the ignition and thinks of home.

He hopes she heard 'I'm sorry.'  It's all he has to say.

*****

rowan_d1@yahoo.com