TITLE: Jack's Christmas Miracle

AUTHOR: Vid Z.

PAIRINGS: non-canon: Jack/FemOriginalOther; canon: Sam/Shanahan

TIMELINE: Season 7, after Heroes and before Lost City (let's pretend that there was Christmas between those two eps)

CATEGORY: fluff, Romance, Angst

DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc of the TV show Stargate: SG-1 are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this fic. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: this is the first finished fic of a series of Jack/Other fics I'm writing. They all take place after Chimera and have Sam/Shanahan in them. Because I honestly don't see Jack and Sam ever working out after Chimera and frankly don't want Sam with Jack and don't believe she deserves him, not after she'd hurt him so much by dropping Jack and taking up with Shanahan and then so callously and insensitively informing him of her affair with the younger man (don't get me started on her behaviour with Shanahan and the way she tortured Jack with that ring in Affinity, pretending to give him a chance to speak, while fully knowing that the regs were still there and that she'd been with another man for months after having hurt Jack).

And since I'm a Jack fan over a Jack/Sam shipper, my main wish is for Jack to be happy even if that isn't with Sam. That's how this new female character came about.

And don't worry, even though I'm bitter over Chimera and Sam's actions and words in that ep and all the eps after that, there is ABSOLUTELY NO Sam bashing in this fic.

AUTHOR'S NOTES, THE SECOND COMING: this fic has a brief mention of a past relationship between Jack and Janet, before the SGC. It was a pretty good and the only explanation for all those moments between them on the show, especially the pretty private and affectionate scene in Jack's holding room in Broca Divide and of course the fact that she let him get away with so much. But don't worry, it's just about a past relationship. This part is short because there was no other way of cutting the fic.

SUMMARY: Miracles come at the strangest times and in the strangest places. And when Jack took part in the SGC's Christmas party he had no idea he'd get a miracle that would change his life.

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Jack was leaning against the wall of the commissary, observing the party. His usually watchful eyes were skimming over the collected personnel lazily, since there was no danger here and he could drop his guard.

For the first time in years he was adrift, floating without a tether. It was Christmas and he was at a Christmas party, but he felt no need to celebrate the holiday.

It was mainly the first Christmas since Janet had died, since Sam had decided she didn't want him anymore and had moved on, the first Christmas after 7 years that he had no reason to hope, no reason to live, past merely existing.

Janet, his lover from before the SGC and after his divorce, had died and he hadn't been able to prevent it. His grief was like an iron fist squeezing his heart till he thought he might just die. True, they had decided to break it off when they'd found out that she was getting transferred to the SGC and had been great as friends ever since (this being the reason why he was the only one she allowed to get away with so much, even affectionate petnames like the Napoleonic Needle Monger). Now she was dead and with everything else that had happened he wished he could've died in her place.

The main reason for this sentiment was stading on the other side of the room with her newest boyfriend, for whom she had begged and received permission to come to the party. Jack secretly wondered how long this one would last before croaking. Sam's reputation as the Black Widow was not made up, as every single one of her boyfriends and fiancees to date had died. The only reason why Jack was still living was probably because they'd never gotten together. And honestly Jack would've preferred death to the pain that was these days making it almost impossible to breathe. He'd been rejected before, just like anyone else, but this one hurt more than any else. Probably because she'd given him hope for another chance at happiness, another chance at family, and had then taken it away forever without so much as a forewarning or apology.

As he took a sip of his Guiness Jack wondered what Sam, such an intelligent woman, even saw in Shanahan.

He was neither intelligent nor good looking. In fact, looking into the man's dull eyes and at his stupid grin, Jack wondered if Shanahan's IQ was even in the triple numbers. He doubted it. Even physically he was nothing desirable, the least physically developed guy in the room, even most of the women here had a better muscle definition and wider shoulders. Heck, Daniel could easily wipe the floor with the cop, even when drunk, and that was saying everything. Yup, the archeologist was still a geek through and through, but at least he was now a buffed up geek. Something that couldn't be said about the cop with his shoulders the width of a child's, flabby body and too-big-for-his-body head. Had Sam been exposed to too many handsome and well developed men and had gone crazy or developed an aversion towards such men? That would explain her throwing away what she and Jack had had and then choosing Pete of all things...

Jack's gaze then went to the aforementioned archeologist where he stood by Sam, talking to her. Judging by the grimace on the younger man's face he wasn't keen on the newcomer either, but was making an effort for Sam's sake. Unlike Jack and Teal'c. Jack was keeping his distance because he wasn't trusting himself not to say anything that would make Sam angry at him and partly because he didn't trust himself not to make a fool of Pete and challenge him to arm-wrestling, where he'd make a fool of the cop; or challenge him to an intellectual challenge, where he'd again make a fool of his nemesis. He was sure Carter wouldn't appreciate that and for the sake of their friendship and mostly because of the team Jack stayed away.

Looking at Teal'c he saw the other man's lips curled up in disgust whenever his eyes found Shanahan. Teal'c had told Jack, Daniel and Hammond a few months ago that he didn't approve of Sam's choice. His exact words had namely been. "I do not believe PeterShanahan is a worthy mate for MajorCarter." Jack knew that coming from T-man those words had been a gross understatement of what the big man truly thought.

Jack knew that both SG-1 men were in Jack's corner on this and he was grateful to them for their support. He didn't know what he would've done had he been betrayed by all of them, not just by Sam.

His gaze then drifted away from his team and to other occupants of the hall.

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