Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are not my property. No copyright infringement is intended.
A/N: In 2008 someone asked me to write a story where Jack and Sam are not together at the end so I wrote "Goodbye Jack." Many readers were not happy with the outcome of that story so this is the sequel. Although I wrote "Goodbye Jack" seven years ago, the timeline in this takes place two years later.
Jack gazed out the windshield of the C-12 Huron. Although it felt good to be sitting in the pilot's seat again, Houston, Texas was the last city in the United States he wanted to be heading to and in particular, NASA's Johnson Space Center.
Two years ago, Sam had written him a letter telling him goodbye and abruptly left her job at Cheyenne Mountain and started her new position at the Center.
Upon her arrival in Houston, President Hayes and the Joint Chiefs had requested that she meet with them and General Hammond in Washington. Knowing that Sam had been involved with the stargate program and her background in astrophysics, they had asked that she begin a research and development program to invent weapons to defend Earth against a possible alien invasion and was given the privilege of choosing her own staff.
A few days after returning to the Center, she asked General Hammond to have four of the scientists from Stargate Command transferred to Houston since they already knew about the stargate and life on other planets. General Hammond discussed the transfer with him and approval was given.
During the following months, he heard from General Hammond just how impressed President Hayes and the Joint Chiefs were with Sam and her staff and the work they were accomplishing there.
The President talked with Sam frequently and now felt that the highest ranking NASA officials should be informed about the stargate, so three people from the Space Center in Houston and three from the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama were chosen to meet with the President and Joint Chiefs in Washington.
Paul Davis had attended the meeting and explained the nondisclosure agreement that each person was required to sign.
Sam was asked to attend and she had been the one to break the news to the officials about the stargate. The two women and four men were astounded to learn about this alien technology that had been privy to only a small group of scientists and Air Force personnel.
President Hayes had informed the group that when Sam had been in the Air Force at NORAD, he had been Sam's CO and they had been on the same team, exploring other planets. Since he was the base commander and had first-hand knowledge of having been through the gate, everyone in the group wanted to meet him so the meeting was scheduled for today.
When President Hayes had told him he wanted him there, he tried to persuade him to have Daniel attend since he had more knowledge of the discovery of the gate and had gone through as many times as he had, but the President had insisted that he come instead of Daniel.
The President had offered to let him pilot a plane to Houston instead of flying on a commercial airline. It had been a long time since he had sat in the cockpit and taken control. Since the President wanted him in Houston and would not allow him to get out of attending, he thought he might as well enjoy this part of the trip.
Knowing he would have to see Sam, he wanted this meeting to go as quickly as possible so he could get out fast and back to Colorado Springs.
As he looked at the fluffy white clouds, his thoughts turned to the letter that Sam had given him and the last day he had seen her. The letter had upset him greatly and wanting to see her one last time before she left Colorado, he had parked his truck on the side of the road up the street from her house. He could still remember how much it hurt when he had watched as she got into her car, started to cry and drove out of his life.
Over the next several months, he tried to stay busy and not think about Sam but General Hammond or someone else would send an e-mail regarding how the research was progressing and back came the memories. The memories of meeting Sam for the first time; getting to know each other; learning to trust each other; becoming friends and slowly falling in love with her.
There was also the memory of Sam getting engaged to Pete. When she had showed him an engagement ring, he felt that he had truly lost his chance so he had gotten involved with Kerry Johnson but Sam had showed up unexpectedly at his house, telling him she was having doubts about the wedding. The next day, Kerry ended their brief relationship and Jacob died. After Jacob's funeral, and much to his relief, Sam had given the ring back to Pete.
He had taken Sam, Daniel and Teal'c to his cabin for a short vacation. He knew he should have told Sam then that he loved her but he had lost his courage so they came back to the Springs and nothing had changed between them. Very shortly thereafter, Sam had given him the letter and left for Houston.
He never asked anyone about her. He felt it was best that he didn't know any of the details of Sam's personal life, but he wondered if she was seeing anyone because a woman as beautiful and intelligent as Sam was bound to attract other men.
Although women flirted with him at times, he had not dated anyone since Sam had been gone. He had no desire to spend time with another woman but preferred to be by himself. He knew that no one in the universe would ever occupy his heart the way Sam did and his heart was still an open wound.
About a year after Sam had left, he had been promoted again and General Hammond came to the Mountain for the ceremony.
General Hammond returned to Washington and a week later, Sam had flown in to meet with the President and while she was there, she had dropped by to see him. General Hammond had told Sam about his latest promotion and Sam had asked him to "tell General O'Neill congratulations for me."
The next day, General Hammond called and when he told him what Sam had said, he had not responded to Sam's comment, so General Hammond brought up the subject that they had been avoiding.
"Jack, I want to ask you something."
"Okay."
"Do you still love Sam?"
He stared at his desk, took a deep breath and hesitated for several moments. "Yes."
"Then why don't you try to talk to her? See if you can work things out."
"Sam left, George. She doesn't want to be here. She hasn't come back, she isn't coming back and I'm not going to go after her. This was her choice."
"Well . . . it's just that . . ."
"Just what?"
"When I told her about your promotion, she got this sad look in her eyes. I'm sure she misses you and she still cares about you too."
"As I said, she's the one that left. Not me."
"Jack, if you'd just try a little harder to tell her how you feel, she might . . ."
"I don't want to talk about it anymore, George."
"Okay, Jack, but I think you're being a stubborn fool."
Before he could reply, General Hammond hung up on him.
He was brought out of his thoughts as he realized he was close to Houston, so he talked with the air traffic controller to get clearance to land.
He had been told that someone would be waiting for him just outside the terminal to drive him to the Center.
As the plane came to a stop, he stared out the windshield and said out loud "I really don't want to do this. I just want this day to be over."
~oOo~
Sam hurried down the long corridor of the building to her office, closed the door and sat down at her desk. She unlocked a drawer and picked up the note cards for her presentation and glanced through them. The meeting with the NASA officials was scheduled to start in thirty minutes.
When the meeting had been held in Washington two weeks ago and she had told the officials about the stargate, President Hayes proposed that she show them her research lab and the work going on there.
The President had informed them that Jack had been the man to lead the first expedition through the stargate so everyone wanted to meet him. She had suddenly felt as if she could hardly breathe when the President had told them that he would have Jack attend so she and Jack could answer all the questions the officials would want to ask.
After the meeting in Washington, she sat on an airplane to return to Houston and stared out the window as she remembered the letter that she had given Jack, telling him she thought it was best that she leave Colorado.
She remembered that Daniel had called her the day after she arrived in Houston to start her new job. Daniel had tried to talk to her about the letter and how upset Jack had been but she had interrupted him, telling him the decision was made and she didn't want to discuss it further. She and Daniel still kept in touch but now whenever they chatted on the phone, Daniel had finally stopped telling her anything about Jack and she didn't ask about him.
When she had first arrived in Houston, she had felt that staying busy would distract her from thinking about Jack but now after all this time, even the smallest things still remind her of him. She picks up a cup of blue Jell-O in the cafeteria and tears sting her eyes as she remembers having silly arguments with Jack over whether red or blue tasted best. When something goes wrong, she catches herself mumbling "for crying out loud." When she's working late into the evening and her staff left hours ago, she remembers the numerous times that Jack wandered into her lab at night and ordered her to go home and get some sleep. Tears still fill her eyes when she remembers all those times she would catch herself staring at Jack, wondering what it would be like to kiss him, to make love with him, to be his wife and to have his child. She sometimes sees a truck just like the one Jack drives and her heart jumps to her throat as she stares at the driver to see if it might be him and feels disappointed when it is not. She walks out on the balcony of her apartment when she can't sleep, looks up at the sky and remembers the few times that she and Jack sat on the roof of his house, gazing at the millions of stars through his telescope and talking until well past midnight. She remembers Jack's dumb jokes and finds herself smiling. She remembers the team barbecues at Jack's house and movie nights at her house and how much fun the four of them had together. She thinks about all those quiet conversations at night with Jack on other planets, sitting with weapons on their laps as Teal'c and Daniel slept.
She will never forget that one specific night as she and Jack sat together in the chilly air beside a campfire on a deserted planet and how he opened up to her, for the one and only time, about Sara and Charlie. Watching the look of sadness on Jack's face, she choked back tears as she listened to him reveal the disappointment of his and Sara's divorce and how close he had come to committing suicide when Charlie had accidentally shot himself.
Sometimes when she thinks she is doing so well, Jack invades her dreams and she wakes up crying, leaving her to wonder if he will ever be out of her heart.
Since the meeting two weeks ago in Washington, she had tried to stay very busy so she wouldn't think too much about having to see Jack again and she wondered if he was feeling apprehensive about seeing her too.
She didn't know, since she refused to talk with anyone about Jack, but maybe there was a new woman in his life. Jack was a very attractive man and it would be no surprise to her if he was seeing someone else.
Since she had been in Houston, she had met or had been introduced to men who had asked her out but she had turned down all of them. Still feeling the pain of the situation with Jack, she had no desire to get involved with anyone new. She just wasn't ready to allow herself to be that vulnerable again.
She had hardly slept last night, wondering how she and Jack would react to seeing each other today.
Hearing voices in the corridor, she knew the group had arrived as they were escorted to the conference room.
Wanting to check her appearance, she grabbed her purse and headed to the restroom. As she went around the corner, she came to a sudden stop when she saw Paul Davis shaking hands with Jack. Although Jack had his back to her, she would have known him anywhere. She could feel her heart speed up at just getting a glimpse of him. Before he could turn around and see her, she quickly opened the restroom door and went inside.
Standing in front of the mirror she reapplied her lipstick and combed her hair.
Taking a few steps back, she straightened her suit jacket and stared at her reflection. Putting her hand to her chest, she briefly closed her eyes and breathed slowly as she tried to calm her racing heart.
Returning to her office, she locked her purse in her desk, grabbed her notes and headed to the conference room, knowing that after two years, she was about to come face to face again with Jack.
TBC