Adi, you have permission to read this chapter. And no more!
A/Ramble: Wow, this certainly jumped up on me! We'll be fast-forwarding through events till December 1997 (watch the dates). Actually, this is a humongous chapter because I'm tying up loose ends too. I'm sorry, this is also the proposal chapter. It's not a cliche proposal (you know my feelings on cliches...) There was a lot of debate and thinking, but I hope this is sufficiently in-character. Read on, thank you for the reviews (Can I have a few more? Yes, I'm talking to you, silent readers) and, as always, Enjoy!
~ 36 ~
0902h
Wednesday, 14th May 1997,
SGA Gateroom
"We'll see you in a few months, Colonel." Sam smiled widely, shaking Kawalsky's hand firmly.
She and Janet came down to wish the last of the personnel moving to the recently constructed Alpha Site good luck, but Sam knew she was also providing a degree of moral support to Janet. The teams would be on a four month rotation, but Kawalsky was going to be permanently based there except for three days a month for a six months. Sam wasn't sure what arrangement he and Janet had made regarding their relationship, but she knew this would certainly be a challenge for them. She couldn't imagine being away from Jack for six months.
"Thanks Doctor. If we find anything interesting, you'll be the first to know."
Sam stifled a loud chuckle and nodded. Charlie had already spoken to Jack and George, even Catherine came down to see this momentous occasion. Her personal work schedule had been reduced to two days a week and most of it was consultation, but she was eager to bid farewell to the first team setting off to Earth's first off-world base.
Now it was Janet's turn.
Sam didn't have to be told that Janet was feeling conflicted about being here, but Sam was sure she'd regret it if she didn't. Charlie cleared his throat and warily looked to Jack, who he knew wasn't going to allow him to do anything even remotely inappropriate.
Instead, Charlie laid a hand on Janet's shoulder, his fingers curling around the back of her neck. He said something, nodding and smiling softly. Sam couldn't make out anything that was said, even though she was only two feet from the couple. She didn't even want to hear it. It wasn't for her ears and she could respect that.
Sam instead turned her eyes to Jack, but he was stoic and only spared her a brief glance. He'd fallen back into that routine since they returned from their holiday to the cabin. As far as Sam could tell, he was starting to find the best balance for work and their personal life. Oh, they were always profession at work and... closer, at home. It simply seemed he was widening the gap between those aspects of his personality. She was surprised he was allowing Janet and Charlie to even talk like this.
"...Alright?" Kawalsky asked, stepping back and jumping his duffle higher up on his shoulder.
"Yes, Sir." Janet nodded. It amazed Sam still that Janet could make the salutation sound like a term of endearment. At least to her ears. She had to call Jack the same - or 'General' - at work, but Janet made it sound much more heartfelt.
Kawalsky turned to the gathered party and then to Ferretti, who was not so patiently waiting at the base of the ramp.
"Ready to go, Lou?"
Ferretti opened his mouth to point out that it was he who had been ready to go for five minutes, but thought the better of it. While Kawalsky had been promoted to full bird Colonel, Ferretti was still a Lieutenant Colonel and was still adjusting to the lack of familiarity. Sam was convinced they went back to the way they used to operate out of their subordinates view; these two often socialised.
"Ready when you are, Colonel."
Sam caught George rolling his eyes across the other side of the group. She smirked to him and he sent her a discreet wink. He was an old hand with the rank structure and didn't care for its formalities most of the time. Kawalsky slapped Ferretti's shoulder, leading his Second in Command towards the event horizon. The men threw an enthusiastic wave over their shoulders and disappeared.
~ SJ ~
Elsewhere in the Milky Way
Teal'c rotated his staff weapon in his hands, inspecting the slightly corroded trigger with a careful eye. This was his first weapon and it had served him faithfully for many years, but it had never had a delayed firing before. He would have to break it down and clean it.
The doors slid open behind him and he quickly closed the jaws of the weapon, ready to use it at a close range. The lack of footsteps made him lift his eyes to the glass window in front of him, but he only saw his own reflection. Such stealth, apart from the doors, could only come from one man.
"Bra'tac."
"You should not have been taught so well," the elder Jaffa came to his side, leaning against the console.
"You could not teach me any less." Teal'c held out his hand, waiting for his former master to receive the welcome. Bra'tac clenched his firmly muscled arm, giving it a brisk shake. "What progress have you made in the hunt for the humans?"
Bra'tac dropped his arm and turned away for a moment. He sharply turned back, grasping his staff with both hands.
"It is not going as I would wish. On one world, a village believed they had met these particular humans, but they were not forthcoming about their origin." Teal'c grunted and drew his eyes from his friend. Lord Klorel would not be pleased with this lack of information. Bra'tac continued, "But we have heard whispers of an advanced race that have mastered invisibility."
"You know our Lord's wrath belongs to the human's that destroyed his father. The power of invisibility may not spare you from his displeasure."
He expected Bra'tac to be more concerned about the prospect of punishment, but the older man seemed pensive.
"Which is strange, since God's cannot be killed. Therefore, Apophis is not dead."
What?
Teal'c couldn't argue, but surely Bra'tac knew what Klorel had told him in a private counsel a few weeks ago. That God's gave up their immortality when they bore children. How could Bra'tac not know this?
"And Lord Klorel will not know unless one of us informs him." Bra'tac spun smoothly on his heel and began a confident march to the doors. "I will speak to him. His word is truth."
The doors glided shut and all Teal'c could think about was how much truth there was in Bra'tac's words.
~ SJ ~
0809h,
Saturday, 31st May, 1997
Jack and Sam's House
Jack sank deeply into his seat while he paused for a break from typing. He flexed his fingers until he felt the muscles straining at the stretch and cupped a hand around his chin, resting head heavily against it.
Sam was still asleep, which was unusual for her, being the early bird she usually was. Then again, they'd been inundated with data from the Alpha site and prospective planets to accommodate the Beta site. Like Earth, everyone was curious to learn as much about the planet they inhabited. Jack now knew about the twenty eight and a half hour long days, atmospheric composition and UV levels of P3X-001. There were several nicknames floating around for the site, but 001 was the official designation. He probably knew more, but might not have committed the rest to long term memory yet.
He lifted an eyebrow as his fingers pushed his lip up towards his nose. The top draw of his desk had been locked since Christmas and the key secured to the bundle of twenty or more that accompanied his house, car and cabin keys.
Suddenly prompted to open the draw, Jack leaned across his desk to confirm that the hall was clear and that Sam was still asleep.
Grbbbb...
Yep. Still asleep. The snoring was loud enough. She only really snored when she was tired, so he'd be safe until around ten.
Jack snatched his keys from where they landed between his and Sam's laptop's last night and flicked through the odd assortment of shapes and colours until he found the small, dirty gold one with 0024 engraved on the side. He pulled the draw open - Damn, he needed to clean this out - and fished out the slightly dusty black velvet box tucked in the far left corner.
He sighed deeply and fell back into the chair again, dexterously flicking the box open with one hand. Lord knows how many carats, but the diamond was noticeable. It wasn't a pebble; it would qualify for the term 'rock'. And 'simple'. It wasn't really a striking thing. It may have been when it was first bought, but by today's standards, it was very basic.
The fun would begin when he had to choose a wedding ring. Should he go with something equally simple? It had to have a bit of colour with it. Sapphires flanking a large diamond would go well with Sam's eyes. Then again, he liked red, so why not a Ruby and a Sapphire? That wasn't true; Jack really preferred peridot, which was already a gem. A mineral, actually. But olive green wouldn't go with blue, would it? Sam liked yellow too, so maybe something with all four colours? But what stone was yellow? Quartz? No, that was common. Wait, what was that one that sounded like 'spleen'... Sphene. Oh, that'd be a good one. 'Sam, this stone sounds like a spleen...'
"I'm thinking too much."
Jack closed the ring box, dropping his hand into his lap and rubbing his eyes with the other. This was Sam, for crying out loud. She wouldn't care too much. Her mind would be more on the wedding than the ring.
Did he even want a big wedding? Truthfully, he'd rather just go to a courthouse and have a get-together with as much family as they could muster. Sam only had one brother, so it wouldn't be too difficult. Getting hold of Isabelle and bringing his father down would be the problem. Christ, maybe he and Sam should run off to Vegas or P4X-whatever-whatever-
"Hey..."
Crap.
Jack opened his eyes, still pinching the bridge of his nose. On the other side of the strange vision his fingers made sitting so close to his eyes, Sam was sleepily rubbing her head and yawning and... coming towards him. He clenched his hand around the box in his lap like a vice and tried to look casual. He could ask her today- no. Not today.
"I'd like to be married one day..."
"I like kids. I wouldn't mind more..."
"With me?"
"Yeah... with you. But not today."
Today wasn't quite that day.
"Mornin'," He smiled, though it felt too forced. She was still getting closer. Jack sighed. Oh, very good; it sounded convincing. "I got an idea," He grinned and waved a finger at her, effectively stopping her approach. "How about you go back to bed, I'll make something for breakfast and we can eat it in bed."
She regarded him with intense scrutiny, until Jack's blood warmed and he was ready to blurt some kind of excuse out. Luckily, thankfully, mercifully... she shrugged and said;
"Alright. Breakfast in bed."
She came forward to give him a brief kiss and twaddle out of the room. Never mind the tiny aneurism Jack was having.
When she was well and truly gone he threw the top draw open, tossed the ring box towards the back and slammed it shut.
"Sorry Sam... Not today."
~ SJ ~
0948h
Monday, 2nd June, 1997
SGA Commander's Office
"It's not acceptable!"
"I agree Sir, but security dealt with it in a timely manner and I have given an informal reprimand to the witnesses."
Jack splayed his fingers on the desk slowly. He really didn't want to be yelling at George, but as his Second in Command and - more importantly - the man charged with the bases discipline and morale, the situation warranted a loud discussion.
"Colonel- George... I need to knuckle down on this base and I need you with me." He rubbed his brow and sighed, taking a moment to regain some patience. "Look, every base needs a high standard of discipline and adherence to regulation to run, but this base, it needs to be concrete; you know I'm not just talking about the building. They've got a bit of aggression; they're climbing the walls and getting on edge. Fine. That's what I want."
Clearly George didn't quite understand.
"I want them snapping and sneering at whoever comes through the Gate, not at each other."
Jack knew there was tension among the ranks. The base ran like a machine most of the time and anyone reading the official reports would say that Jack was doing a fine job as Commander. It was only when Jack walked into the commissary and found to airmen about to strike one another and a dozen people simply watching that reality met Jack's eyes.
He understood this was no ordinary base. It was the frontline and though it stood up to the standards, he wanted more. He needed more. He needed the base to be cold as stone and snarling at what was out there, rather than in here.
"And if our people can't keep up with what you're asking of them?" George asked in such a gentle tone, it made Jack feel like an ogre. But he had to stand by his belief.
"Then get me new people," he answered coldly, taking a seat. Again he sighed and looked up to George. "Don't worry about the commissary incident; it's done and dusted. No need to rehash." At George's understanding nod, Jack lowered his gaze to the report in front of him. "Just bring the hammer down a bit more and increase the training. They'll work it out. Dismissed."
"Sir." George nodded and left, but stopped in the doorway to speak to someone before moving on.
"General O'Neill."
Jack knew that voice. He rose as he met the eyes of Major Davis, who was decked out in Service Dress and a regulation haircut. Jack firmly shook the man's hand.
"Come to give me the approval in person?"
"Actually, yes, Sir. With some modifications to the suggested building design to increase the Beta Site's capacity and I have word of a change in policy that might interest you."
Jack opened a hand to the chair opposite as he sat down. After two attempts at proposing a planet for the Beta Site, they finally had the approval to start construction. But this wasn't what Jack wanted to hear about first.
"I'm all ears."
"Alright, so, most of the design was approved," Davis flipped the locks on his briefcase and pulled out a handful of sealed yellow envelopes, "but we've added an agriculture sector and-"
"Davis." Jack stopped him. They exchanged an unspoken communication and the fact that Davis seemed to understand what he wanted only managed to increase Jack's already good opinion of the man. Davis placed his briefcase on the floor beside his chair and the documents on the edge of Jack's desk.
"A handful of invitations to Genesis were handed out to some of our allied political leaders. Most were refused on personal grounds. It makes sense that people won't want to leave their families behind. So, our government has negotiated some financial assistance from other countries to increase the size of the two offworld bases and the possibility of a third has been put on the table. This should allow those on the list to bring up to two people with them. It will help any problems with repopulation and provide incentive to leave."
"That's surprisingly compassionate."
"Sir... there's more." Jack couldn't say he liked the sound of that. "It's no secret that Doctor Carter and yourself share a personal relationship. Given your position at the SGA, I'm sorry to say that you may not be eligible for the change in policy."
"But what you told me on your last visit might still apply?"
"I believe so."
"Then the Doctor doesn't need to know I won't be eligible. She has a brother; she can take them."
"Yes, Sir."
Jack wouldn't dwell on this new information; he'd resigned himself to his fate a long time ago.
"Alright, so what about these changes to the design?"
~ SJ ~
0643
Wednesday, 5th November, 1997
Sam and Jack's House
It's Today.
Not just any old today, tomorrow or yesterday.
It's this day.
He wasn't sure about the why, but he was sure from the moment he woke up about five minutes ago that he was going to ask Sam to marry him today. Yesterday wasn't the right day. And as sure as he was of his own existence, he was sure that he was ready to ask her and fairly certain she would agree. They were coming up on eighteen months of being together, although marked exactly seventeen months, but at he told her on day one, if she was in, she was in for the long haul.
Now, if she'd just wake up.
Jack wasn't stupid. His chances of her agreeing to anything dramatically decreased if he woke her up before the alarm clock did...
That was not his pager vibrating across the top of his dresser across the room.
It wasn't.
If he ignored it, it might stop. Or not. With a huff, he threw the ring box he'd been fiddling with since he woke onto his side table and carefully rolled out of bed in only a pair of white boxer shorts.
Cold. Cold. Cold!
"Oh, you worthless piece of crap," He growled, tempted to hurl the small device across the room.
'YOU ARE REQUIRED ON BASE ASAP'
He looked to where Sam slept, and then eyed the velvet box. It was still going to be today. No level of emergency, foothold, alien invasion or stuff up with the commissary orders would change that.
Jack crossed the room in two long strides, opened the ring box and moved it to Sam's table. He had to quietly rummage through her draw, but found a pencil and found a card from Leslie's funeral. No, he couldn't write on that... But did he need to write the question down at all?
"Nah," he whispered. Under a crossword book he found an old receipt and wrote on the back of that;
'Got called to work, love you'
He slid it under the ring and stopped to touch the line of her jaw gently. She stirred, but went back to sleep while Jack hurriedly dressed and snuck out of the room.
~ SJ ~
"What time were they due to check in?" Jack and George barrelled down the hallway towards the infirmary, personnel jumping out on their way to avoid a collision.
"SG nine where scheduled for between six and six-thirty, but Lieutenant Gerard came through about ten minutes ago with an escort from Alpha. He followed procedure and Gated to two neutral addresses before heading to the double oh one."
"Did he give a description of the attackers? I was under the impression seven seven four was only inhabited by the purple guys that didn't talk."
"It is, Sir, but we haven't seen them in the last few recons and the men Gerard described matched those that attacked us on Abydos."
They rounded the main entrance to the infirmary and Jack was confronted with Gerard and a small contingent of nurses trying to attend to him while two airmen attempted to receive his report on the situation. The poor man was barely conscious; he looked pale and bruised with swelling in his left knee and by the reddened bandages, a large open wound to his left side.
"Airmen, give us some room." Jack ordered the SF's away with a tilt of his head. They retreated quickly and obediently; a result of the new training regime that George had installed.
"You'll have to wait until he's a bit more stable."
"Doctor, we need to know what happened, right now. Even if only the basics. If our Iris codes are in enemy hands, we can't afford to wait." George urged, earning a weary shake of Janet's head.
"Don't get in the way of my team. I can only give you a minute before we need to get him into surgery." She led them to the gurney and stopped a nurse about to give Gerard an anaesthetic. Jack and George stood far enough from the bed to let medical technicians through, but within Gerard's eyesight.
"What happened?" Jack asked loudly, folding his arms.
"Getting ready to hit the sack..." he winced when a nurse tested his knee. "...we were attacked. A few got hit. Moore's dead. Some of the Civ's..." Another pained growl, "...but they took Craydon and Hanson. I think they got Fleming and Tyson. I waited and tried following them to the Gate. Didn't catch the symbols... Arghh!" He writhed and screwed his eyes.
"Were they Jaffa?"
Gerard nodded profusely, grinding his teeth.
"We can't wait, Sir. I'll advise you when the surgery is over." Janet signalled for her team to wheel a groaning Gerard into the Operating Room while they put a mask over his face.
Jack turned his attention to George. "I want all the offworld teams recalled and SG nine's IDC locked out. Every team gets their codes updated before they go out again."
"What about the MIA?"
"Consider them casualties. There's no safe way to track or retrieve them and we can assume those Jaffa are gonna try and get Earth's address after what we did to Abydos."
~ SJ ~
0914h,
SGA Commander's Office
In the chaos of changing security codes, collating information for reports, processing the returning offworld teams and apprising the Alpha site of the situation along with his scheduled meetings, Jack didn't notice the clock tick over eight o'clock or the lack of communication from Sam. Even when he'd ordered for her to come in early, he didn't think about what had happened this morning.
His people were efficient and he delegated a fair chunk of the work to George so he could breath. He stood behind his desk and ran his hand through his hair.
Mr Harriman knocked on his door and Jack had to summon some strength to square his shoulders.
"All the changes you ordered are complete, General. Did you want us to lock out P3X-774?"
Jack though for a moment. "Yeah. Lock it out."
"Yes, Sir." Walter turned away, but stopped himself and smiled. "Also, General, congratulations on the engagement."
"Pardon?"
Walter was taken slightly aback and frowned in confusion. "I'm sorry, Sir, but somebody said you and Doctor Carter were now engaged."
Mental blank activate.
"Uh... Can you call her up to my office- Actually, no..." He cleared his throat. "Do you know where Doctor Carter would be right now?"
"She's running a meeting in the computer lab to redo the coding in the IDC transmitters. One of the guys from Engineering ducked out and told us about the ring."
God bless the rumour mill; may it never leave.
Jack patted Walter's shoulder as he ducked past him and powered through the briefing room. He had to get the acceptance in person.
~ SJ ~
"I think we need to look into some of the Pentagon's systems and pull some parameters from theirs. Consult with civilian agencies if necessary, but this has to be as original as possible." Sam pointed the end of her marker around the room, then back to a circle a large chunk of data currently being projected onto her whiteboard. "Now lines two forty eight through to-"
"Excuse me, Doctor?"
Sam smiled to her whiteboard at the sound of Jack's voice. She gave into the urge to rub her thumb across the inside of her left ring finger.
She'd woken up and went to reach for the ringing cell phone on her bedside table, instead finding an engagement ring and a note. For one moment, she was bewildered. During the next, she was elated, then angry that Jack wasn't there to ask her in person and then she read the note. In the last moment, she realised she shouldn't have expected anything over the top from Jack and accepted that he would have asked her if he hadn't been called. Then she considered him a little romantic for not allowing a crisis to prevent him for asking, although she would forgive him for waking her.
Sam looked over her shoulder to Jack. Just this once, she'd let him be Jack and not 'the General'.
"Guys, can you give a minute. I just need to have a word with Doctor Carter."
Sam didn't mind the smirks and winks from her team when they silently rose from their chairs and calmly left the room. The guys were gracious enough to close the door behind them, while Sam casually lidded her marker and tossed it onto the workbench beside the projector. Jack was looking at the floor, his ear turned to the door until the lock clicked. He lifted his eyes.
"You know, they reckon practice makes perfect, but I've only done this once before and I'm still not really that good at it." He smiled softly, pressing a hand to his chest and pushing the other into his pocket. His slow steps towards her sent her mind into overdrive; her heart raced and she had to steady her shaking hands.
"Oh?" She grinned. God, she really did love this guy. He was grumpy, sarcastic, older, a workaholic and had a painfully dry sense of humour. But she loved him.
"So, um... I wish I could have done this properly but, you know me and words."
"Sam..."
"Okay, sorry. Here," She began tugging on the ring to give it to him so he could make a proper offer, but Jack captured her struggling hands in his own warmer ones. It was like it didn't want to come off anyway.
"No, don't take it off. It looks really good on you. I just... I woke up this morning and decided that I'm ready to keep taking these steps forward. I mean, maybe not the picket fence or the bundle of kids, but I'm certain about you." He lifted her hands and rubbed a thumb across the top of her fingers, regarding the ring. "So, I take it you've decided something similar."
Sam could only nod and smile adoringly.
"Ugh, if only we were at home." He grimaced at the thought of the security camera on the ceiling behind him. "You know I love you, right?"
"I do. You know, if you stay right there, they won't really be able to see?"
"What?"
Sam pulled on his hands and lifted up a little on her toes to press her lips to his. She wasn't going to be chaste about it; every bit of love she'd ever felt, and much more, was burning inside her like fire and she had to agreed with Jack when he wished they were at home. All perception of time fell away as she kissed the man she was going to marry.
~ SJ ~
Okay, that's not how I planned this chapter, but I think it worked out well. I can't believe there is only a few more chapters in this story *depressed sobs* Remember, Grimm is without beta (No more Fanfic Adi; go study) so be kind. You'll see that I'm not a great writer; I just have ideas and a great beta. Peace and love guys!