Sorry about the detour, I couldn't write all the angst when having the darn book in my head. :)
Now, hope you enjoy :)
M.
Chapter 14- Plans, pains & chances.
"The moment we set foot on our condos we knew"
"I don't get it, I couldn't see anything different, what was wrong?"
"Someone went into the condos, things were different and we knew it"
"We knew, too, that if the involved agencies didn't get to him quick, we would need a backup plan"
"And we could risk our lives, our careers, everything, but him"
"It took a lot of effort, but we set the chain of events which would lead us to save him"
"And well, we took one of the hardest decision we needed to take so far."
"As you might imagine, when it got too close to home, we had to decide to risk Aidan by keeping him with us, or give him his best chance."
"His best chance? Did you?" Janet asked, noticing where that was headed.
"Yes, Janet, we gave him in adoption"
"You what?!"
"It wasn't a walk in the park for us, we already had lost a child each and we weren't about to lose another one. However, it was a possible horrible death or being alive"
"That decision had to be heartbreaking"
"And it was, we only had him as our son for 8 months."
"And, yet, you say this as if you don't have a care in the world"
"We do. It took lots of buried memories, then lots of hours talking and we almost lost ourselves…"
"We do, and we care because of that he is alive"
1997
Saturday, April 19th.
Minnesota
"Jack? What are you doing here?"
"It's a really long history mom; can we come in?"
"We?"
"Yes, Sam and I," he said, pointing to the rental truck.
"Oh dear, of course! Go bring your friend and I will wake you dad up"
"Can you call Lizzie and Dave too?"
"Your sister? Why?"
"Mom," Jack said with a pointed look.
"Ok, ok… bring your friend in!" she shouted over her shoulder. Jack went to the rental car and opened the door for Sam. She smiled at him lovely while he arranged Aidan's clothes
"Are you ok?" He caressed her cheek, watching her intensely.
"I am nervous…it's not every day you meet your husband's family for the first time. With a grandson and without them knowing anything about you or your son…or" she grimaced
"Everything will be alright"
"And yet, we are here." She added somberly, and he embraced her.
"I guess that's our curse, we can have us but not them" he said, kissing her in the temple
"Hopefully, an 'us' is all we will need to survive with no regrets," she added, her voice muffled on his chest.
Inside Jack's mom was going crazy. As every other mother out there, she knew her son his first marriage wasn't the greatest of them all, but then Charlie came and they looked somewhat happy with him. That is, if you were lucky enough to avoid overhearing the discussions which often exploded between Jack and Sarah. She knew they both tried, however, her husband and her knew Sarah well enough to understand she not only wanted but needed a family man, and her son, well, he was a military man.
When his marriage ended after that lost, no one in his side of the family was surprised. Then, a couple of months back, he called to let them know he was okay. He never said anything about relationships and when asked, his answers went from 'it's complicated' to ''I'm not talking mom,'. Therefore, seeing him engulf someone in a hug was rather surprising.
"Lizzie, dear," she said to the phone "You need to come here now; I think your brother might be finally retiring for good or is losing his last working bean. Yes, like you heard. What? No, he brought someone… Sam"
She finished her call, when her husband made his appearance with a questioning look. The old couple walked to the entrance just in the exact moment when Jack opened the door and moved to make space to let Sam in.
"Mom, Dad this is the love of my life… Sam Carter," When Jack's mom saw Sam coming in she sighed heavily and ran to hug her and that's when she noted she was holding something in her arms.
"Sam, my mom Dana and my dad John"
"It's a pleasure to meet you both"
"And that's all that we are saying about us, until Lizzie and Dave get here and you sign a couple papers"
Sam looked at the oldish couple, surprised they didn't look as old as she might have been expecting, in her deep analysis she took the way they were looking at her arms, or rather at the bundle of joy napping there.
"This is Aidan," she smiled and soon, Dana was at her side again looking at the sleeping baby. Both men, cleared their throats and Jack's mom jumped a bit, gasping.
"Oh! How rude of me! Please, please, come in… I never realized we didn't move from the entrance."
"It's okay, " Sam said shyly, since between her mind, taking into her in laws and her mother-in-law watching Aidan, she didn't realize they were at the entrance, either. Jack went out again and brought in the baby seat, and took Aidan from Sam, putting him down on the seat, where after moving a little and making the adults gasp in fear of a sudden awakening, he continued sleeping without a care in the world.
"He is cute, how old is he?"
"Ahm, seven months"
"I still remember you being this peaceful when you were a baby, darling"
"Good old times," John reminisced.
"Was he a handful growing up?" Sam asked curiously, and both parents chuckled while Jack blushed.
"He was more than a handful, when Liz joined him… they were unstoppable"
"Good thing we were so young" John added knowingly, and Sam looked at Jack quizzically. Sure, his parents didn't look old, she roughly calculated they should be around 70ish. But they didn't look older than 65ish… she thought, maybe, they were one of those really active old couples who are so full of energy that you forget they are seniors. She heard them laugh and that's when she noticed she completely focused on her mind.
"Sorry," she smiled sheepishly, "I was just looking at you, and you look so young. I guess Jack has good genes"
"Oh, thank you darling, however … I must tell you the truth, I had that little brat over there when I was barely sixteenth. Lizzie joined us on my twenty-first birthday, speaking of the other devil," she said and went to the door.
"Mom?"
"Come on in, your brother and Sam are inside, we were just waiting for you," Dana told them as if Jack being there was the most normal thing in the world.
"Ah, Sam, these are my Lil' sister Elizabeth a.k.a Liz or Lizzie, and her husband, Dave Collins," they exchanged pleasantries, before getting to sit again. Sam looked at Liz and Dave and saw in them a good couple. If Liz was half as good as Jack was, then everything was going to be alright. Everyone in the room looked at Jack, who was standing by Sam.
"Right, I have to talk…Well, I came, I mean, we came here because I thought you might want to meet my wife" Jack stated plainly as if it was the most common thing to do.
"Your wife, are you married?" Dana questioned, looking between his son and her apparently, new daughter-in-law
"Yes"
"How?" Lizzie asked this time
"It's classified"
"What about Aidan?" John added, looking lovingly at the baby resting in his chair over the coffee table
"He's my son," Jack shrugged
"Are you sure? Sorry Dear, but I have to ask," Dana shrugged, and Sam saw how alike mother and son really were.
"Yes, mom and the rest is classified," he added rolling his eyes
"That's why you never told us"
"Yes"
"So what's the catch?" John finally asked, "You come here, to let us know you are married and we have a grandson, who is adorable, and 7 months old and everything is classified. I'm sorry son, but I have to wait for the other shoe to drop"
"You know how my work it is mostly classified"
"Nothing new there"
"Well, Sam was my partner in most of my … cases"
"So you are Air Force Black Ops too?"
"Special Ops, yes, and thanks to that we have made some enemies," Sam stated, Jack paced then looked at Sam and they shared one silent conversation, which ended with him groaning, rubbing his face with one hand and scratching his head with the other. While he thought it couldn't be impossible to explain what they were doing there and why now.
"Look… we are being targeted. We could die tortured, most likely one in front of the other so we can both suffer and watch our loved one suffer, and we both are prepared for that. However, I already know what it feels like to lose a child, and Sam… she knows too," everyone in the room except Sam, gasped. John, who was closer to her, patted her tight slightly.
"We are sorry, no one should survive their own offspring" Liz said sincerely.
"Thanks," she said, gulping. In her experience with lost there were not many people telling her kind things like that, "as you might imagine, we both can survive several different ways of torture. They only one we couldn't survive would be losing another child"
"What are you two trying to say? Just out with it"
"We have a reached to a solution for our dilemma." Jack paused to take Sam's hand and give it a reassuring squeeze, "Lizzie, if the times comes we would want you and Dave to adopt Aidan. So he will be able to grow up and if we survive, we can still get to know him"
"I… how could you even think about something like this? Giving away your child?" Lizzie asked outraged.
"Lizzie, hear me out, would'ya? You told me many times you and Dave tried to have a kid and you are still trying, but you were starting to look for options, adoption is one of them. I am offering you my child, it's your own blood."
"Why? I know you know me Jack, but why would you trust me with your son?" she asked Sam
"You are right, I don't know. I know what Jack told me about you, and that's that you are a really good woman, a woman who wants and deserves a happy family. I know that much and I know if you are just half the way your brother is, then Aidan will get the best chance we can provide for him at this point, and even if you aren't quite as good or honorable as Jack is, which I don't believe at all, It will be still his best chance and I'll know my son is growing in a loving family and he is free. He gets to grow knowing his grandparents in a safe environment. And if you don't mind, I will like my father to visit you once in a while so he can meet Aidan too. But that's only if we survive or after a while, if we don't…. See, we understand that with us, his chances are not good, it's heartbreaking but we want him safe. And our chances of dying badly are the highest we ever experienced. If they get to us and Aidan is there, then we fail."
"Just think about it. It won't happen until we know for sure we are in real danger."
"I will love to, I just don't know if I would survive when you come for him"
"If we get to the point, we are not coming for him. With all the pain we know it will cause to us, if we cross the line, we promise you he will be yours. We will be his uncle and aunt and he will be alive"
"And we will know him and he will be safe"
"So, how exactly do you think that would happen?"
"We will move some contacts; when the day comes we will leave Aiden into an adoption center and from there you will be called. Since the moment you sign the papers he stops being our son to be yours for good"
"Please, when the time comes would you accept this? We don't know what else we could do"
"Then, if the time comes we'll take him" Dave spoke for the first time in the night.
1997
Tuesday, May 13
Washington, DC
People fears Friday thirteenths. What they might not know is that in some cultures, Friday, thirteenth are not dangerous… Tuesday's, are all another thing. When you add the unlucky number thirteen to a Tuesday, a day dedicated to Mars, the God of War… it all can go bad, and this Tuesday thirteenth, Jack arrived at his house, hoping against all hope he would hear his baby crying, after being settled down on his crib. But no, three days had passed since both, Jack and Sam felt the interruption.
Two days, sixteen hours and fifty three minutes went by since he saw Sam's heart breaking while she said goodbye to Aidan. And some less minutes, since he wrapped them both in a hug and cried. They stood like that for at least forty minutes, since it was the time for the people they were waiting to arrive at Sam's.
The small family arrived to greet them, and they waited for Jacob to join. Once he arrived, they exchanged Aidan for the doll of the same size which the 'family' was holding as theirs, and after a heavy goodbye, Jacob accompanied them to the adoption center because they wanted to be sure, Aidan got there safely. Then after a couple detours, Jacob grabbed Aidan and drove into a private airport and flew to Minnesota to set the things in motion there.
It was barely a day ago, when he watched from afar as Captain Carter's son was downloaded to his final rest, the young boy allegedly died from infant death syndrome. The coffin was filled with the same sized doll which was brought to them the night before. They both were still mourning the lost; even though they still had two weeks to claim Aidan back before the adoption papers were ready to sign.
The countdown for them started thirteen days. Unlucky thirteen, once again appearing in his mind, they had thirteen days to do what the AF, FBI and CIA couldn't do in over four months. They had thirteen days to catch a killer and claim their son. Or get a godson.
They were known for making the impossible, but he wasn't so sure in this case, maybe it was all the dread of losing yet another kid or that thirteen days sounded like not enough. All in all, it was a fairly good idea. If they solved it quickly they could get their son back, if not his son will be safe and sound and free of the possibility of being kidnaped or tortured or who know what else. Because it is of popular knowledge that crazy people could wait years to act and this guy was the craziest of them all.
He took a beer from his fridge and sat staring at nothing while waiting for Sam to return. Her car wasn't around the common parking spots and she was late, and he knew her enough to know she was hiding in her work. He did exactly the same until he figured if he didn't move, he would get to sleep on the lousy bed in the dorm he was provided with, and his wife would have to expend the second night without her child alone… and that was something he couldn't and wouldn't allow.
He also knew, she wasn't only in emotional pain, but in physical pain too, she was still breastfeeding Aidan and she had a couple months before her milk was gone. After pacing some more, he decided to give her a call and maybe convince her they should sleep at his side for today, he called her to the lab and no one answered. He tried her cell, nothing.
His eyes were fixated on the clock. Twenty minutes was the time he would wait for her. Because at that time of the day, twelve minutes were more than enough to get from the Pentagon to the house and five more were needed to get out of the Pentagon.
'Yes' he thought 'twenty minutes is more than enough'
As soon as the twelve minutes mark ticked away, he decided he may as well wait for her in her side. Closing his loft for the night, he opened Sam's door, and this time saying something was wrong was an understatement.
Her usual military tidy place was upside down drawers were open and things were all over the place. He took the phone and dialed a familiar number. He almost dropped the phone when he saw it
"Dad, he has her," was all he could say before his senses kicked in a little too late and everything went black.
Fifteen minutes later, Jacob Carter was looking at was could only be considered as a crime scene. NCIS was called and when they arrived the only think he could say was
"Please tell me that is not her blood"
One of the guys followed the General's gaze and saw a puddle of what seemed blood in the floor and in one of the walls the red text
"She was pretty the first time, she is hell of a woman now… let's see how well she does it"
"I'm sorry, Sir, but it is blood. We also have found another puddle, next to the coffee table"
"You can cross check, I'll bet my medals one's from Captain Carter and the other one is from Colonel Jack O'Neill"
1997, May
Unknown Location.
Blackness, complete blackness; whimpers, pain and blood.
'Not again' Sam groaned to herself, trying to move only to find out she was strapped in a sitting position which was never a good thing. Suddenly the lights went on and she had to blink several times to focus
"Surprise!" someone said and as soon as her eyes adjusted enough to the light she tried to figure where she was. But there was nothing… it was only her in a hole, someone watched Silence of the Lamb's, she thought.
"Oh Miss Grey…. I thought I would never find you and here you are," Sam gasped at the name.
"I'm"
"Shh! Save it Miss Grey or would you like me to call you Captain Carter? Ah…you'll see I know who you are. Are you surprised? I guess no, I guess you would be expecting me; after all I did kill all your friends, didn't I? But you know what? I thought I would never find you and here you are, no one knew who you were and then, a miracle. While I'm watching O'Neill, guess what I found out? Yes! You lived right next to him. Can you imagine my utter surprise, Miss Grey? We are going to have such a fun time together! And after all you will be Miss Grey again and you will love me as you supposedly did" The lights went out again, "Oh! May I add I really like your hair, red was kind of awkward in you, this shade goes with your skin. Well, I hate to scare and run, but I do have to leave you, sorry. I'll see you tomorrow!"
She heard a door close and she remembered those two little kids she was supposed to care for and under the guise of being their nanny, she was supposed to find information, her time in the house was short, only a couple weeks before they moved and she returned back to the Academy, she knew it was a dangerous mission and it could cost her much, then the 3 weeks passed and she was out of there. Leaving the two kids wasn't as easy as she thought I would be, but life had a way to keep you moving on soon she forgot all about them. And it was now, sitting in the black silent place when she noted this wouldn't be happening if she connected her second case with Draco's case earlier. She sighed, noting that a myriad of deaths were on her hands now. At least, Jack was still out there and she was still alive. But even knowing that, she couldn't stop herself from remembering.
1987
Tuesday, March 10th.
Paris.
Today she was ending her second mission, she remembered vividly the day she was informed of her new and current assignment, four weeks ago, it sounded terrifying. She was supposed to live three weeks in the house of a known spy, named Pierre LeDrac. Over the premise of taking care of his two kids, a 10 year old by the name of Nathaniel and an 8 year old by the name of Jean-Charles. She was supposed to infiltrate the house and seek the information LeDrac was getting.
Reality was, she was sent because of her age. At nineteen, she could pass like an a desperate American looking for a job after expending more money that she possessed until her return, and that her 'scheduled' flight leave a day after the LeDrac's was just a 'blessing'.
She didn't know how she had managed not to get caught, however, whatever data LeDrac was negotiating with, was not in the house. Just like the man itself, apparently this spy had some scruples and kept his business out of his home.
At first she thought it would be difficult because, after Nikky, she never was around kids. But those two boys were so lovely, and loving and she easily fit in the house. The young one specially, made her feel welcome and she had to remind herself, it was a mission not a living arrangement.
She finished packing her few belongings and made her way upstairs. Both Nathan and Jean, were already waiting for their beloved Miss Grey. She had packed all their stuff in nice little suitcases and they were only waiting for their father to arrive to leave for good. All of them, she was being dropped at an hostel not so far away from the airport and the LeDrac's were going to Italy, to continue with their life's. What she didn't expect was the cries all the way through until her final goodbye, nor the continuing pleas for her to "please stay and be our mommy", not the constants "we promise we will be good, if you love us". With a final wave, and a broken heart, she inhaled deeply and entered the hostel.