Title: Changing Faces, Changing Places
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: If I had any legal part of Stargate, do you think I'd be spending time writing fic? ;-)
Spoilers: Based on my own opinion of Sam and Jack's relationship after Threads and also on S9 spoilers as to Jack's future position.
Thanks: Thank you to Ellen for the beta on this
Notes: When I read about Jack's new job in S9 and that RDA hadn't yet signed up for any eps, I was wondering how I would like TPTB to show that Sam and Jack's relationship has progressed. This is what I came up with but, of course, I had to have Jack make an actual appearance too!
"Come on, Sam, I'll drive you home," offered Daniel as he escorted his friend and team leader from the infirmary. SG1's latest mission had resulted in Sam receiving a sprained wrist as she fell to the ground while avoiding a staff blast. Not a serious injury, but enough to give her five days of leave on medical grounds and to prevent her from driving.
"I'm okay, Daniel, but thanks for the offer. You go on home, I'm going to do some work for a while, try and catch up."
Daniel placed a hand in the small of her back and ushered her away from the direction of her lab. "Sam, you're exhausted. I never thought I'd say this, but work can wait. You have to come back in here tomorrow anyway, right, to go to the infirmary?" She nodded. "So, you can catch up then, make the trip back here worthwhile. Come on, I'm taking you home."
After opening her mouth to object, Sam eventually relented and walked with Daniel towards the elevators. As they approached, they found Teal'c and Colonel Mitchell already there. They had all been present at the earlier debrief with General Landry, but had parted ways when Sam had gone back to the infirmary to collect her pain medication, so she was surprised to find them both still wandering the hallways.
"Teal'c, Cameron," said Daniel in acknowledgement. "I thought you guys would have been enjoying your unplanned downtime by now."
"I persuaded Teal'c to introduce me to some of the finer bars in town," smiled Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, SG1's newest member.
"You do know that Teal'c doesn't drink alcohol so doesn't have a clue which bars are good and which aren't?" chuckled Sam.
Cameron grinned at her. "I'll take my chances. As long as they serve alcohol, I don't really care."
"If you just want alcohol, why don't you come with us to Sam's place?" suggested Daniel, suddenly realizing he should maybe ask Sam's permission. "Uh, that's okay, isn't it?" he asked sheepishly.
Sam was hesitant in her reply. She had been happy to have Daniel take her home, as she felt it might be a good way for him to find out her news, and she didn't mind Teal'c coming along, but she wasn't so sure about the new guy, it might be a shock. She knew she couldn't say no though, not without raising suspicion, so she gave them her best smile and agreed as enthusiastically as she could.
All four SG1 members were piled in Sam's car as Daniel drove; Sam in the passenger seat cradling her injured arm and Teal'c and Cameron in the back.
"Uh, Daniel, you need to turn right here," said Sam quietly. Daniel looked at her strangely.
"Here? But, you live in that direction," he argued, pointing straight ahead.
Shaking her head, Sam said simply, "Turn right, Daniel."
As soon as he made the turn, it clicked and Daniel sent Sam an inquisitive look. She met his gaze with a half-smile and a nod and grinned as his eyes lit up in genuine happiness. At that moment, her cellphone started to ring and she used her good arm to pull it from her jacket pocket. Recognizing the Washington number immediately, she hit the button to send the caller to her voicemail, deciding it might not be a good idea to receive the call while she was in a very confined space with her teammates.
It was Teal'c who broke the silence a few minutes later as Daniel pulled into the driveway. "Daniel Jackson, is this not the residence of General O'Neill?"
Sharing a knowing look with Sam, Daniel replied, "Yes, it is."
"I thought General O'Neill was based at the Pentagon now?" queried Cameron in confusion.
"He still keeps a house here," explained Daniel.
Cameron nodded and grinned, "Let me guess, we need to water his plants or something."
"Or something," smiled Sam enigmatically as she exited the car and made her way to the front porch, pulling a set of keys out of her bag.
Teal'c was also mildly confused but, being Teal'c, he hid it well and followed Sam and Daniel inside, patiently waiting for Cameron to enter before he closed the door behind him. Sam had automatically removed and hung up her jacket and dropped her keys onto a small table not far from the door before walking towards the kitchen.
"Make yourselves at home," she called, "I'll see what beer is left from Jack's last visit."
Daniel and Teal'c wordlessly settled themselves onto a couch, while Cameron looked around in confusion. "I know you guys were close on SG1, but General O'Neill lets you raid his house when he's gone?"
"I don't think it's just his house anymore," said Daniel cryptically, nodding towards something behind Cameron. Following Daniel's gaze, Cameron turned around and spotted a framed photo on the counter between the living room and kitchen. The picture was a candid shot of Sam leaning back against Jack's chest, his arms wrapped around her stomach, their eyes looking at each other lovingly.
"Woah!" said Cameron shakily. "I didn't… I mean… Why didn't you guys tell me!" he complained, looking at Daniel pointedly.
It was Teal'c who chose to answer. "Colonel Carter and General O'Neill's personal life is none of our concern."
"Yeah, but… You could have clued me in a little!"
Sam chose that moment to return from the kitchen, having been fully aware of the conversation taking place. Placing beer bottles and soda cans on the table for the men to help themselves she said, "If you'd asked, you would have been told. We don't lie about it; we just choose not to divulge the information unless we are asked directly."
"I'm guessing that's your reason for not telling us you'd moved in here?" guessed Daniel and Sam nodded. "When did this happen?"
"Two weeks ago, during Jack's last visit. We felt it was stupid for us to keep two houses going when Jack's in DC most of the time and we both like this place more, so I moved in here. My house is going on the market next week, once I move my remaining stuff over here." Taking a seat on the other couch and motioning for Cameron to sit down, she continued, "We were going to invite you over during Jack's next visit, tell you then. But, well…" She stopped and held up her injured arm. "Opportunity arose. I let General Landry know last week, so he could change my contact details."
Nursing a bottle of beer, Daniel said, "I'm happy for you, Sam, you two deserve this."
She looked at him in confusion. "Daniel, you already knew we were together."
"Yeah, but this…" He waved his arm around the room. "This means commitment and, even though I knew you guys were in it for the long haul, this is a big thing."
"Yeah, it is," she smiled.
Four hours later, SG1 were in various states of drunkenness around the living room, empty beer bottles lined up on the coffee table. Sam was still perfectly sober because of her pain medication and she smiled as she watched her teammates start to drift into sleep. She considered waking them up and pointing them in the direction of the guest rooms, but decided to let them be, as they'd no doubt insist on getting cabs home and she really didn't think they were up to that. Grabbing a blanket from the back of the couch, she draped it over Cameron and then moved across to the other couch, wondering how she could make both Daniel and Teal'c comfortable. Deciding that was impossible, she opted for draping another blanket over Daniel, removing his glasses and placing them on the coffee table as she did so, and leaving Teal'c to fend for himself, since he was more than capable.
Taking one last look around the room, Sam walked to the kitchen to grab a glass of water and then headed for her bedroom. Dropping her cellphone onto the nightstand, she considered calling Jack again, but decided against it, having returned his call earlier and found his cellphone switched off. Having left a message, she figured he'd call her back when he was awake.
Daniel awoke to someone shaking him forcefully.
"What?" he said sleepily, sitting up and reaching for his glasses. He instinctively knew they would be on the coffee table and, after securing them onto his face, he looked around the room to find Teal'c standing impatiently on the other side of the coffee table. "Teal'c, did you wake me?" he asked quietly, not wanting to disturb Cameron.
Nodding, Teal'c said, "I did, Daniel Jackson."
"It's…" he paused to glance at his watch, "…4:30am, Teal'c, why did you wake me? Did I snore too loudly or something?" Noticing that Teal'c's eyes were trying to peer through the closed blinds, Daniel pressed more loudly, "What's going on?"
The question woke Cameron and he was instantly on alert, looking at his two companions for answers.
"Someone is outside," said Teal'c. "I heard a vehicle approach, a door slam and a vehicle leave."
"It was probably a neighbor," commented Daniel.
"Someone is outside," insisted Teal'c, moving to the blinds, but not opening them even just a crack in case they were being watched.
Any objections from the other two men were cut off as they heard footsteps approaching outside. Jumping to his feet, Cameron took charge. "Alright, Teal'c, you go round back, catch him unaware. Daniel, you and I will deal with this from inside."
With a brief nod of his head, Teal'c made his way towards the back door and quietly exited to perform his mission. Daniel and Cameron exchanged a look and carefully moved towards the front door, keeping their footsteps as soft as possible.
Wordless communication passed between the two men as they looked for potential weapons. His eyes falling on Jack's prized signed hockey stick, Daniel grabbed it and raised it above his head in his best attacking stance, while Cameron settled for his bare hands. With Daniel on one side of the door and Cameron on the other, they exchanged another look. Suddenly, they heard a rattle of the lock and Cameron quickly unlocked the door and pulled it open while Daniel grabbed the intruder and hauled him inside, pushing him onto the floor and looming over him with the hockey stick. Cameron stuck his foot on his back immediately, to keep him pinned down.
"What the hell?" came the muffled cry from the body on the floor. Daniel recognized the voice immediately.
"Jack?"
"Yeah, Daniel, who the hell did you think it would be?" said Jack dryly, raising his head as much as he could with Cameron's foot still on his back. The foot was instantly removed when Cameron realized who it was.
"General O'Neill, Sir, sorry, we didn't know it was you."
Pushing himself to his feet, Jack glared at both men and then felt someone appear behind him. Whirling round, he found it was Teal'c, so he moved into the living room to allow them to talk properly.
Still wielding the hockey stick, Daniel also felt the need to apologize. "Sorry, Jack, we thought you were an intruder."
"Yeah, because intruders always have keys to the door, right?" he muttered sarcastically in response. "And what the hell are you doing with my hockey stick? Planning on making my head the puck?" The hockey stick was dropped from Daniel's grasp immediately and Jack lunged for it. "Daniel! You don't just throw it to the floor like that!"
"I'm sorry, I was just, you know, trying to defend –" His next words were cut off by the sound of another voice.
"Daniel, what's going on?" asked Sam, her voice sounding down the hallway and her body still out of view.
"It's okay, Sam," he assured immediately. "We thought there was an intruder, but it was a false alarm."
"What?" she queried in confusion, rounding the corner to find the unexpected visitor. "Jack!"
"Hey," he smiled, then immediately went back to glaring at Daniel.
Walking fully into the room, Sam stopped about a foot from him and asked, "What are you doing here?"
"You know, I was just about to ask these guys the same question," he replied, casting a glance at the three men.
"Oh, you don't mind, do you?" said Sam in a rush, worried she might have overstepped the mark. "It's just, Daniel drove me home and we thought it might be good to –"
"Sam, it's fine," he interrupted, giving her a genuine smile. "This is your home too, you can invite whoever you want, I just wasn't expecting a welcoming committee. I only saw your car outside, so didn't think you had company."
"Daniel drove me home in my car," she explained, her injured arm automatically raising for further clarification.
Daniel looked at Teal'c and Cameron and then back at Jack. "We should go." As they started to leave, Jack shook his head.
"Don't leave on my account," he said seriously. "It's late, or early depending on your point of view, you're more than welcome to go back to sleep. You know there are guest rooms though, right?" He looked at the blankets on the couch and then moved closer to Sam, wrapping his arm around her.
"I think we'll just stay in here," said Daniel, suddenly realizing that being in a guest room near the newly reunited couple might not be such a good idea. He dropped himself onto the couch and watched as Cameron dropped onto the other one while Teal'c took the floor.
"You're all on downtime until Sam's cleared for work again?" queried Jack, eliciting a suspicious stare from Sam.
"Yeah," confirmed Daniel.
"You need to go to the infirmary tomorrow, right?" asked Jack of Sam.
"Yeah," she nodded, "but how did you –"
"Okay, what time do you need to be there?"
"By eleven hundred."
Jack did a quick mental calculation. "Okay, that gives us about five hours of sleep if we want time to eat breakfast. Daniel, you can all help yourselves to whatever, we'll see you in a few hours." Wrapping his arm more tightly around Sam he whispered, "Come on," and ushered her into the hall and towards their bedroom.
"How did you know I need to go to the infirmary tomorrow?" demanded Sam as soon as they were safely ensconced in their room.
Jack dropped the bag he'd picked up from the hall along the way and stared at her. "Your arm is bandaged."
"That doesn't mean I have to go to the infirmary tomorrow. And how did you know I was on leave?"
"You mean how do I know, or how should I have known?" Moving to the bed, Jack kicked off his shoes and sat down, still looking at Sam who was standing by the dresser. "You didn't answer your cell earlier and you didn't return my call, so I called General Landry."
"I was in the car with Daniel, Teal'c and Cameron when you called, I wasn't going to talk to you with them listening," she stated. "And I did call you back."
"Yeah," he acknowledged, "but you left it so late I was already on a plane on my way back here."
"Why?"
"Two reasons. One, I heard you have some medical leave, so I figured I should take the opportunity to spend some time with you, while using the excuse of visiting the SGC for work. And two, I wanted to see for myself that you were alright since, you know, you didn't call me and tell me you were injured. They say no news is good news, and we agreed to go with that cliché so, if I didn't hear from you after a mission, it meant you were fine. However, General Landry then informed me that you'd been injured."
"It's just a sprain."
"This time. Look, I read all the mission reports, so I'm gonna find out if you're injured."
"Since when do you read mission reports?" she smirked, openly laughing at him.
"I read any report that has to do with SG1 and you, Sam," he said seriously, his tone soft and full of concern. "Like I said, if you're injured, I'm gonna hear about it, but I want to hear about it from you, not from a report and not from General Landry. I don't care if it's even just one tiny cut, or a bruise, I want to know."
Realizing how worried he had been she said, "I'm sorry I didn't call you earlier, but I got caught up with the guys. You know that I'm at risk every time I go through the 'Gate though, you said you were fine with it."
"I am, well, no I'm not, but I understand it. You know that part of the reason I agreed to take the job at the Pentagon was so that we could do this, but it also meant that I could stay part of the program without having to make the mission decisions, putting your life at risk. I still need to know about everything though; it's damn hard not being part of it, wondering if you're okay. I now know and understand what Sara went through all those years and I don't want us to end up like she and I did."
"I'm sorry, I just didn't want to worry you about something so trivial."
"Nothing that concerns you is trivial to me." Stopping to drag a hand through his hair, he beckoned her closer and waited until she was standing in front of him before saying, "Wow, is this how it's going to be with us, one clichéd line after another?"
"I admit I'm wondering if you've been taken over by some sort of alien entity, as I never expected anything like that to come out of your mouth," she smiled, moving even closer to him until she was standing in between his legs.
Jack suddenly grinned. "It's the Pentagon that's doing it to me, they feel the need to have constant meetings about things and they actually expect me to talk in them. I guess my mouth has got used to constant motion now."
"I can think of other uses for your mouth," she said seductively. Jack's response was to lie back on the bed and pull her down beside him, letting her put her plan into action.
When they broke apart some ten minutes later, Jack moved away a little and looked at her carefully. "I gotta say, I like the bedclothes you chose," he smirked.
Laughing, she looked at the rather large t-shirt and sweatpants she was wearing and said, "I figured I should wear something when there are guests in the house."
"Oh, I'm not complaining, but since those clothes belong to me, I'm going to have to ask for them back." His eyes traveled the length of her body, but she didn't move, so he added, "Now," while leering at her.
"You want them, come and get them," she challenged, any further words prevented by his mouth meeting hers once more.
Fin