A/N: Welcome to the first chapter of my new Sam/Jack Shipper story. It takes place right after Sam get's fired from her command on Atlantis/ End of Stargate: Continuum, I'm writing it like the events in Continuum happened right after Sam got replaced by Wolsey.
Extended Vacation
By Kissmekent
Sam couldn't believe it. At 43 years old her career had peaked. Sure she still had her military status as a Colonel in the United States Air Force, but in order to get there she had to give up on having a relationship and was probably never going to be able to have any kids. The closest she'd ever gotten to being a mom was being a distant aunt to her brother Mark's two children who were nearly grown, and Cassie who was out of college and was now attending Medical School to follow her mother's footsteps.
And then there was Jack. He was a Major General in the US Air Force, but even after all these years he was still the love of her life. That is why she picked up her phone.
"O'Neill."
"Hi, Sir. It's Carter."
"Carter! How you doing, I heard that Wolsey was replacing you as commander of Atlantis. How are you doing?"
"I feel like I was fired."
"It was politics, Carter, the IOA wanted someone in command that they could control. We both know that you did a great job."
"Thanks sir. I was just thinking about using some of my backlogged vacation time."
"You deserve it, not that seeing Baal de-snaked wasn't a vacation of itself…"
"Yeah, that was great, although a bit long, but do you wanna come?"
"Where?"
"I found this planet that has this valley with a lake surrounded by mountains. I thought we could go camping."
"You wanna go camping off world?"
"We'd probably have a better chance of catching fish there than at your cabin."
"And they're going to let us take a vacation on another planet?"
"We're Jack O'Neill and Samantha Carter who saved the world a lot. I'm sure between the two of us we can convince the politicians to let us get away. "
P4X-78N2 Two Weeks Later
"Did you pack enough stuff?" Jack exclaimed looking at Sam's two suitcases, one a back pack and one that had wheels, as well as her computer case. "Would you like me to go back for the kitchen sink!"
"What?" Sam asked, "We're going camping for a week."
"You packed enough clothes for a month!"
"I'm just trying to be prepared."
They were interrupted by Walter, "Major General O'Niell, Colonel Carter have a fun camping trip. We'll see ya in a week."
At that moment the event horizon shimmered as the two long time co-workers who loved each other stepped through the Stargate.
The next few days were a great detox for our two heroes; Jack from the endless politics and paperwork that was his job out of the pentagon, and Sam's stress that she had from worrying about if her career would face a downward spiral now that her stint as commander of the Atlantis Expedition was over. She had heard from Colonel Sheppard that nobody had gotten hurt or killed under Wolsey, just a lot of headaches.
On the second morning, Sam crawled out of her tent to find Jack pouring coffee. It smelled heavenly, "Hmmm, you know me so well."
"Ah, yes, instant Carter, just add Coffee."
"From the telemetry that the probe came back with said that on the other side of that closest mountain there are ruins of an old settlement. Wanna check it out with me?"
"Isn't that usually Daniel's area of interest?" Jack asked.
"So? It sounds cool, and besides, it's about the Journey, not the destination."
"So, you want to hike the mountain. Fine, let's gear up!"
By about two pm they had reached the summit of the mountain. Sam took pictures of the beautiful landscape and ruins that were unmarred by the touch of humanity. Standing beside her, she noticed that Jack stood right behind her, but he didn't touch her. As if the mere touch would spark something much more serious. Walking down the hill to the remains of a dead civilization, she wanted to reach out and hold the hand of the man that had held her heart for nearly a decade. But she didn't. She kept her distance like she had her whole career.
"What are you thinking about?" Jack asked.
She hesitated, "Are you satisfied with the way that your life turned out?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're a Major General in the United States Air Force, do you feel like getting there cost you everything else?"
"What do you mean?"
"I've just been thinking these past few days. My career, I'm one of the highest ranking women in the Air Force today, but I have no husband, no children, All I have to show for my life is a bunch of ribbons that I can't ever tell anyone what I did for them unless the Stargate Program goes public!"
While she was ranting the two walked into what thousands of years ago must have been a thriving city. But she couldn't see anything through the tears that were clouding her vision. That is why they didn't see the arch overhead that glowed when they passed. And all went black.
TBC…
A/N: What do you think? Please review!