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Chapter Eight: A Ride Down Memory Lane

Sam had just finished getting ready in the women's locker room for her night at O'Malley's. Janet had gone home earlier in the day and snatched one of Cassie's more mature outfits for Sam to borrow. Cassie had grown up to be just as tall and skinny as Sam and the two wore the same size clothes. It was not the first time Sam had borrowed an outfit from Cassie. Well, in her reality, at least.

She took one more inspective look in the mirror before sighing and heading for the exit. Her heart rate was already increasing at the thought of riding in the very enclosed space of the general's truck all the way to the restaurant with him.

She was still deep in thought about the general when she stepped into the corridor, her head was down, adjusting her skirt, so she wasn't paying attention as to where she was going and ran smack dab into someone coming from the opposite direction.

"Oh, excuse me," a male voice sounded out before Sam managed to rebalance herself and look up at the person.

When she did, her eyes widened in surprise. "Lieutenant Elliot!" she exclaimed.

Elliot narrowed his eyes at the women whose arm he was still holding after grabbing her so she didn't fall due to their collision. "Uh, have we met?" he asked in confusion, pretty sure he had never seen this woman before.

A flash of recollection crossed Sam's face before she pulled herself to her full height, pulling out of the younger man's grasp. "Uh, no. I guess we wouldn't have," she replied, a sad smile crossing her face as she thought about the young group of cadets she had helped Col. O'Neill train all those years ago and how this particular cadet had perished with Lantash on his very first mission.

His death had been such a waste of a promising officer and she was happy to see him alive in this reality. And then, she remembered that this reality had never become allies with the tok'ra, so it made sense that he would still be alive.

Just then, Daniel came bounding down the hall and stopped when he saw the uncomfortable looks on Sam and Elliot's faces.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"I don't know," Elliot responded first, his curious eyes still on the attractive, civilian-clothed woman.

"Uh, yes, Daniel, everything's fine. Just another difference in realities is all," Sam announced, turning and smiling brightly at Daniel.

Elliot cocked his head to the side. "Realities?" he squawked.

"Uh, yeah," Daniel spoke up. "You've been off-world for the past two weeks so you haven't heard yet. Elliot, this is Lt. Col. Samantha Carter. She is from an alternate reality and will be remaining here for the time being. I'm sure Gen. O'Neill will fill you in more as needed."

Elliot looked shocked for a moment. "Did, did you come through the quantum mirror at Area 51?" he asked.

Sam shook her head. "No, another device."

"Ah," he replied. "So, then, you knew me in your reality?"

Sam nodded, not really wanting to tell him he died in her reality. "Uh, yes, I helped train you for the SGC. You, Hailey, Grogan, and Satterfield."

"Hailey?" he asked in almost a gasp. "I-I…..there was no Hailey in our training group. Only Satterfield, Grogan and Michaels."

Sam scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "Jennifer Hailey wasn't in your training group?"

Elliot's eyes were wide in disbelief. "No. She, uh, Jennifer was at the Academy with me, but, uh, she was kicked out before we graduated, she punched another cadet when he made a rude comment. She ended up working for a chemical engineering company and died a few years ago in an explosion."

"Oh my God!" Sam gasped, surprised to hear about Hailey's death.

"She's alive in your reality?" Elliot asked, his eyes filled with hope.

Sam felt her heart ache at the desperate look on the young man's face. "Yes, she is. She is a valuable member of the SGC."

Elliot gulped, trying to replenish his dry throat, a feeling of relief rushing through his body at discovering Hailey was still very much alive, all be it in a different reality, but still, alive, somewhere.

Daniel coughed lightly. "So, uh, Sam, you ready to go?"

Sam turned her attention back to the bespectacled archaeologist. "Yes, I am. I'm supposed to meet General O'Neill at the elevators," she told him.

"I know," Daniel replied. "He sent me here to tell you he was running a little behind with SG-17 just returning. He just went to change and said he'd be out in a few minutes."

Sam nodded. "Okay, Daniel, thanks," she told him and smiled warmly, nodding at Elliot and saying her good-byes before heading to wait at the elevators.

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Jack gulped as his eyes took in the woman standing in front of the elevators. She was absolutely stunning. The light, breezy skirt she was wearing came to just above her knees, showing off her well-toned legs that Jack had always admired. Her top was tight and clung in all the right places, accenting her flat stomach and round breasts.

Jack felt his body reacting in ways he didn't want it to. Not now. Not at the SGC. And, definitely not in front of the woman who already informed him she had no romantic interest in him. Alone, in the privacy of his home, he could recollect exactly the way she looked and let his body react however it wanted to, but not here, not now.

Jack lightly shook his head, trying to shake his feelings for Carter out of his head. "Ready to go?" he asked, his voice betraying him and croaking the question out.

Sam smiled. "Yes, sir."

Jack tried to smile back, but he wasn't pulling it off well, so just motioned for her to enter the elevator.

Once in Jack's truck, both seemed to relax, slightly. They started chatting about general things, nothing personal. Neither of them could do personal yet. Jack's knuckles had turned white on the steering wheel as her smell drifted through his truck and engulfed him.

The voice in his head started rambling on about how smell is one of the strongest memory triggers and his own mind drifted back to the one unforgettable night he had spent with his Carter before she was infested with Jolinar.

He had been attracted to her the moment he met her. She was beautiful, smart, she still had that vulnerability and attitude that she could do anything that was required of her, no matter what that turned out to be. And Jack had found himself responding to her immediately.

He had been unnerved, and so he goaded her, a natural defense mechanism to get the attention off himself. Kawalsky, having known Jack for years, recognized his CO's discomfort, and had baited her, too. Something Jack had always been incredibly grateful for.

He had found himself griping more than once that fate would make him fall for the one woman he couldn't have. When Kawalsky started jabbering constantly about Janet, Jack subtly started mentioning how many of the air force rules and regulations were inappropriate with the work they did at the SGC.

Before long, Charlie had presented him with a well thought-out petition and Jack signed it with a proud grin on his face.

With the regulations out of the way, Jack was free to date Sam, but his nerves had gotten in the way. He had no idea how Sam felt about him. The fact of the matter was, he was quite a bit older than her, he had a dark past that no one in their right mind would want to get involved in, and she was beautiful, way smarter than him, and had a promising future ahead of her. Jack could see no reason as to why she would be attracted to him.

It wasn't until Charlie and Janet's wedding and the consumption of quite a bit of alcohol that had given Jack the confidence with Sam. As best man and maid of honor, they were required to dance together at the reception. Almost on their own free will, Jack's hands had started caressing Sam while they danced, and he found himself pulling her closer and closer to him.

Before long, they were touching each other, smiling and flirting. And, when Jack mentioned them leaving together, Sam was all for it.

They had gone back to his house and spent the night together. A night Jack would recount over and over in his mind for years. It had been wonderful, they had made love and cuddled in his bed, talking comfortably with each other as if they had been lovers for all time.

When he woke in the morning, she was gone. He was pissed. At her, at himself. He thought that what they shared was because of their mutual feelings for each other, not because of their drunken states. But, with her leaving like she had, his heart broke, thinking he had only been a drunken mistake to her.

His heart turned cold at her rejection and he became a bear, especially to her. He avoided her as much as possible and only spoke to her when absolutely necessary, using the most stern, abrupt speech as he could.

He closed his eyes briefly, trying to push the memories from his mind. He would never forgive himself for the way he treated her those last few weeks of her life. It was only when Jolinar had taken her that he allowed his feelings for her to come back to the surface. And, his heart wept and shattered with guilt when he received Sam's feelings and memories and discovered she had, indeed, loved him.

She had loved him. So much, it scared her. She had never felt for someone like she had felt for her commanding officer, and lying in his bed, she freaked out. She had always been able to control her actions, her feelings, with military precision. But, her intense feelings for Jack took her completely out of her natural comfort zone, and it scared her more than facing an entire army of jaffa. And she ran.

When he started treating her horribly, her heart broke, just as his had. She blamed herself for leaving, taking the punishment as he dished it out.

And, even though he often felt like she was alive in his head, he knew it was only a metaphor, and that just because he had her thoughts and feelings, that it didn't mean she was living on. She was dead. She had died without the knowledge that he had loved her as she loved him. And, that was something he would never forgive himself for. His stupid pride had gotten in the way again.

He pulled into O'Malley's almost on auto-pilot as his memories of his Sam still lingered at the front of his mind. "We're here," he quietly announced, pulling into a parking spot.

Sam smiled apprehensively at him. She saw the look on his face and knew he had been deep in thought for most of the ride to the restaurant. "Are you okay, sir?"

Jack looked at her. His feelings so close to the surface, and this Carter, so close, smelling just like his Sam, looking like her and acting like her, he wanted to grab her and apologize for his actions all those years ago. He wanted to take her and replay that night, fixing all the mistakes they had made, making it perfect, the way he had changed it in his own mind.

But, he knew that this wasn't the same Sam. His apology would mean nothing to her. He would never be able to apologize, he would never be able to go back and fix one of the biggest mistakes of his life.

He smiled, letting the fact that she was generally concerned about him warm his heart slightly. "Yeah, Carter, I'm good. Let's go eat."

With that, they both got out and headed into the restaurant. Both ready to celebrate the beginning of Sam's new life.

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a/n: I hope no one thinks I'm Jack-bashing. His heart was broken by Sam leaving him in the middle of the night and he lashed out. A very human response and something I think he would likely do. The next chapter will be out in a few days.