Title: Here's to Gramps
Author: MotatoPotato
Spoilers: vague 7-9.
Season: 9-10
Warnings: SJ Ship. Companion to 'An Officer and an Idiot.' I love me some Jack. Some language, some very mild innuendo.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Sadly. I only twist what is there.
Notes: This is the fifth in a series of vignettes from the same universe.
Please tell me what you think...it's how I improve. Enjoy!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Mark was there. He had flown out as soon as everyone's schedules allowed. Needless to say it had been quite awhile between the time when Sam had told him she had gotten married and when the meeting was finally arranged. He was torn. On the one hand he really wanted to support his sister, a sister he had a very unstable relationship with. But he was also really concerned about whom she had chosen to marry and why.
On a good day Mark was far from fond of the military. It had taken his father from them when he, Sam, and their mother had needed him most. As far as he was concerned most career Air force were cold and detached. Heartless and arrogant. He couldn't imagine his little sister working day in and day out with such people.
She was stubborn in any case; this is what she insisted she was happy doing so he let it lie. When he found out she married one of these people, her CO no less, he was very concerned.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Mark? Hey, it's Sam. I don't have a lot of time, I'm late for a flight. I just wanted to let you know that I got married this afternoon. We're headed to Minnesota for a week before we go back to work."
To say he was stunned would have been a gross understatement.
"To who? Do I know him?"
"His name's Jack O'Neill. You might have met him at the funeral. He's a great guy, Mark. You'll like him."
Mark didn't remember meeting him, but did know the name. His father had mentioned him before. He was Sam's CO. It made him a little angry. It seemed like as her boss he should have respected her and her career enough to keep his damn hands to himself.
He reminded himself he didn't know all the details. He also knew his dad had a lot of respect for the man and liked him, but then again Jacob was military. Enough said.
"When can I meet him?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
So that led to this meeting nearly eight months later. They had tried to make plans before but each time either Jack or Sam had sudden pressing emergencies crop up and had to cancel. Mark was now sitting over by the bar at O'Malley's with Sam while his wife took their two teenagers over to play a game of darts. They were waiting on Jack who'd missed his flight and had to wait on the next.
Mark was deep in thought. He had wanted to give Pete a call to ask if he'd ever met Jack, and if he had, what he was like. As soon as the thought crossed his mind he knew it would be cruel of him. Pete had been pretty broken up about the whole Sam thing. He knew Pete would want to know why he was asking and thought it would be for the best to let it lie. He was still damn curious about the man though.
Sam took a long sip of her beer and leaned back on her stool to rest against the bar. "Okay Mark, out with it."
He shook his head slowly. "I just don't understand this at all Sam! Why weren't we invited to the wedding?"
Sam sighed. "It was a spur of the moment thing. "
She was only taking a pause but he jumped back in. "We're family, Sam. Doesn't he care at all about what you might want?" He kept going when something else occurred to him. "He's you boss!!! If he cared about you don't you think he wouldn't have put in such a position? I'm not trying to be a jerk, Sam, I'm just worried. " He fiddled with his glass. "You've never been the type to do things without thinking them through. It seems a bit sudden and very out of character. This whole thing has me a little thrown."
Sam rolled her eyes. "First of all he wasn't my boss at the time and he didn't make that decision. I did. We only had a very small window of opportunity to get married before he went to the Pentagon. We thought this would be easiest. Although Jack did put up a fair argument in your favor." Mark looked a bit surprised. "Ultimately this was the way we had to do it. We just went off to Vegas for a couple nights. "
She looked down and swirled the beer a bit. "For the record, this was anything but sudden. He and I have cared about and then loved each other for a very long time Mark. Years." She sighed. Mark waited patiently as she sat silently a few moments.
The she spoke again. "Do you have any idea what it's like to love someone, knowing that they love you back just as fiercely, but also knowing it goes against the rules? Knowing deep down you're not even supposed to acknowledge it to yourselves?" She closed her eyes tightly and continued.
"He would give his life for mine without hesitation. He even found the strength to be there for me when I was with someone else. Because he thought I was happy. Because we were bound by rules too important to break."
Mark looked a little shocked and Sam took a steadying breath. "Jack may be many things but dishonorable is not one of them. We didn't even have our first real kiss until the day before the wedding."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sam ran for the door of her new apartment, cursing the idiot who would pound on a door at two am. Forgetting she was in only sweats and a tank top she swung the door open snapping "What do you want?! Do you know what ti.." and promptly fell silent.
Jack smiled at her sheepishly for a second before a warm certainty appeared in his deep brown eyes. "Sir! What on earth…"
But she stopped mid-sentence as he strode towards her, backing her up against the hallway wall. His hands tangled in her hair. They just stood looking at each other for a moment, both finding what they wanted in the other's eyes. He leaned in and claimed her lips, kissing her soundly for what felt like hours, melting fluidly together. She felt a little dizzy as he released her and turned to leave. "Got another plane to catch. Just needed you to know."
She looked and felt a bit flushed as she blindly grabbed his wrist. He froze at the contact; after a few seconds turning deliberately to meet her burning gaze.
"Stay."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Mark's eyebrows rose. She nodded. "He was still commanding NORAD when I was transferred to Nevada to work on a different project. We were no longer in the same chain of command. He flew in the day after I went out just to kiss me. He was gonna hop right back to Colorado, but we ended up going to Vegas instead. We waited long enough Mark. Just be happy for me. Give Jack a chance."
Mark was stunned by the speech. Sam was usually not so open with him. Then again he hadn't seen much of her in the past ten years. All he could think to say was "He flew to Nevada to kiss you?"
Sam smiled affectionately. "Jack's such a child sometimes." All he could feel was a wave of confusion while he tried to reconcile his image of a cold killing machine with a man who would hop a plane just to kiss Mark's little sister.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
General Jack O'Neill was not a happy camper. His meeting ran long. Long with six frickin o's. The hellish morning extended into an afternoon of sniping and whining that rated a ten on the Kinsey scale.
Worse than the damn Langerans. Kelownans. Whatever.
Who decided it was a good idea to put Jack in a position that required tact and diplomacy again? Stupid President.
He was pretty sure he had damaged peaceful relations with the Swiss beyond all repair. Seeing as how they were a neutral country it had obviously taken some doing.
Geez. You make one stupid cheese joke and suddenly people are acting like the world's about to end. He rolled his eyes in annoyance and huffed loudly.
So the meeting had run late. So late in fact he did not have a chance to change out of his blues before heading to the airport. He preferred his civvies but supposed he could live without for a few hours.
He checked his bag and made a dash for it. Until he skidded to a halt at the security checkpoint. By the time Jack got to the front of the line, forty minutes later, he was feeling pretty tense. He only had ten minutes before the plane was supposed to leave.
He stepped through, heard the shrill beep of doom, and groaned inwardly. Five minutes later he stood minus his jacket, shoes, tie clip, belt and hat still setting the alarms off. Turns out there were a couple of freakin' Monopoly pieces in his pocket. How the hell they had gotten there he had no idea. He wanted to hit something. He settled for throwing the cannon.
Jack resisted the urge to tear out his hair as they finally let him through. He found himself at the gate hastily redressed with five minutes to go. Only to find that they wouldn't let him board. Even though it was still sitting at the gate. The plane with all of his nice comfy civvies tucked securely in the hold. Dammit. Needless to say he was a little grouchy.
Jack rebooked and called Sam to let her know he was going to be late. He wished desperately for jeans and a t-shirt as he wandered back to the gate. He slumped into a seat and pulled out his favorite toy. There was no shortage of odd looks thrown his way. After all it wasn't everyday you saw an imposing 6'2, silver-haired, two-star Major General in full gear playing with a yo-yo.
Two hours later, knees practically tucked under his chin, he was settled in his tiny seat on the plane. He screwed his eyes shut and tried to remind himself why he had ever thought taking a commercial flight was a good idea. He took a deep breath to relax knowing that if he planned to sleep at all, he needed to be less tense and irritated.
The woman next to him, unfortunately for Jack, had other ideas. She eyed him up and down with a distinctly hungry glint in her eye. "So, you some kind of Army guy or something?" Jack nearly let out an agonized groan. He'd rather be anywhere, even picnicking with Baal, than here with that woman looking as if she would swallow him alive. Son of a bitch. It was gonna to be a long flight.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Jack scrubbed his face tiredly and tucked his hat under his arm as he finally walked into O'Malley's. Yes, that's right, no sign of his bag when he landed in Colorado. Still in the abhorred uniform. D'oh.
Jack was pretty damned grumpy but he could definitely appreciate a joke, in this case of the cosmic persuasion, when he saw one. Even if it was at his expense. Besides, he was about to see Sam. If that weren't enough to cheer anyone up he didn't know what was. Well, maybe cake. Or Mary Steenburgen.
He caught sight of Sam at the bar and, watching her look him up and down appreciatively, made his way over feeling distinctly less annoyed. Now Sam he didn't mind looking at him in that way hungry way. In fact he loved it. He reached the bar and stood behind Mark, ordering a drink. "I'll have a Guinness. And whatever the hot blonde there wants."
Mark barely looked at him. "Buzz off, Grandpa. We're having a private conversation."
Both Jack's eyebrows leapt upwards. "Grandpa?" he mouthed at Sam (who had both hands clamped over her mouth) trying to keep the smirk off his face and feign hurt at the same time. "Uh, sorry buddy. Just tryin to buy my wife a drink." He made as if to turn and saunter off while Sam finally burst into a fit of giggles.
Mark's eyes turned to saucers. His sister was giggling. "Stop it Jack! You're being an ass. Get back here."
He grinned warmly as he gave a sloppy salute and came around Mark to give her a gentle kiss. "Ah, Jack I presume…" Mark smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. Didn't mean to be rude."
Jack just smirked and offered a hand. "Nice to meet you Mark. Sorry I'm late. Tough day at the office."
Then Donna, Mark's wife came over with their kids. She looked at Jack and her eyes widened slightly, clearly a little dazed by the uniform. She looked over at Sam mouthing "Wow!" admiring him silently.
Jack then got caught up in a heated conversation about the Simpsons with the teens. Something about Mr. Burns turning all the residents of Springfield into his slaves while he posed as a god.
They both looked at him as if he had lost his mind and immediately tore into him. Jack looked as though he were enjoying it immensely. It made Sam smile. Of course, he could always make her smile.
Mark leaned closer to Sam. "He seems really nice, Sam. More than that, I saw the way you lit up when he got here. How can I be anything but happy for you?" He stopped and looked down. " I'm sorry if I was a bit rough on you. I just…"
Sam stopped him. "I know. I am. I couldn't love anyone the way I love him."
He smiled. "Good enough."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A couple of hours later an infinitely happier Jack slid into their bed curling himself snuggly around Sam, huskily whispering into her hair. He was a million miles away from the rest of the day's bullshit. No one could touch him with Sam in his arms, by his side, watching his back.
She sighed contentedly as his warmth blanketed her and breathed in his smell. She turned towards him with a teasing gleam in her eye. "Grandpa my ass," she said conversationally.
Jack smirked and then growled wickedly as he took up the challenge and the possession of her mouth. She sighed in pure pleasure against his lips.
He decided that this was the best day ever.