Snooping around

'Gone fishing! NO calls!' Sam looked at the note on the Colonel's door and grinned. Of course he had gone fishing and she knew it. He had actually asked her to come along but as usual, she had said no. He had then asked her to water his plants.

'Does he even have plants' she wondered opening the door. She stepped inside and stopped. It felt a bit weird to be alone in his house. She glanced to the left where his living room was ans saw a very big plant. She might be a genius and be able to build a particle accelerator but she had no idea what was the plant's name.

She made her way to the kitchen and saw a watering can on the table. ' How thoughtful of him. Or he didn't want me to search his cabinets.' Beside the can was a note: 'There's some leftovers and beer in the fridge. Make yourself at home and stay as long as you like. Jack'

She filled the can and carefully watered the big plant and a couple smaller ones in the living room.

Realizing she was hungry she opened the fridge and found some chinese. She took it and a fork and wandered back to the living room. Above the fireplace there were a couple of photos. In one of them was a little boy with a huge smile on his face and a big fish. Almost as big as the boy. Behind him was an elderly man. 'must be Colonel and his grandfather' she thought smiling. In the next photo was a small log gottage and a little pond behind it. ' It sure looks beautiful and quiet. No wonder he likes it there.'

Above the pictures were his Air Force medals. She hadn't known he had some many of them. 'Should pay more attention to my CO's dress uniform next time' ' No, wait. That was weird thought. she shaked her head and took another bite of the food. She continued walking around and smiled noticing a carefully oranized pile of videotapes. The Simpsons. Of course.

On the wall she saw a family portrait. She flinched when she realized they were his ex-wife and deceased son. He never talked about them. They had been working together for months before she even found out he had had a family. And even then it was Daniel who told her about them. She felt sorry for his loss and a sudden wave of guilt flew her mind. It wasn't right to snoop around like that.

She decided to leave but then she realized that there might be more plants in the house. She walked down the corridor towards his bedroom and study. No plants in there or the guestroom.

She was about open the door and enter the room but stopped. 'I've never been there, in his bedroom' she thought. She hesitated a bit more but decided to take a quick by the door to make sure there were no dying plants there. She opened the door and took a good look around. No plants. She noticed a few photos on the shelf and couldn't help herself. She stepped in to see them closer. In one picture was their team. She on the left, Daniel and colonel on the right, Teal'c behind them. They were standing on the ramp in the gateroom, the gate behind them gloving. Siler had wanted a picture of every SG-team but she didn't know he had a copy. It was probably a security breach although the gate wasn't recognizable.

She looked at the next picture and gasped. It was from her promotion. She was smiling like an idiot and saluting her CO after he'd given her her Oak leaves. She had been staring to his chocolate brown eyes so intensively she hadn't noticed someone taking pictures.

'Why does he have this in his bedroom shelf' she wondered sitting on the bed 'his colonel's bed' with the picture. She stared at it for a quite while. It was obvious he was more sentimental she had thought.

She stood up and put the photo back on the shelf. She noticed a small rock next to it. It looked vaguely familiar ans she took it in her hand. Right then she recognized their initials. It was from P3X-234 where they had gated from Thor's ship. They had been bored and it had taken hours to carve the initials. They had had lot of fun doing it and it had given them something to do.

She put the rock back and turned to leave but noticed a coat rack on the opposite wall. There was a white cotton jacket a bit dirty on the elbows. She recognized it, she had worn a similar one. A bittersweet memory filled her head. They had been captured by Hathor and led to believe they had been in a stasis for nearly 80 years. He had come to her and woken her up. She had been naked under the silver colour blanket and he had eyed on her. 'Yes, colonel, I DID notice that' she thought a little amused but also slightly embarrased. He had also clung to her after Hathor had tried to make him a host. Despite of all the horror in the situation it had felt so good. And later in the corridor when they were hiding from a jaffa patrol he had held her a bit tighter and a bit longer that was necessary. She stroked the soft fabric with her fingers buried deep in her memories.

Beside the white jacket there was a rust coloured, dirty stitched jacket. It was dirty and baggy. Another sweet but painful memory flooded her head. On an alien planet they had been Jonah and Thera, two workers whose job was hard. But they had had each other. They had had their memories stamped and hadn't known their true identies. 'We didn't know any regulations.'

Suddenly she felt quilty. She shouldn't have done that. She hurried out the bedroom and after a quick look that everything was okay, out the front door. She carefully locked it and climbed to her car. She sat in his drive way for a moment. She was very confused. Who would have thought Colonel O'Neill kept souvenirs. And every memory they represented included her. Granted, there might be more in the drawers but those he kept out in the open. It was like he wanted to remember just those. Just like she did. There were very few moments that she treasured in her mind. Those that kept her hoping and waiting.

She started the car and drove away. A sudden impulse made her grab her phone and place a call.

A/N: I AM planning to write more for this story but right now I have no idea what to write.