Reunion

By

Denise

Sam stood on the narrow sidewalk torn between blessing and cursing the current weather. Even though it was early December, the weather in Colorado Springs was more autumn like than what one would expect in the Rockies just a few weeks away from Christmas.

There was frost on the ground and in the air in the mornings, and if she looked up she could see snow piling up on the nearby mountains, especially Pikes Peak which had gotten its first snowfall of the season last month. But once the sun rose, it warmed the air enough that you sometimes didn't even need a jacket, jeans and a sweatshirt being enough for comfort

She knew she should be counting her blessings for the mild winter, a year ago at this time she remembered struggling to work through three foot drifts, but at the moment, she really wished that the day wasn't so pleasant. Because a raging snow storm would have been a great excuse and gotten her out of her present predicament.

"Isn't this cool?" Daniel asked, holding up a small blown glass swan. He turned it over, watching as the colored water inside sloshed gently. "What does it do?"

"It's a barometer," Sam explained, ignoring the frowning look from the shopkeeper as she took the fragile item out of his hands and set it down. This whole trip could be a very costly one, if the owner made her honor the 'You Break It, You Buy It' signs posted every few feet along the long table outside his shop.

The glass gallery was one of the few shops in Manitou Springs that remained open year round, catering not only to the summer tourists but also to the year-long residents of Colorado Springs and when Daniel had expressed interest in exploring it, she'd tried to dissuade him, only to discover that one thing he hadn't forgotten was his stubborn streak.

Really, Sam knew she shouldn't complain too much, this was the first time she'd been assigned to Daniel's babysitting detail, the colonel having taken most of the responsibility to watch over their amnesiac friend.

She knew he'd been taking Daniel home on occasion; following Janet's suggestion that maybe the quickest way to restore his memory was to expose him to things outside the SGC. And since she and the colonel were the only two members of the team that actually lived off the base, he usually took the job.  However, Sam doubted that he'd been taking Daniel out into public much, at least not going by how her friend was acting. But she also knew that Daniel needed to get acclimated to living on Earth again, he wasn't going to be able to live on base forever like he had been the past few weeks…if for no other reason than to stop paying the exorbitant sums to keep his stuff in storage.

"Barometer? That measures atmospheric pressure, right?" he asked.

"That's right," she replied.

"Ooh, I like this," he said, touching a wind chime and filling the air with tinkling music. "I bet it looks great in the sun too."

"Yeah, I bet it does," Sam said, reaching out to still the music. "Daniel, why don't we head to the next shop," she said, smiling weakly at the store keeper.

"Ok," he agreed, taking one last look at the wind chime. "I think I used to have one of those," he said softly.

"Anything's possible," she said, not really remembering if there'd been one in the stuff they'd packed up or not. Regardless, she knew she was destined to return to the shop, she still hadn't gotten him a Christmas present and one of those wind chimes would be perfect.

They walked further down the street and he paused, looking around. "I want something to drink," he declared.

"Oh, ok." She looked down the street. "I think there's a coffee shop right over…" she turned back, oomphing slightly as she bumped into a bulky form."I am so sorry," she said automatically.

"Sam?"

Recognizing the voice, she raised her eyes to look the man in the face. "Eric?" She blinked, wondering if she was seeing things. He looked the same as he had three months ago, his tan was a little lighter and his hair was a bit longer, like he'd waited too long for a hair cut. "I aah…what are you doing here?" she asked lamely.

"We're based here," he answered. "I aah, wow, I sorta thought that I might bump into you again but…well, it's been a while." She flushed slightly, her guilt making her hear accusation in his voice.

"Sam, I…oh hi." Sam turned, remembering her companion.

"Daniel, I'm sorry. This is aah, this is Eric," she introduced.

"Hi. Um, look, I'm going to go get some coffee," Daniel said, clearly picking up on her discomfort.

"Ok," she agreed. "You have some money?" Daniel rolled his eyes and nodded. "Sorry," Sam muttered. "I'll meet you there in a little bit." He walked away and she turned back to Eric. "Sorry," she said, cringing as the word left her mouth. She had to be setting the world record for apologies today.

"So, is that why you left?" he asked softly.

She shook her head. "No. He's just a friend." He raised his eyebrows. "He just….got out of the hospital. He's a little…confused."

He nodded. "So, if he's not why…"

Sam sighed, running her fingers through her hair. "I don't know," she said. "I…"

"Was it that bad?"

She flushed. "No. It…wasn't. It's nothing to do with you, really, it's me. I should have stayed but…"

A car honked and she turned, grimacing as she watched Daniel make his way across the street, nearly getting hit in the process.

"Looks like you better go," he said. "Before he kills himself."

"Yeah, I…" She stopped, suddenly desperate not to take the easy out he was giving her. "You know the Applebee's? On Academy Boulevard."

He nodded. "Yeah."

"1800 tonight. I promise I'll be there," she pledged.

"Promise?" He raised his eyebrows, clearly skeptical.

"Cadet's honor," she said.

"Make it 1900 and you have a date," he countered.

"Ok," she agreed, looking into his eyes, not wanting to break the contact.

"You better go," he said after a second. "Before your friend winds up back in the hospital."

She gave him one last lingering look, and then spun on her heel, sprinting across the street, eager to rescue Daniel before he ordered the whole menu.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At 1845, Sam pulled into the parking lot and claimed a space, taking a second to remain behind the wheel, her palms curiously damp. After their coffee break, she'd spent the next few hours chaperoning Daniel around, thanking whatever gods that were listening that he hadn't pressed her about Eric. Maybe he thought that he should have known him or something. Or maybe he'd totally forgotten about the encounter.

Whatever the reason, she was incredibly grateful that he hadn't pressed her for answers that she didn't have to give, because they were answers she didn't even know herself.

Even now, three months later, she didn't know why she'd left him. They'd had fun for the roughly twenty-four hours they'd been together, more fun than she'd had in quite a while. In fact, getting on her bike and heading down the road had been one of the hardest things she'd ever done.

A car parked beside hers and she looked over, recognizing Eric in the driver's seat. Getting out, she locked her car and smiled at him over the roof of his sedan. "Hey," she said nervously.

"Hey," he answered as she fell into step beside him. "Traded in your bike?"

She looked back at her car and grinned. "Motorcycles and snow don't get along well," she said. "Afraid I'm a fair weather rider."

He held the door open and she walked into the restaurant. "That's ok, so am I," he answered, holding up two fingers to the hostess. "Non-smoking?" he asked her.

"Please," she replied and they followed the girl as she led them to their seats. It was a Tuesday night so the restaurant was fairly deserted, just enough people to lend an aura of busyness but not so crowded that they had anyone sitting right beside them.

Sam slid off her coat and tossed it into the booth, sliding in after it. Eric did the same and they picked up their menus, both flipping back to the drinks section. Their waitress came over and gave them a suitable peppy recitation of their current specials.

"I'll have a beer, whatever's on tap," Eric ordered, declining her offers of colorful mixed drinks.

"Same," Sam said.

"I'll be right back," she promised as she went to fetch their drinks.

"So aah, what's good?" he asked.

Sam shrugged. "Almost everything."

"Think they have chicken fried steak?" he asked, his eyes sparkling in amusement, referring to their last meal.

She chuckled. "Yeah, and chicken fried chicken too."

He made a face. "Now that's just…"

"Weird?"

"Yeah." The waitress arrived with their beers and asked if they were ready to order. Eric looked to her and she nodded. He motioned for her to go first.

"Steak, medium rare with fries," she ordered.

"The same," he said. "But baked potato with extra butter." The waitress wrote it down and picked up their menus, going to put their orders in. "So?" he said, looking across the table at her.

"I owe you an apology," she said. "It was aah…"

He shrugged. "Hey, it wasn't like we exchanged rings or anything," he excused. "Not that I wasn't a little pissed off at the time, but, I got over it."

"Still I…running away's not something I normally do."

"Is that what you were doing?"

"I don't know.  I really was on vacation and…"

"I was there," he said, the tone of his voice conveying his feelings.

"No. I mean, yes, but not that way. Eric, it was…I don't know, it just felt right at the time and I just went with it," she said, remembering the thrill of having someone interested in her…someone from Earth for a change. "I don't regret anything that happened that day, up until I left," she said, looking him in the eyes.

"You could have come back."

"The farther I got, the harder it was," she confessed.

He stared at her for a second, and then smiled. "Well, to tell you the truth, I know enough friends who know friends who know folks at the Academy.  I probably could have tracked you down," he admitted.

"Why didn't you?" she asked, suddenly curious.

"I figured you had a reason for leaving," he said.

She shrugged self-consciously and leaned back, allowing the waitress to place their dinners in front of them. "Maybe not a good reason," she muttered, still not quite sure what had fueled her flight from the SGC all those months ago, that led into her subsequent meeting with Eric. All she knew for sure was that more than once she'd woken up from a dream, still feeling the warmth of the sun on her skin, tasting the sweetness of his kisses in her mouth, remembering the lingering touch of his hands on her flesh.

They dropped the topic, moving on to discuss events of the last three months. It turned out, he'd spent a good portion of the past ninety days out of town, visiting several cites, a couple of them towns where Sam had been assigned in the past. The common knowledge made their dinner conversation easy, flowing neatly from one topic to another as Sam compared her recollection of the cities with his more recent memories.

All too soon, dinner was over and the waitress removed their empty plates, good naturedly taking their refusal of desert and promising to bring the check in a few minutes.

Now that the distraction of eating was gone, an uncomfortable silence fell over them. "Have you heard about that new Sean Connery movie?" he asked just as Sam opened her mouth to say something.

"Yeah," she said, jumping on the topic. "It looks good." The waitress brought their check and Sam grabbed for it. "It's the least I can do since I sorta ran off and left you—"

"Buck naked in the middle of the Colorado Mountains," he finished.

She laughed, cursing the blush she could feel coloring her face as she handed the server her credit card and ignoring the woman's strange look. "That too. And Friday sounds good," she said, hoping like hell that the Tok'ra didn't show up in the meantime with info on Anubis' newest weapon. If her father demanded her presence on the other side of the universe, even Selmac might not be able to fix the damage.

He looked slightly surprised, and then smiled. "Cool. Ok, then I'll aah…"

Sam dug into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out one of the receipts from her afternoon shopping. When the waitress brought back the slips to be signed, she used the pen to write down her numbers. "The first is my home, and the second my cell," she said, handing it to him. She grimaced. "Chances are I won't be home but you can just leave me a message and I can meet you there."

He frowned. "I don't get to pick you up?" he asked lightly, tearing off a piece of the receipt and writing down his own numbers.

"Sure, why not," she said, smiling at the novelty of actually being picked up for a date. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had a guy come to her doorstep.

"I'll aah, I'll call you on Thursday and get directions," he said, standing up and reaching for his coat.

"That sounds good." Sam slipped on her jacket and led him out of the restaurant, shuddering slightly at the chill night air. They walked back to their cars, him standing beside her as she unlocked her door. She turned to face him. "Talk to you Thursday then," she said.

He leaned in and pecked her on the cheek. "I can't wait," he said softly, holding the door open so she could get in. Once she was settled, he closed her car door and stepped back, walking to his own car.

Sam stuck the key in the ignition and turned on the engine. She backed out of the space and drove home, whistling under her breath as she walked up her walk, her hand snaking into her pocket to make sure the slip of paper was still there. At this exact moment, Friday could not come fast enough.

Fin