When Sam met Sara

Chapter 12

This story is set around the events of "Window of Opportunity", although does not discuss them, except Jack's comment to Malachi at the end of the episode.

To Sam and the rest of the world – excluding Jack and Teal'c – it had simply been a week since her and Sara's disastrous trip to the steakhouse, after which Sara had ended up tucking Sam into bed and then going to confront Jack at his home.

Now Sam was really struggling to get the idea through her head that the Colonel and Teal'c had lived the same day over and over again for months when she'd only thought a day had passed. She knew Daniel was very curious about what the Colonel had gotten up to during all that time, when there had been no consequences for anything he'd done once each day had reset. If she were honest the thought scared her; what would she have been willing to do if she'd been in the Colonel's shoes with no consequences to consider? Having just admitted her feelings about the Colonel, the thought sent tingles through her. What might he have done? However, being the good airman that she was, Sam was trying to bury all those thoughts and feelings deep down inside.

However, that didn't stop Sam from thinking about the Colonel. She hadn't seen him all day, which she thought a little odd, and he'd been conspicuous in his absence from her lab. Daniel had reported that Jack had been trying to have a meeting with General Hammond, and Teal'c had seen him leaving mid-afternoon wearing his dress blues – which he hated to do. Something was definitely up!

Sam decided that she'd have to worry about what was going on later. For now she was off to see Sara as she'd been invited around for coffee. Sam had no idea how it had happened - and Sara had been pretty vague on the phone – but somehow Michael had not only met the Colonel but had also invited him and all of SG-1 – as well as Janet and Cassie, of course – to a BBQ at their house. And, not knowing Daniel and Teal'c, Sara had invited Sam around so that she could give her some tips. So much for Sara and her keeping their friendship separate from the mountain, and in particular from one Colonel Jack O'Neill!

Sam pulled up at Sara and Michael's house where she'd planned to meet Sara. She looked at the house, remembering all the late-night discussions they'd had the year before about where the newly married Sara and Michael would live. Sam smiled at the memories, but her smile faded when she thought of the one discussion they'd had when there'd been way too much alcohol involved. Sara had confessed her fears about moving in with Michael and the girls, where reminders of their mother were still very much in evidence throughout the house. Sam had convinced her it would be a little strange at first but that they'd be able to work it out as long as Sara spoke to Michael about it. Sara had and, after discussions with the whole family, they'd chosen to build a new house together as a family and here they were, in a brand new house, only recently finished, into which all four of them had had an input as to the design.

Although Sam had heard some of the details from Cassie, who was already a regular at the house with the girls still keeping their promise about doing everything as triplets, this was Sam's first visit. And, she had to admit, it looked fantastic. Ironically, given her initial reaction to Sam's friendship with Sara, Janet had actually visited the new house before Sam. And, much to Sam's surprise, Janet and Sara were actually becoming friends. This pleased Sam as Janet and Cassie were both such a huge part of her life.

Sam gathered her things and climbed out of the car, putting her keys in her bag as she walked up to the house. She rang the bell and waited to be admitted. The door suddenly flew open and Becky was standing there in running gear, sweating and obviously out of breath.

"Sam, hi!" Becky said breathlessly. "Come in! You here to see Sara?"

Sam stepped into the large entrance way as she spoke, "Yeah, she invited me around for coffee. Didn't tell me I'd have to run a marathon to get it, though."

"No, Lizzie and I have been training for the cancer run next month." Becky paused briefly before continuing in a quieter voice, "We're raising money in memory of Mom."

"I'm sure she'd be very proud of you," Sam said, touching the girl's arm, remembering losing her own mother at a similar age.

Becky smiled and sniffed. "Yeah, that's what Dad says." She wiped her eyes, determined to get a hold of herself; her mom would not want her crying like this. After a few seconds she nodded at Sam then screamed, "SARA!" almost into Sam's ear. "SAM'S HERE!"

"Thanks," Sam said quietly while trying to get her ear to stop ringing. She watched as Becky disappeared to either continue her training or to cry her eyes out while consoling herself with chocolate. Sam thought it could go either way.

Sara came down the stairs. "Sam! Glad you could come. I thought this BBQ needed more heads than just mine."

"Well, it's not every day you get a top-secret military team to dinner, especially when one is your ex-husband and your new husband is the host," Sam joked as they made their way to the kitchen.

"No, that's very true. And we have to entertain three teenagers!"

"So, spill, how did Michael end up organising this?"

They sat down and Sara poured the coffee she'd prepared. "Ah… well… you know how it is, 'of all the gin joints'…" Sara laughed nervously; she so did not want to admit going to visit Jack. She quickly continued trying to divert Sam with the BBQ. "So, I figured we'd have some nice steaks, baked potatoes and some corn on the cob. Lizzie loves that when it's freshly cooked on the BBQ."

"Sounds good," Sam answered warily, convinced Sara was hiding something but deciding that direct tactics would just make her clam up. She'd work up to it again. So Sam thought about the food and then added, "I'd also get some burgers. You have no idea how much my team can eat when they get started."

"Okay." Sara breathed a sigh of relief that Sam had kept off the topic while she added burgers to her shopping list. "What about drinks? What do they like?"

"The Colonel, as you know, always has beer. I think Guinness is his favourite at the moment. Daniel can't handle beer but will enjoy a nice bottle of red wine. Janet and I are white wine people, although I'm growing used to beer. T doesn't drink. Neither does Cassie, obviously, so some soft drinks would be good."

"Well, that about covers refreshments," Sara said, putting down her pencil and notepad. "Now, how do we entertain them?"

Sam looked out the window and smiled before turning back to look at Sara. "You don't need anything other than that pool outside."

"Really? Are you sure?" Sara asked sceptically.

"Oh, yeah. Especially if you rig up a net. The boys love competitive games and water volleyball would be no different."

"Okay, so that's the BBQ planned. You just need to tell the guys to bring their suits and we're all set." Sara settled back in her seat, ready for a chat, but still unwilling to bring up how the BBQ had come about. "So, now we've planned that, what have you been up to?" Sara fished, she had wondered what, if anything, Jack had done since she had left him last week.

"Not a lot. We were on a mission last week but it wasn't anything major. We all came back in one piece."

"Well, that's good news! Wouldn't want there to be lots of pieces of you somewhere!" Sara joked back, obviously Jack hadn't spoken to Sam, she mulled over that thought.

Suddenly Sam spoke, her mind was taken from the issue of the BBQ back to the last few minutes of the mission and really needed to ask Sara a question. If she'd thought more about it she may not have asked but it was out of her mouth before she could stop it. "Sara, if you could go back in time, would you?"

Her friend looked at her quizzically. "That's a strange question, even for you."

"I know. It's just some science stuff I've been working on." Sam tried to bluff her way through her answer.

"Well, then I suppose it would depend."

"On what?"

"Whether by going back in time I could change the past or if I'd just have to re-live it."

"That makes sense. There are lots of things I wouldn't want to have to go through again." There was a pause as both women both thought of all that they'd lost but now Sam was genuinely curious. "What about if you knew you could change things?"

Sara looked at her and smiled a watery smile. "If I could go back and change Charlie's fate I would do it in a heartbeat. But how do I know that changing that would make things better for others... or even for Charlie? What if I saved him that day only for him to… die in a worse way later on? She sniffed, finding it hard to even think of a worse way for her little boy to die than the one that happened. She took a deep breath and continued, "Or maybe Charlie being alive meant Jack ended up dying on some mission? Or because Jack wasn't with you and your team, what if you all died? What if it would mean that a lot of people ended up suffering because I'd saved him?

"Sometimes things happen for a reason and, although I'd never ever want Charlie to die, I've come to accept that he did and things have changed in my life. I wouldn't say they've changed for the better, because if I could have everything Charlie would still be alive, but I'm happy with Michael and the girls."

"That's the longest I've ever heard you talk about him," Sam said quietly, awed by her friend's attitude to the hardships life had thrown at her.

"It's time. See, the girls even asked to put a picture of him up in the family room," Sara said, pointing to the far wall through the gap dividing the two rooms.

"That's really nice."

"The girls knew him from school. They were in the grade below him," Sara explained. "Don't you think that's a weird coincidence? But I'll have to remember to take it down next weekend 'cause I don't think it'd be fair to Jack."

"He misses Charlie a great deal," Sam whispered, remembering the pain in his voice when he'd spoken to Malikai.

"I know. Does he… does he talk about Charlie at all?" Sara asked, knowing that Jack very rarely talked to her about their son.

"No, not at all, although I think he did talk to Cassie about him once when she asked."

"Cassie thinks Jack's the best thing ever. She's always talking about Uncle Jack and what he's done for her recently."

"Yes, but at times he buys her things without even asking. Did she tell you that he bought her a dog before asking Janet?" Sam asked, laughing as she remembered the shocked look on Janet's face when the team with Cassie – and the dog – had arrived at her door.

"That's Jack, always acting in the moment, not really thinking about the consequences," Sara responded flippantly.

"It's part of what makes him the best CO I've ever had." Again her mouth was at least ten seconds ahead of her brain. Really not like her.

"Ah, Sam, but you're biased!" Sara said, pointing her index finger at her friend.

Sam went a lovely shade of pink and ducked her head. She really had to watch what she said; Sara was beginning to get past her defences!

Sara continued in a quieter voice with a soft tone. "Have you spoken to him about it yet?" She hadn't said anything to Sam about the situation between Sam and Jack since she'd left Sam's house the previous weekend, she needed to know if Jack had said something. The 'it' was left unsaid but both knew exactly what they were talking about.

"No," Sam admitted quietly. "To be honest, I've no idea where to start."

Both women were silent for several minutes and Sara shifted nervously on the seat. She'd known she'd have to tell Sam about her visit to Jack at some point this afternoon and the time had come. "There's something I need to tell you." Sara paused then just blurted it out. "I went to speak to him… about your situation," she finally admitted

"You did what?" Sam squeaked. Her eyes bored into her friend's; she really wasn't happy about this development in her relationship with both her friend and her CO.

Sara at least had the decency to look ashamed. "Yeah, sorry," she said sheepishly, then cleared her throat. "Well, someone needed to do something! You were making yourself ill and he looked even worse than you. That's where he met Michael, when he came to pick me up."

Sam got up from the sofa and paced around Sara's family room "What… what…" She ran her hand through her hair and then turned to face Sara. "What did he say? Wait! What did you say?"

"Well, I laid it on the line for him. I told him the state you were in and that he really shouldn't let you go. He said he planned to talk to the General and then talk to you." She paused for a few seconds. "I take it he hasn't spoken to you yet?"

"Ah… no… the General... he had a couple of days off, then we went on a mission," Sam said, acting almost disorientated.

"Well, a BBQ sounds like an excellent place to clear the air and make some plans," Sara said cheerfully while cursing her ex-husband and this 'mañana' attitude he always had when it came to personal problems.

"Yeah… maybe… or maybe he decided not to talk to me at all."

AN: Well no BBQ yet and Jack has clearly being putting things off, but what next? Thanks for the reviews, you push me on and give me confidence so thanks.