Chapter 6

Sam returned to the mountain early Saturday morning. She'd kept herself busy removing everything from Jack's house and getting caught up on her household chores. Through it all, Jack was never far from her thoughts. For as hard as she was finding dealing with the loss of Sam and Jack and returning to her Carter routine, she knew he had the tougher road to travel.

She was still surrounded by the familiar. There would be work, colleagues and friends to occupy her time. Distractions to keep her from dwelling on what she could no longer have would be prevalent. Though she hurt, felt his absence greatly, and constantly wondered how long it would be before he returned, she'd come to appreciate the gift she'd been given.

He was not dead, after all. She had tasted life again and their time together had reminded her of what a precious gift it is. Even more than that, she'd been given back a glimmer of hope that had been absent for a very long time.

A few hours later, she looked up from her computer to see Daniel and Teal'c enter her lab together. Daniel had been regaling Teal'c with some tale, but he stopped mid-sentence when he saw her sitting behind her computer.

"Hey, Sam," Daniel said, smiling and continuing further into the room.

"Hey, Daniel." She smiled back at him.

"Major Carter," Teal'c said as he gave a quick nod and followed behind Daniel, his hands clasped behind him in typical Teal'c fashion.

"Teal'c," she replied. "I hope you enjoyed your time away from us."

"Indeed I did," he nodded as he spoke. "And did you enjoy your time away as well?" he asked.

Sam smiled as she considered her reply. As she looked at Teal'c, all she could think about was how long he'd been keeping the time loop secret and how much she wanted to ask him about it. "But then," she reminded herself, "it would no longer be a secret."

And a secret it had to remain, a secret between Jack and him that she just happened to know. Now, she and Jack had their own secret, a secret that no one could know. And it would be hard to keep.

She badly wanted to share her joy in the knowledge that he was alive and that he would be returning to them…eventually. She wanted to tell them and anyone who would listen how much she…

"She must have," Daniel said, interrupting her train of thought. "Look at that smile on her face. I haven't seen one of those in awhile."

Sam shook her head and shifted her gaze back to her computer.

"Hey, what's this?" He held up the snow globe as he parked his rear on the corner of her desk. "Did you get this for Christmas?" he asked.

"Yes, I did," she said and her smile grew.

"It's lovely," Daniel said as he held it up to give it a closer look.

"Yes, it is," she replied.

"May I see it, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked as he moved next to Daniel and held out his hand. Daniel handed it to him and then reached up to wind the music box.

"Hey, it's a music box," he said as he pushed the switch to turn it on.

"And it is illuminated," Teal'c said as the little windows again emitted a warm glow.

Sam looked up as she heard the tune tinkle out of the globe. Teal'c had a rather peculiar expression on his face as he looked away from the globe and toward her. She felt a twinge of panic as she wondered if Teal'c somehow knew. Then she forced the panic away. "How could he know?" she thought. Get it together or you'll blow this the first day. If he can do it, you can do it. If Jack can do it, you can do it.

"What?" she asked, swallowing a lump in her throat.

"The melody is familiar, but I do not recall its title," Teal'c said.

"It's White Christmas, Teal'c," Daniel said and looked to Sam with a smile. "It's one of Sam's favorites, isn't it Sam?"

"Yes, Daniel," she answered. "It's one of many people's favorites," she added with a little chuckle.

"This must be pretty special, if you brought it here," Daniel asked as he placed the globe back on the desk.

"Yes, it is," she answered.

"And that's all you're going to say, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yes, it is," she replied. The look on her face must have convinced him that further inquiries would be fruitless because he stopped asking questions and stood up.

"Well, as I was just telling Teal'c…" Daniel continued to report about the Christmas he, Cassie and Janet's mom had experienced. Sam listened and laughed. Daniel was an artful storyteller.

In the back of her mind she made a decision. Sam had brought the globe with her because she could not yet bear to be too far away from it and because she had been unable to decide if she wanted it near her at work, where she spent the majority of her time, or if she wanted it near her at home. Now she knew that home was where it belonged.

Though she found it comforting, it was distracting. It was a reminder of her time with Jack as 'Sam', but when he returned, she would have to be Carter to his O'Neill. The secret would be much easier to keep if his comforting reminder was safely tucked away in her home.

As Daniel finished his story, he looked at his watch. "Well, folks, it's about time for that briefing…back to business as usual, huh?"

Sam put her computer to sleep and smiled. "Yep, back to business as usual," she thought and wondered how much longer it would be before they were really back to business as usual, with Jack back on Earth, speaking English and making their team whole again. She walked up behind them, placed a hand on each of their shoulders and pushed them through the door in front of her. "Yes boys, vacation is over. Let's get back to work."

The End