Title: Wake Me Up When The Skies Are Clearing
Author: Pepper
Rating: G
Shows: MacGyver, Stargate SG-1
Pairing(s): MacGyver/Sam Carter
Summary: These days, everyone had their ghosts.
A/N: Sooooort of from another of surreallis's prompts for oxoniensis's Porn Battle – MacGyver/Sam Carter, library. Except there's no pr0n. This is not a sequel to 'Inspiration', my other Sam/Mac fic, but it's maybe... an AU of it. References to Point Of View. Oho yes.

Incidentally, I've made an executive decision, that in this and any other Sam Carter / MacGyver crossovers I might write, they exist in a world where, if Mac has a son, he's referred to as Sean (for those less familiar with the series, Mac has a son called Sean Angus Malloy, commonly known as SAM). Because, no.

---

Mac looked up as someone gasped. A blonde woman, long hair tied back into a slightly frayed plait, was staring fixedly at him. He pushed the book back into place on the shelf, and looked enquiringly at her. "You okay?"

"I... I'm sorry," she stuttered. "You just - you reminded me of someone."

Mac's face softened instantly into sympathy. These days, everyone had their ghosts. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head, but didn't answer. "Sorry," she said, after staring at him for a long time. "I'm intruding. I'll leave you alone." But still she hesitated, as if she didn't quite want to go.

If he was honest, Mac didn't want her to go. It had been weeks since he'd had a real conversation with anyone. Not since the attack. He glanced up to where the shattered roof let in the afternoon sunlight. "Reckon the rain'll keep holding off?" he asked, before she could make up her mind to leave. "You know, long enough to get these covered." He waved his hand at the shelves around him. The woman shrugged, looking at the floor.

"I don't think people are worrying too much about books right now," she murmured.

Mac opened his mouth – but then stopped. "Nah," he said, softly. "I guess not. I'm – I'm not – I was taking a break," he explained quickly, wondering if she thought he was slacking off, hiding away. "I've been helping out, but I just needed–"

The woman stopped him with a smile. "I know," she said. "Me too." They shared a look of understanding. "Um... Would you like to get a coffee?"

---

Business was booming for street vendors, although few people were accepting money any more. Mac had an understanding with the one outside the Library of Congress – he'd fixed up the faulty element in the urn, and in exchange he was getting coffee until the guy figured he'd been repaid. He hadn't usually drunk coffee, before, but times changed, and boiled water was safer.

Mac got two cups, and brought them back to where the woman sat on the shady side of the grey stone steps. "You know, you look familiar, too," he remarked, as he sat down, cradling the cup close.

The woman stared down at her cup – black, no sugar, because milk and sugar were worth more than one little fix-up job at the moment. "You've probably seen me on the news," she said, in a quiet monotone. Mac swallowed hot coffee at the wrong moment, and choked. He looked up at her in surprise, once he could breathe again.

"You're Doctor Carter," he exclaimed.

She glanced around, but no one was near enough to hear. "Yeah," she admitted. Mac could kind of understand her wariness; one channel sporadically functioning, public broadcast only, and she was the biggest story on it – she, General George Hammond, and Major Charles Kawalsky. And the aliens, of course – not just one, but two species. The aliens weren't around to be interviewed, though. "I didn't know it was coming," she said, quickly. "The whole Mountain was taken by surprise. We tried to fight back, but they were too strong, they overwhelmed us. I just tried to get out of it the only way I could. We didn't have any real hope that we'd be able to bring back help – we just ran, Charlie and I, and we got lucky, and found the right people, and they got us back, I didn't really do anything but talk to the-"

"Hey, hey," Mac interrupted the increasingly speedy words, setting down his cup and putting an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a comforting embrace. "It's okay. I wasn't gonna ask." She was shivering, and he leaned his cheek against her hair, stroking her shoulder absent-mindedly. "It's okay."

They sat there for a few minutes, until she gave a shaky laugh. "I'm sorry," she said, huskily. "I don't – I didn't mean to go all..." He let her go, and she sat up, glancing fleetingly at him, and then back down at the cup in her hands. "You really remind me of someone," she said again. "I didn't mean to babble at you like that. You don't need to hear my excuses." She clamped her lips firmly closed on any more words.

Mac reached out and touched her cold hand with one finger, smiling when she looked up at him. "You did the best you could, right?" She stared at him for a long moment, and then nodded once, jerkily. "So... drink your coffee before it gets cold."

They sipped in silence for a while. Mac watched the dart of sparrows on the silent road before them, the lemon-pale sky as the sun headed down towards thin clouds, just above the ruins of the Capitol building. It was beautiful, in a way. Bleak, but still beautiful.

Doctor Carter spoke up at last, startling him. "I think I might know where to find some tarps," she said, thoughtfully. Mac looked at her in surprise, before he remembered: the books. "I could rig something up so the runoff goes down the drains," she added.

"How about to a tank?" he suggested. Doctor Carter raised her eyebrows, and then nodded.

"Yes, of course."

"I know where there is one."

Doctor Carter considered this for a moment. "Do you know anything about water purification?"

"Only a little," said Mac, and then nodded at the Library. "But I bet I know where to find a book or two about it." He gave her an easy smile. "Fixing things up from scraps and broken bits... it's kinda my speciality." He stood, and offered her a hand up. After considering him for a long moment, she took it, and let him pull her to her feet. "My name's MacGyver, by the way."

She looked down at the hand she still held, and let it go, slowly. "Sam," she said. "Call me Sam."

---

END.

For now.